Radical Worship: The Legacy of Mary of Bethany
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"One of the things that makes Mary Bethy so impressive to me is she only has a brief bit of dialogue recorded in the scripture; in this scene she never speaks a word. She demonstrates who she is and what she's about through her worship, which is all about what she is doing, who she is being, and not just what she is saying. I think that's a good lesson for us, an encouragement for us to remember that our actions need to speak louder than our words at times." [43:53]
"Mary Bethany sat at his feet to listen and we see here she pours perfume. But if this was not enough for us to see her heart for God, verse 3B says after she poured it on his feet, it then says she wiped his feet with her hair. Ladies, she wiped his feet with her hair. In the African American Community alone, the hair industry was a $9 billion industry in 2009. Globally, the hair industry in 2022 was $25 billion, projected to reach $383 billion by 2030." [44:32]
"Mary Bethy is just letting go of her hair and wiping his feet with her hair, which to me means she's letting go of her longing to be loved, her longing to be accepted, her longing of caring about what other people think about her. We see that she has learned to care only about what Jesus thinks about her and considers her. This isn't about sacrificing some perfume bottle; this is about her sacrificing her life, her pride, her reputation, her social standing." [46:13]
"When we worship with abandon like Mary Bethy did, nothing blesses God more. When we stop thinking about ourselves altogether, about what people will think, what people will say, how does this look, and you just pour out yourself for the Lord like Mary did with the expensive perfume, He blesses that kind of faith and sacrifice." [47:29]
"Mary's private devotion to Jesus has now become a public display of affection. Unfortunately, such tender scenes like this seldom last very long, either in real life or in the Bible. Now most of us know how Judas takes control here, makes demands, even protests, and that is exactly what happens later on that evening." [48:14]
"Mary's sacrifice was priceless, but what mattered to Judas was the street value of it. In John 12:5, it says, 'Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.' See, Mary's sacrifice was priceless, but Judas clearly saw Mary's actions as distasteful, disgraceful, and above all else, wasteful." [48:51]
"Mary Bethy was not going to have any more perfume; this was it. She emptied it all out and gave it and poured it on Jesus. Mark 14:8 says, 'She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.' Before he goes to the Cross, the disciples were fighting the whole idea right up to this Holy Week." [59:22]
"Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Here we are today, worshiping God at Milano, 2,000 plus years later, and we are still talking about Mary of Bethany. What will be said about you and me thousands of years from now? What are we leaving behind?" [01:00:45]
"As we prepare to take communion, let me ask a question: What is holding you back from pouring everything out and emptying yourself like Mary of Bethany? Is it a relationship, is it your pride, fear, is it pain from the past? How different would our worship, our service to God be if we poured out like Mary?" [01:01:26]
"Let's remember and consider Jesus who was willing to do whatever it took to pour out, to empty himself, giving up his very life so that we could live and be with him forever and ever in eternity." [01:02:07]
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"Mary Bethany sat at his feet to listen and we see here she pours perfume. But if this was not enough for us to see her heart for God, verse 3B says after she poured it on his feet, it then says she wiped his feet with her hair. Ladies, she wiped his feet with her hair. In the African American Community alone, the hair industry was a $9 billion industry in 2009. Globally, the hair industry in 2022 was $25 billion, projected to reach $383 billion by 2030." [44:32]
"Mary Bethy is just letting go of her hair and wiping his feet with her hair, which to me means she's letting go of her longing to be loved, her longing to be accepted, her longing of caring about what other people think about her. We see that she has learned to care only about what Jesus thinks about her and considers her. This isn't about sacrificing some perfume bottle; this is about her sacrificing her life, her pride, her reputation, her social standing." [46:13]
"When we worship with abandon like Mary Bethy did, nothing blesses God more. When we stop thinking about ourselves altogether, about what people will think, what people will say, how does this look, and you just pour out yourself for the Lord like Mary did with the expensive perfume, He blesses that kind of faith and sacrifice." [47:29]
"Mary's private devotion to Jesus has now become a public display of affection. Unfortunately, such tender scenes like this seldom last very long, either in real life or in the Bible. Now most of us know how Judas takes control here, makes demands, even protests, and that is exactly what happens later on that evening." [48:14]
"Mary's sacrifice was priceless, but what mattered to Judas was the street value of it. In John 12:5, it says, 'Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.' See, Mary's sacrifice was priceless, but Judas clearly saw Mary's actions as distasteful, disgraceful, and above all else, wasteful." [48:51]
"Mary Bethy was not going to have any more perfume; this was it. She emptied it all out and gave it and poured it on Jesus. Mark 14:8 says, 'She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.' Before he goes to the Cross, the disciples were fighting the whole idea right up to this Holy Week." [59:22]
"Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Here we are today, worshiping God at Milano, 2,000 plus years later, and we are still talking about Mary of Bethany. What will be said about you and me thousands of years from now? What are we leaving behind?" [01:00:45]
"As we prepare to take communion, let me ask a question: What is holding you back from pouring everything out and emptying yourself like Mary of Bethany? Is it a relationship, is it your pride, fear, is it pain from the past? How different would our worship, our service to God be if we poured out like Mary?" [01:01:26]
"Let's remember and consider Jesus who was willing to do whatever it took to pour out, to empty himself, giving up his very life so that we could live and be with him forever and ever in eternity." [01:02:07]
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