Extravagant Love

 

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

About fifteen years ago, Tom Cruise was on the Oprah show. During the show, the movie star jumped on Oprah’s couch like it was a trampoline declaring his love for his girlfriend Katie Holmes, before Oprah said, "He's gone. He's gone. The boy is gone." Just about everybody thought Tom had made a fool of himself, but I thought it was kinda cool, because love makes one do crazy things. We see that in today’s passage. 

Jesus is in Bethany and he visits his long time friends, Mary and Martha. Other people were present, including their brother Lazarus. Lazarus, if you remember, had died. Four days after he was buried, Jesus brought him back to life. The chief priests plotted on getting him buried again because a lot of people started believing in Jesus when they saw this guy walking about town like he hadn’t died at all. But I don’t want to talk about him; I wanna talk about his sister, Mary. And not just about her; about what others thought of her.

Like, for instance, Martha. While Martha was serving, Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet. This is not the only time Mary has done this very “improper” thing. On another occasion, (see Luke 10:38-42) Jesus had visited the two sisters. Martha was serving on that occasion too, and was very upset her sister wasn’t helping out. Finally, she went to Jesus and complained. “Oh Martha,” Jesus said, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

We don’t know what she thinks about Mary sitting at his feet again here, but I’m guessing she was still unhappy. And we don’t know what she makes of Mary pouring costly perfume over Jesus’s feet, but we know what somebody else thinks. Judas is around and he gets very upset, saying the money could have been better used for the poor. Not that he really cared. Jesus said, “You always have the poor with you,” quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11, indicating that we HAD to serve the poor but, sometimes, other things took precedence.

And then there is the matter of Mary wiping Jesus’ hair with her feet, a very intimate gesture. There is no mention of anybody saying anything here, but there is another story where something similar happened. See Luke 7:36-50. In that story, another woman wipes his feet with her hair. The Pharisee who invited Jesus for dinner is described as thinking: “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus rebukes him and his lack of love, which is what ALL the  reactions we have looked at today reveal. 

So, what do you think about what Mary did? Would you do the same?