A Remarkable Gift of Love
Mark 14:3-9
3] And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
[4] And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
[5] For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
[6] And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
[7] For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
[8] She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
[9] Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
Palm Sunday was originally a day of celebration, almost mob hysteria, with people waving palm branches, casting garments on the road, and singing with their children, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Mark 11:9. This was truly a work of the Holy Spirit to honor Jesus before His death. This morning we want to go back to a quieter moment, to the day before in the little town of Bethany. This was the last opportunity Jesus had to spend with some of his dearest earthly friends, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon. It was a troublous time. Ever since Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, the Jewish council wanted Him dead. The chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that, if any man knew where He were, he should show them, that they might take Him by craft and put Him to death. Add to this, the fact, that before the end of the week, Judas would betray his own Master, and you can understand the sad fate that Jesus had to look forward to. If we were to paint a picture with white paint on a white background, we wouldn’t be able to see it. If we, however, would supply a more colorful background, say black, it would really be impressive. In our today’s text, we see a picture of a picture of white against black, of love against a background of hate. We hear the account of the love of Mary, a love so remarkable that it is familiar to everyone who reads the Bible, against the background of the hatred of the bloodthirsty Jewish leaders and the greed of His own disciples.
On the day of our text, Jesus and His disciples had been invited to a feast in the house of Simon, the Leper. Sometime earlier, Jesus mercifully had cured Simon of leprosy, a disease for which there was no cure. Simon had come to love Jesus and to trust Him as his Savior, and Jesus had come to see him as a good friend. Jesus had spent many hours in Bethany, and Simon, a social outcast because of his leprosy [everyone still called him, Simon the Leper], could easily empathize with the dismal forebodings of a painful crucifixion that must have beclouded the heart of his dear Friend. It seems that this feast had been planned just to give Jesus and His disciples a moment of still before the storm. Martha, no doubt, had planned the food for this feast, for the text tells us she was busy preparing and serving it and that was not wrong. How were they going to eat? This was her way showing thanks to the Savior who, on another occasion, had come all the way to Bethany to raise her dead brother.
Martha’s sister, Mary, on an earlier occasion, had sat at Jesus’ feet, eagerly listening to Him speak and clinging on to every word. On this occasion, she not only came to listen, but also to serve. While they were eating, she took an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; broke the box, and poured the contents on the Savior. When we first hear this account, we fail to realize how enormous her love was. Spikenard was one of the finest perfumes, something imported from India, generally purchased from the caravan-drivers on their way to Egypt. Moreover, she brought it in a most expensive container made of alabaster. Nothing was good enough for her Redeemer. The amount of the perfume, however, is staggering. This container, says St. John, held 12 ounces. Who can afford to buy precious perfume in almost quart-size bottles? Moreover, Judas tells us the cost, which translated into our money, would be as much as $3,000.00. How did Mary come to have that kind of money? The same way you or I do. She must have worked, scrimped, and saved for this great moment.
Mary held nothing back. She broke the container, and emptied it on His head and neck and shoulders and even on His feet, feet of which John the Baptist did not feel himself worthy to loosen the shoe-latchet. Then, in an act of unbelievable humility, she let down her hair and used it for a towel. Her thankful love for her salvation was so great that she was not embarrassed either to take a place at Jesus’ feet or to let down her hair in the presence of over a dozen men. Only someone familiar with the etiquette of the East would understand the ridicule to which she exposed herself, for women and children never shared a place with men at the table. From first to last this was a deed of the deepest love. She poured out her whole soul. She was a living demonstration of the words of St. Paul who wrote in 1 Corinthians: “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:7. As one might expect, the odor of this fine perfume, writes St. John, permeated the whole house. What really permeated the house, however, was the sweet smell of her love, a love akin to the love that Paul described as “a sweet-smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” Philippians 4:18.
The devil, on the other hand, wouldn’t dare let this glorious demonstration of heart-felt love pass without trying to spoil it. Judas, the treasurer of the disciples, blurted out: Why was this waste of the ointment made? That single word, “why,” was a cutting rebuke to both Jesus and Mary. Why, Jesus, would you allow this to happen? Don’t you realize that you are robbing the poor for your own glorification? You, Mary, your attitude is an irritation to me, and your adoration is senseless extravagance. Listen to me, both of you! I know what is proper and charitable and I am not afraid to come out with it! This ointment might have been sold for more than 300 pence and have been given to the poor. What a hypocrite! Judas didn’t care for the poor at all. St. John tells us what his motive really was. “He was a thief and had the bag and bear what was put therein. John 12:6. Judas was interested only in what he could gain. He had been in the habit of stealing from the disciples’ treasury. The more money in the treasury, the better for him!
The sad truth is that Judas’ argument was so compelling, that some of the other disciples as well murmured against Mary. I wonder what you or I might have done, had we been there. From a financial point of view, a little ointment would have been OK, but $3,000 worth doesn’t make much sense. It seems to have made sense only to Mary and our Savior.
Jesus defended May with the words, “Let her alone.” There will always be poor and you can help them whenever you want. She, however, “is come aforehand to anoint my body for the burying. “ Think of it. Mary had such faith that Jesus was going to die that she looked beyond the crucifixion to the moment of His burial. The disciples? They wouldn’t even believe that Jesus was going to die. At the beginning of His last journey from Galilee, Jesus told them, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death Jesus, just a few days earlier, plainly told His disciples that the Jews would scourge Him and put Him to death, and that on the 3rd day He would rise again, the Scriptures tell us, “they understood none of these things.” Luke 18:34. Mary understood. Why? Because she not only listened to Jesus, but she believed what He said. Unlike the disciples, she believed Him when He promised that He would die for her sins. She saw the end coming and so it was her plan, in humble child-like faith, to anoint His body before He was buried. No wonder Jesus said, “Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. Believers are going to be talking about this unbelievable act of love as long as there are believers on earth.
This account of Mary’s whole-hearted love is truly humbling. It leads us to ask, “Could I ever have a deep love like that?” The key to Mary’s love for Jesus was her appreciation of His love for her. The Bible repeatedly speaks about that kind of love, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10,. and again, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. The more we understand God’s great love for us, the greater will be our love for Him. “We love him, because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19.
Our world desperately needs love. They readily admit that love is the only solution to the problem of war, and yet it is far out of reach. Anything man might have to say about love, without the atoning love of Christ, is tinkling brass. How much we need the overwhelming love of God. If our love to Him and to our neighbor is to grow, we need to continue in His precious word, which alone can strengthen our faith to the point that we like Mary, find nothing too precious to give to Him. Isaac Watts, the hymn writer says it all, when he writes,
”Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a tribute far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
This sermon preached by Pastor Robert Dommer on March 16, 2008.