John 12: 1 – 11 (NLT)
“Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.
4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.
7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
9 When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.”
Here is a story of contrast – two followers of Jesus with very different motivations.
The story of Mary anointing Jesus is also told in Matthew 26 and Mark 14. All three accounts are very similar. There is one other story of a woman pouring ointment on Jesus’ feet in Luke 7, but that is a very different story of a prostitute who arrives at a dinner which a Pharisee was hosting with Jesus in attendance. I thought I’d mention it in case you mixed up the two stories.
This story occurs at Simon’s house; he was a leper who Jesus had healed. It looks like it might have been a celebration party with Simon as host and Lazarus as a guest. This dinner occurs shortly after Lazarus’ resurrection, and before Jesus goes to Jerusalem for the Passover. You’ll notice that Martha is serving; she sure doesn’t change. And Mary is the one who is worshipping – again true to herself. Again, I want to mention that these two women are very different in the way they are wired, and that is just fine. We all serve Jesus in different ways, and we are all valued. No one kind of service is more important than another.
Jesus tells the shocked guests that Mary is anointing him for his burial. I wonder if Mary actually realized that was what she was doing. Jesus does talk about his coming death throughout John, but usually the listeners don’t really get it. Maybe, Mary had. Her anointing Jesus’ seems to be her way of telling Jesus how much he means to her before his death, rather than bringing the perfume to anoint his body in the customary way after the fact. They were friends before Lazarus died, and then Jesus brought him back to life. I’m sure Mary was a devoted follower and friend of Jesus. The fact that she let down her hair to wipe his feet shows how devoted she was. Jewish women never let their hair down in public, only with close family. That is still true today in Orthodox Jewish communities.
Then there were the others around the table. Judas was indignant about the waste of money. He wasn’t the only one. In Matthew, it mentions “the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste?’” (Matt. 26: 8) In Mark’s version, it said “But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? … And they were scolding her.” (Mark 14: 4, 5) You can kind of see where they were coming from. That perfume was worth a year’s wages. In one commentary I read, it mentioned the wages of someone who gets the current minimum wage and works close to full time hours. They estimate it would be around $10 000.00; I think that’s a low estimate. Apparently, nard was imported to Israel from India. That’s one very expensive and rare bottle of perfume.
Perhaps the reaction of those men still happens today. Some of us count the monetary cost of serving Jesus. We don’t want to be too extravagant in case we need our money for something else more practical. We are more concerned about paying the bills. Or we use our time sparingly in our service for Jesus. Our jobs, friends, homes, etc. are the priorities and serving in our community or church comes if we have extra time. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some time we all had thought that someone else was going a bit overboard with their response to God.
But for Judas, this was the last straw. He had followed Jesus because he thought Jesus was going to lead a rebellion against Rome and free Israel from foreign rule. He also thought he could hold an important role in the new government – perhaps be the treasurer and make lots of money for himself as well. Jesus is talking about dying, and applauding a woman who dumps expensive perfume over Him. Judas leaves and heads to the Pharisees to plan for Jesus’ capture.
I think it’s interesting that the other disciples weren’t aware of Judas’ deception. John’s comments about Judas came after Jesus’ resurrection when John was writing the book. By then, John knew that Judas was a traitor and had been stealing from the disciples’ money all along. Even at the Last Supper, they weren’t aware of Judas’ real motivation. But Jesus knew. It makes me think about my attitude toward others. Jesus knew Judas was a traitor and a thief, but He didn’t ostracize him or point him out to the others. Was he giving Judas every last chance to change? We know God is patient and not willing that any of us should perish. (2 Peter 3:9) Perhaps I’m too ready to judge others. Just something to think about today.
One of the things that that I really love about writing these devotions is that they speak to me. This is not just for you. So as I read and think about Jesus and how he reacted to the people around him, I get a better idea of what God is like. In these verses I see his patience, and I see the total abandon of those people who loved him dearly. It makes me think about how I react to others, and how much I’m willing to give up in my love for Jesus.
Our song for today is I Love You Lord by Laurie Klein.