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Author: Stephen Weller
681 words, 4 minutes read time

The Devotion of Mary

Scripture: Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3-5; John 12:3

In the previous lesson, Jesus arrives in Bethany and while there is served dinner by Martha at the home of Simon. In this lesson Mary arrives and by her act of worship draws the attention of everyone.

^{Mk 14:3} Mary took an alabaster flask of ^{Jn 12:3} a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, ^{Mk 14:3} and she broke the flask ^{Mt 26:7} and she poured it on his head ^{Jn 12:3} and anointed the feet of Jesus ^{Mt 26:7} as he reclined at table. ^{Jn 12:3} [Then she] wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Mary is identified as the sister of Martha in John 12:1 – 3, and brings an alabaster flask containing a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard. “The aromatic and pure nard oil is extracted from an Indian or Arabian root. The sale of such costly oil would have yielded more than 300 days’ wages of labor.” (Mark 14:3-4, Footnote, p. 1926, ESV Study Bible, Copyright © 2008 by Crossway Bibles). In breaking the flask, Mary broke its seal so she could pour out its contents as needed.

This pure nard is a perfume oil used for solemn acts of devotion such as Mary’s devotion to Jesus. She pours some on the head of Jesus and uses more to anoint his feet as he reclined at the table. Such a demonstration of love, intimacy, and devotion as she attends to Jesus. Mary would have had long hair and uses it to wipe the oil from the feet of Jesus. As I write this, I think of the evening in an underground Bible school in China, when the wife of the couple who were leading the school and a female student came to my room after I had prepared for bed and asked for permission to enter. I trusted them and granted permission as they came in to wash my feet to honor me as their guest teacher who was willing to live with them in a place that did not have western comforts. I think of what their act meant to me and can only imagine what it meant to Jesus to have Mary do what she was doing and at such expense to her. As Mary performed her act of devotion the room filled with the fragrance of the perfume. As these two women washed my feet, my heart was filled with love for these students as I hoped I wouldn’t get caught for being there.

^{Mk 14:4} There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? Mt 26:9 For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.” ^{Mk 14:5} [So] they scolded her.

Probably most men in the house at the time did not understand or appreciate what Mary was doing and may have felt somewhat embarrassed by her actions and allowed thoughts of indignation to rise up within them. Not understanding her expression of devotion, they saw her use of such expensive oil to be a waste. The sealed flask of nard, they reasoned, could have been sold and the money given to the poor. To them this was a more practical and better use of the oil than wasting it on Jesus. Allowing their thoughts to come to the forefront, they could not restrain their tongue any longer and with their words they scolded her.

Conclusion

If you were in the room and watched Mary anoint Jesus how would you feel? What would your thoughts be? How real is your devotion to Jesus and how do you express it? Feeling the emotion of the devotion of the two woman who washed my feet in that underground school, I understand what Mary was doing. She was so connected to Jesus in her devotion and worship that she was willing to use her own hair in wiping his feet.