WOMEN IN THE WORD: MARY OF BETHANY

Jesus hadn’t kept it a secret! He had told His disciples over and over again.

“From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day” (Matthew 16:21).

“As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.’ And they were deeply distressed” (Matthew 17:22–23).

“While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised’ ” (Matthew 20:17–19).

Mary, the sister of Lazarus and presumably the daughter of Simon the Leper, understood! She recognized Jesus as the “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), the Passover Lamb to be sacrificed for her redemption.

To honor and commemorate Jesus’ sacrificial mission and ministry, Mary anointed Jesus for burial. Taking “an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume … she poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table” (Matthew 26:7). She also “anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair” (John 12:3).

Unlike the onlooking crowd, Jesus understood her motivation and gladly accepted her worship. “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body in advance for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:8-9).

Let’s worship as faithfully and sacrifice as extravagantly as Mary!

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).