Scripture: John 12:1-8 (A brief devotional before Communion)
Theme: Oneness with Christ - the Extravagance of Mary's Love
Proposition: John shares with us a living example of what it means to be one with Jesus through the sacrificial love life of Mary towards Jesus. Mary gives Jesus 1. Her future 2. Her whole self.
Grace and peace to you this morning from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
This morning our passage of scripture is one of the greatest examples of extravagant love. It is the story of Mary and Jesus. It also invites us to experience the deepest of walks/relationships that we can experience with the LORD.
Let me start this morning by asking a simple question -
How deep of a walk does Jesus desire for all of us?
The answer to the question is simple, inviting and challenging.
A walk so deep that takes us into a relationship of being "One In Jesus".
It is this "oneness" that we see in the lives of John and Lazarus. And it is one that we see in Lazarus’ sister, Mary. In John chapter 12 we find Mary sitting at Jesus' feet, soaking in His very presence. Officially, she was not a part of the 12 disciples, or a part of the inner three (Peter, James and John) , but as you read her story you realize that she shared an "oneness in Jesus" that was shared with John, Lazarus and later on the Apostle Paul.
Let's turn to John 12 and share the story. Jesus had come to visit Lazarus, Mary and Martha. While it was not His first visit, it would prove to be His last visit. Perhaps more than anyone Mary sensed this fact. Maybe it was something she saw, something she heard Jesus say that told her that this visit was going to be different than any other that they had shared.
Perhaps as she met Him at the door she could see it in His eyes. For people who love each other can see and sense things that others are not able. Judas, for example, did not see anything. Judas did not have a clue what was about to happen, but then again, Judas did not love Jesus. To him, this was just another meal at Lazarus' house. He had no clue as to its importance.
John carefully lays out the story. At first, he only shares that Jesus came for a meal. Nothing more is alluded to or hinted. But sometime during the meal, Mary comes and sits down at Jesus' feet. It was not the first time she had done so, but never had anyone done for Jesus what she was about to do. Never had anyone displayed the type of extravagant love for Jesus that Mary was about to display.
She sits at Jesus' feet and instead of seeking what she can receive from Jesus, she pours out her life on Jesus. She uncovers the deepest parts of her heart and pours them out upon the LORD.
You may ask, now how did she do that? What did she do to make you think she was giving Jesus the deepest parts of her heart?
When Mary anointed Jesus at the banquet given in His honor, she was giving Him her very best.
I. Mary lays Her future at the feet of Jesus
For that is what the pound of nard was, it symbolized Mary's whole future. That pound of nard scholars tell us was her dowry. No father is mentioned in any of the stories involving Lazarus, Martha or Mary. It has always been assumed that by this time that both of their parents had passed away, and that both girls were living in their brother's house for his protection.
Verse five reveals that Mary's little bottle of perfume was worth over one year’s worth of wages. Now, don't read that and just go on, bypassing its significance. Meditate on that little fact for a moment. Mull it over. Allow it to speak to you. One year's worth of wages. Take whatever you make in a year, and visible put it into a little container -- $15, 000, $25,000, $40,000, $60,000, $100,000 or more. Take that amount and place it over to the side. Even today with our ability to get anything we want around the world, a pound of nard (imported usually from India) goes for about $30,000.00.
During this time, tradition stated that when a woman and man married it was with the idea that for the first year they would not have to spend their time working hard, but would spend the majority of their time getting to know one another and adjusting to their lives together. That was the main reason for having a dowry and for all the wedding gifts that were given throughout the week of their weeding. It was to provide for the family a first start; and with that first start, giving them the opportunity to begin life, being able to spend more time together for the first year and not for just the first few days.
It makes one pause and wonder how many of our contemporary marriages might be saved if more money was invested that enabled the couple to spend more time with each other all year long instead of only the brief period of time we call a honeymoon. How much money is spent making sure that the first few days are shared, rather than the first year being blessed with less stress financially? Perhaps the people of Jesus' time were just a bit wiser than we are today.
Let's return our attention back to the dowry – without a dowry this whole one year of togetherness would be impossible, and to marry a woman without one would mean that the prospective groom would either have to be wealthy himself or would be forced to start the marriage out having to work hard each and every day. This one year of wedded bliss could either make or break a marriage. That was the value of that little bottle of nard.
So, the dowry was an extravagant gift that was to be given to the groom and therefore, to the couple. Mary, by all accounts, had by some means obtained a dowry that was worth about a year's wages. After marriage, her and her husband would have sold the bottle of nard and used the proceeds to begin life together. Without a dowry, there was a good chance that she never would be married. In fact, tradition does tells us that Mary remained single. Without that pound of nard, she would have entered into married life with very little to offer in the way of finances, and that to most young men was uninviting.
By giving Jesus her bottle of nard, Mary gave to Jesus her future. How many of this morning would be willing to display that type of extravagant love?
II. Mary lays her heart at the feet of Jesus
Mary begins to pour out not only her future but her whole life as she anoints Jesus' feet. She bows in submission and in humility as she washes and caresses his feet.
I think we can assume that before she anoints Jesus feet they had already been washed either by her or Jesus himself. At that time as it is today, nobody likes to wash dirty feet. It's a messy, dirty and at times disgusting job. Bible scholars tell us that even slaves could not be commanded to wash a person's feet – it was that nauseating of a job. It was a person's own responsibility to wash their own feet. It caused people to be careful where they stepped and what they stepped in going down the road. So, either Jesus had already washed His feet or Mary had done it for Him before she poured the nard. If in fact, the latter was true, then Mary has even displayed more of her love for Jesus.
It was upon these feet of her LORD, that we see Mary pouring out her life, her future and herself. She is publicly proclaiming to everyone her intense love for Jesus. She knows that Jesus will not marry her or any other woman. She knows that is not a part of His divine plan. She understands that Jesus is the Messiah and that He is the Son of God, and I believe she understands more than anyone else in the room that death laid in his immediate future. There was something in her heart that knew this would be one of the last times she would see Jesus.
It is with that knowledge, and with that depth of love, that she pours out upon His feet this pound of nard. She begins to work it into His feet, taking the time to caress and massage his feet. Then she amazing everyone in the room as she does something even more intimate and strange, at least to us. She lets down her hair, the symbol of every woman's glory, and she wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair. She has already given Jesus her future, but now by taking down her hair she is giving Jesus the greatest glory she knew to give to him. The room is filled with the smell of nard. The room is filled with the sacrifice of Mary. The room is filled with the aroma of extravagant love.
For upon Jesus, Mary pours out her heart, her future, herself, and her glory. She holds nothing back. She is the living example of the depth one will go to be One with Jesus. She knows that they cannot marry so that is not a part of her sacrifice. But she also knows that she can enter into a relationship that goes deeper than marriage. A relationship that the Apostle John would later share with us in John 17 - to be One with the Father and with The Son. In the depths of her spirit Mary understand that there is a oneness that stretches back over all time and even before time. Mary knows that there is a Oneness that involves more than the physical. Mary knows about a oneness that involves the body, soul and mind. In this regard Mary shares the knowledge that the woman at the well possessed. Jesus shared with the woman at the well the fact that true worship comes through the melting of spirits, our spirit with God's Spirit. True love goes beyond the physical, true love comes from the spirit.
At the same time we see this living portrayal of what it means to be One with Jesus, we see all too clearly the exact opposite. We see through the actions of Judas a false love, a selfishness and a selfish pride that sought to only put oneself on the throne.
Judas even attempts to make his condescension of Mary's extravagant love look noble. He attempts to pawn off his love for the poor as the reason he can't display such love for and to Jesus; but, Jesus and others in the room know better. They had lived with Judas. They knew over the years his love had grown cold. They knew that Judas main love was for money, for power, for position and for his own self gain.
In verse eight, the Apostle John calls him a thief. John tells us that Judas' love for himself outstripped any love that he had for Jesus. While John allows us this beautiful and supernatural love that existed between Mary and Jesus, he also give us this hellish look at how Judas chose himself and his own way. Judas was more concerned about keeping riches than giving them over to Jesus. For Judas it was more about hiding behind a false mask of spirituality than it was being a living sacrifice at the feet of Jesus. Judas is an example of what happens when we practice selfish love, when we place ourselves before our LORD.
I wonder how long the smell of nard lasted both on Jesus and on Mary. I wonder how long the beautiful smell lingered in their home. I wonder when Jesus was kneeling in the garden, if it wasn't still on the bottom of His robes and he could still smell it as he prayed. I wonder if it could still be floating around, reminding Him that He was loved by some of His disciples.
I wonder how long Mary waited before she attempted to wash the smell out of her hair, how long it lingered as the days went by. I am sure that others, like Judas, once hearing what she had done had questioned her actions that day. I am sure that many thought what she did was foolish. It is always that way when someone shares extravagant love with Jesus or one of his followers. But, I am also sure that each time she looked at that alabaster jar, each time she smelled of its residue, she knew in her heart she had made the right choice.
Like the Wise Men before her, like Peter, James, and John, like Anna and Simeon, like the 120 later, Paul and Dorcas, and a billion later, she knew that she had made the right choice. She wanted to be as close to Jesus as possible. So, she gave Him her future, she gave herself to Jesus and she gave Him her glory.
What we see in Mary's story here in John 12, the Apostle goes on throughout the rest of his book to share with us. We see John, more than any other writer, giving us examples throughout his writings of how we too can find this intimacy with Jesus. All it takes is for us to:
1. Be willing to be a servant like Jesus - to give up our positions, our power, our minds, our bodies, and spirits and learn to wash the feet of others.
2. Be willing to be connected to Jesus as the branches are connected to the vine. A connection that brings life, a connection that involves allowing the Father to prune and cleanse.
A connection that in the end will produce life and even more life.
3. Be willing to be open to the Holy Spirit. Be willing to be convicted, to be guided, and to be brought into the very essence of the HOLY SPIRIT.
This morning, I invite to be challenged by the life of Mary. A life that knew how to give to Jesus everything - her future and herself.
We close this morning by going back to our original question - How deep of a walk does Jesus desire of us?
How deep of a walk do we desire to walk with Jesus?
Can we place in His hands our future? Can we give ourselves to Jesus? Can we give Jesus our glory and honor?
It is a question we all must ask and answer in our own hearts. As we come to the table this morning - let us partake and confess to Jesus that this is where we want to be - we want to be like Mary who was able to give to Jesus her future. We want to be like Mary who was able to give Jesus everything - her heart, her mind and her soul. As Jesus invites us to His table let us come in humble obedience and submission. Let us come and receive Christ as Savior and LORD.
