Luke 10:38-42;
John 11:1-44, 12:1-8
Jesus, Mary and Martha
Mary and Martha lived at Bethany, about
two miles from Jerusalem. It was in their home that Mary sat at the feet of the
Savior, listening to His word. It was at this home that Jesus would raise their
brother Lazarus to life. This miracle brought the Sanhedrin to a final decision
to put Jesus to death. In this same house, the day before Jesus’ triumphal
entry into Jerusalem Mary anoints Jesus’ head and feet with expensive perfume
and wiped them with her hair. What she had done would be told of her wherever
her name would be mentioned.
“That money could have been spent serving
the poor!” “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It
was worth a year’s wages!” Spices and ointments were quite costly because they
had to be imported. Frequently they were used as an investment because they
occupied a small space, were portable, and were easily negotiable in the open
market. Mary’s offering was valued at three hundred denarii (v. 5)
approximately a year’s wages for an ordinary workingman. Perhaps it represented
her life savings. Wiping his feet with her hair was a gesture of utmost
devotion and reverence. The penetrative fragrance of the ointment that filled the
house told all present of her sacrificial gift
With whom can you identify more? What can
you learn about the progression of sin from Judas who “helped himself” to the
communal money and “was later to betray” Jesus? What is the fundamental
difference between Mary and Judas as revealed by his objection to what she did?
What is the only thing that can explain Mary’s outpouring of this expensive
perfume? Why is this appropriate in light of what Jesus was about to do (Vv.
23-24)? How might things have changed for Judas if he had been honest about
what was going on in his heart at this point?
Almighty
God, You gave Your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon Himself. Grant
that we, Your adopted children by grace, may daily be renewed by Your Holy
Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Schnorr
von Carolsfeld Woodcut used with permission © WELS
Halley’s
Bible Handbook An Abbreviated Bible Commentary Twenty-Third Edition, © 1962
Zondervan Grand Rapids
Collect
for spiritual renewal, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House,
St. Louis
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