MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron

There’s a New Testament story, cited three times in scripture, that involves an extravagant gesture, a costly gift, a public display of devotion. We know a few facts about Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. And one is that each time she appears in the Gospels, she’s at the feet of Jesus. In every scene, we see not only what she does, but why she does it.

In Luke 10:38-42, we meet Mary in the home she shared with her siblings Martha and Lazarus, and Jesus came to visit. Martha was busy with the necessary work of hospitality, and grew frustrated with her sister. Jesus answered Martha gently but clearly. “‘... Mary has chosen the good part, which cannot be taken away from her.’” He didn’t condemn the service, but instead corrected the spirit in which Martha was serving - anxious, distracted, resentful. The difference in two women in the same household was the inward orientation of their hearts.

The next glimpse of Mary is in a season of loss. Lazarus had died by the time Jesus arrived, and had been in the tomb for four days. Mary didn’t pretend that everything was fine, but instead brought her pain to Jesus. She fell at His feet and cried out with honesty in her grief. Jesus was deeply moved and wept with both sisters. Then, he called Lazarus forth from the tomb. Mary’s faith here had been tested when the One she loved and trusted didn’t show up to heal Lazarus. But she came to Him anyway, bringing her broken heart. She didn’t love Jesus for what He could give, but for who He was. Her motive, which was not manipulation but relationship, revealed the true quality of faith.

And then we come to the third account, in John 12:1-11, when a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Lazarus was there, alive again, and Martha was serving. Mary took a jar of expensive perfume, perhaps a year’s worth of wages, broke it, and poured the contents on Jesus’ feet. She risked cultural ridicule and wiped His feet with her hair, and the house filled with the fragrance.

Judas Iscariot objected, and others in the home seemed to agree. But Jesus defended the act. “‘Let her alone. ... For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.’” Here, the contrast in motives becomes most clear. The writer John disclosed that Judas’ words, though they sounded reasonable, were driven by greed and thievery. Mary, with a heart full of love, was not trying to earn favor or approval - she had already been accepted by Jesus.

Throughout the Bible, grace is never transactional; we don’t give up something so that we can claim what we think may be deserved. Mary’s extravagant gift was not an attempt to purchase blessing; it was an overflow of gratitude and love for the One who had already given her everything.

This account presses us to examine our hearts. Do we serve, but resent the cost? Do we blame God or others when prayers or longings appear to go unanswered? Do we give while calculating what we might receive in return? Judas, who’d been close to Jesus and entrusted with responsibility, spoke words that sounded spiritual: this expensive gift should have gone to the poor. Yet his heart was not aligned with Christ. Mary was on a different path, one in which love for Jesus was her controlling motive. And even the culmination of her story, while inspirational, is not to be copied. Overpowering love is difficult to explain and impossible to counterfeit.

Only inward devotion produces acts like Mary’s. She had sat at Jesus’ feet on at least three occasions, and learned. She had walked through the valley of her brother’s death, experiencing both sorrow and the miracle of resurrection. By the time she anointed His feet, her love had been deepened by relationship and refined through suffering. Paul described a similar process in Romans 5:1-5, which ends, “...hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” As we walk with Christ through difficulties, God produces perseverance, proven character, and hope.

So, what will we place at the feet of Jesus? We aren’t called to imitate Mary’s specific act. We are called to share her motives. Questions we can ask ourselves include, “Why do I do what I do?” and “What am I still holding back?” Mary was willing to offer the valuable gift because she had found Someone even more precious. Jesus is still worthy of such devotion. He receives those who come with sincere hearts; He defends those who love extravagantly even when others criticize; and He uses the fragrance of surrendered lives to fill the rooms where we live and serve.

May God give us a heart and motives like Mary’s.