John 12 brings Jesus back to Bethany, to the place where Lazarus lived, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. The house that had been defined by death just days before is now filled with the fragrance of expensive perfume. Lazarus reclines at the table, Martha serves, and Mary does something that looks almost crazy unless the reader remembers what Jesus has just done.
Mary of Bethany had already been welcomed at Jesus’ feet like a disciple. Mary had watched Jesus stand before her brother’s tomb after four days and call Lazarus out from death. Mary had seen an unmistakable yes from God, the kind of thing nobody could explain away. So a dinner in Jesus’ honor just was not enough. Meals had happened before. Hospitality had happened before. Something in Mary knew that ordinary thanks could not carry the weight of what she had seen.
Mary takes pure nard, worth a year’s wages, and pours it on Jesus’ feet. Mary wipes his feet with her hair, and the whole room smells like her gratitude. Christ’s over-the-top love makes people do over-the-top things. The point is not that Mary is trying to earn anything from Jesus. The point is that Mary has noticed what Jesus has done, and the noticing pushes her down to the floor in love.
Judas objects with a question that sounds right on the surface. The perfume could have been sold and given to the poor. Scripture never treats the poor as disposable, and Jesus never gives his people permission to be hardhearted or tightfisted. Deuteronomy says there will always be poor people in the land, therefore God’s people must be open-handed. Jesus himself says that care for the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the prisoner, and the least of these is received as care for him.
Jesus tells Judas to leave Mary alone because Mary’s act belongs to a unique moment. Her response is not a principle for all time, but an act of love for a unique time. Judas does not really care about the poor; Judas wants to skim off the top. Mary, however, simply says thank you for favor already given.
The text calls God’s people to notice the thousand little yeses, the huge unmistakable yeses, and even the nos and not yets that later turn out to be mercy. A person never responds to goodness that has gone unnoticed. When God’s goodness is finally seen, gratitude gets extravagant, humble, and sometimes a little over the top.
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Key Takeaways
- 1. Noticing makes gratitude possible [15:34] A soul cannot respond to a gift it has not really seen. God’s goodness can sit on the wall of a life for years, passed by again and again, until attention finally becomes worship. Gratitude begins when self-congratulation gives way to honest recognition that grace has been carrying the weight all along. [15:34]
- 2. Over-the-top love changes responses [12:08] Mary’s act only looks excessive if Lazarus’ tomb is forgotten. Once Jesus’ love has been seen as resurrection love, careful calculation no longer feels like enough. True gratitude does not perform for attention, but it also does not fear looking foolish when love has become too large to keep tidy. [12:08]
- 3. God’s nos may become mercy [14:33] The no and the not yet can feel like absence when they first arrive. Later, those same refusals may reveal a protection that was invisible in the moment. Mature gratitude learns to remember not only the doors God opened, but also the doors mercy kept shut. [14:33]
- 4. Mary offers thanks, not leverage [22:52] Mary does not pour out the perfume to gain more favor from Jesus. Her gift rises from favor already received, from love that came first and could never be outdone. Christian obedience becomes distorted when it tries to purchase what Christ has already given freely. [22:52]
- 5. Jesus never dismisses the poor [19:30] Jesus’ defense of Mary is not a loophole for selfishness. Scripture’s command remains open-handed, especially toward the poor and needy in the land. The unique beauty of Mary’s act cannot be twisted into an excuse for hard hearts or tight fists.
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