Read Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9 and John 11:55-12:8. Bethany was a small village very near Jerusalem. It was about two miles away east on the other side of the Mount of Olives. This was the village where the two sisters Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus lived. Jesus had stayed at their home on other occasions. It was during one of these that Martha had become upset at her sister Mary for listening to Jesus rather than helping her get the meal ready. Another follower of Jesus. Simon the Leper also lived in this village. When Jesus arrived Saturday evening six days before the Passover, He ate at Simon’s house. During the meal, Mary did something that even most of the disciples thought unusual.
1. What did Mary do?
She poured costly perfume on our Lord’s head and feet.
2. Why did the disciples, in general, object to her actions?
They thought she should have sold the perfume and given the proceeds to the poor. That would have been the spiritual thing to do, in their opinion.
3. Why did Judas Iscariot, in particular, object?
He kept the money for the group and was a thief. He wanted it for himself.
4. Jesus knew Mary’s motive and corrected the disciples when they tried to rebuke her. Why did Jesus say she did this?
He said she did it in view of His coming death.
5. How many of the disciples realized that Jesus was going to die?
None of them. They could not get by their mistaken view of what Messiah was going to do.
6. What do you think this said about Mary’s spiritual insight, especially compared to that of the disciples?
She understood far more than they did.
7. Why do you think Mary had this insight?
It was because of the time she spent at His feet listening.
8. How did Jesus honor her for her worship of Him?
He declared that wherever the gospel was preached, this would be mentioned as a memorial to her.
Read John 12:9-11. While traditionally we celebrate the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Sunday, historically, this probably took place on the following Monday rather than Sunday. But because traditions are so hard to change, we will probably always have Palm Sunday rather than Palm Monday! Jesus ate dinner at Simon’s house on Saturday, the Sabbath. On Sunday, that day after the Sabbath, many people traveled out to Bethany to see Jesus. Word had gotten out that He was there. Not only were they attracted by Jesus, but they knew Lazarus was there as well. They had heard reports of how Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and wanted to see him as well as Jesus.
9. What do you think the popular opinion of Jesus was at this time?
Most of those probably thought that Jesus was a man who could do miracles because they had seen some of His miracles or had talked to people who had. They may have heard reports that He claimed to be the Messiah. They thought maybe He would do some more miracles. Let’s go see.
10. What was the opinion of the Chief Priests about Lazarus?
They probably did not believe he had ever died, certainly not that Jesus had raised him to life again. But he was a problem because he was turning many people toward Jesus. Their solution: maybe we can get him killed.
11. Why do you think the religious leaders were so opposed to Jesus claiming to be Messiah?
Most of them did not want to upset the apple cart politically. They did not think Jesus was Messiah, but they knew the people might believe this. If the people did believe it, they were afraid that they might rebel and rise up against the Roman authorities. The Romans would undoubtedly come in with their armies and crush the rebellion, and they would lose their power and position. Jesus was a threat to their comfortable life and power.
The Applications:
What are the applications of these passages to our lives today? Identify as many as you are able.
1. How do we judge someone’s spiritual insight? Upon what criteria do we base our conclusions? Do we believe a person will have a reasonable degree of spiritual understanding because they have had a large amount of theological training? Do we think that since they know the Hebrew and Greek texts, they have a better understanding of the Scriptures? Is our basis for judging the number of degree letters that follow their name, where they studied or who they studied under? Do we rate their spiritual depth by the size of the church they have or by the number of publications they have produced? Is spiritual wisdom related to one’s popularity or fame, the number of hits on their website?
If we used these metrics, these yardsticks or meter sticks, if you are so inclined, we would have failed to identify the person with real spiritual insight in the texts for our study. For it was not one of the twelve men chosen by our Lord that understood what our Lord was going to do; it was a woman, Mary, the sister of Martha. While she may not have understood all of what our Lord was accomplishing, she did know that He was going to die! That was far more than the twelve disciples at this point. While the text does not tell us the reason, I believe it is found in the fact that she took the time to sit at his feet and listen to His word (Luke 10:39). She had made this a priority, and as a result, she had some spiritual insight, indeed, much more than the twelve at this point.
The same principle applies today as well. Do you want spiritual insight and understanding? How often do you sit at His feet listening to His word? There is no doubt that theological training can be of benefit, the knowledge of the original languages a valuable tool (I teach Greek and Hebrew!), but without the time spent at His feet, studying His Word, all the tools and training are ineffective. The simple truth is this: Those who honestly and sincerely wish to know and understand their Lord will spend time at His feet in the study of His Word. Note carefully; this is not the study of the grammars and lexicons or the commentaries. These are indeed good tools, but they are secondary. His Word is foremost. Those who truly and sincerely wish to know and understand their Lord will spend time at His feet, and they will come to know and understand Him.
2. While it is certainly true that actions speak louder than words, that is to say, it is not what you say that indicates the nature of the heart; instead, it is what you do; it is also true that actions and words may not be what they seem. Note that all of the disciples objected to Mary’s actions in anointing our Lord’s feet with the expensive perfume. If that were all we knew of this, we might be tempted to conclude that the motives of each were somewhat similar; that they each thought Mary’s actions were extravagant, that there was a better use of the funds involved, namely using the money for the poor. However, we are told that the motives of Judas were not right, that although he protested with the rest, his real concern was not the poor but himself because he was stealing from their funds for himself.
As we go through our lives, we will encounter people such as this, who appear to be one thing both in actions and words but whose motives may not be what they seem. We may have difficulty is truly knowing people, but God knows the heart, and He will rightly and accurately judge. We, on the other hand, ought to avoid conclusions based on a single or only a few incidents; we must be sensitive to the Spirit of God, trusting Him to work all things out to His own glory.