John 12:1-3

Beloved of God,

This evening’s Bible passage is John 12:1-3:

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³ Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

It’s been a busy week. Among other things, Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead, entertained children against his disciples’ wishes, healed Bartimaeus the blind beggar despite the crowd’s attempts to silence his cry for mercy, and saved Zacchaeus the chief tax collector in violation of all public opinion. All week, this man who loves to spend time alone in prayer with his heavenly Father, has been hemmed in by crowds, delivering unexpected and sometimes socially offensive blessings. He’s given himself to others. A much worse week lies ahead. He must be exhausted.

Here, just for one night, he’s back in Bethany, at the home of his best friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, being served a quiet dinner. Jesus has spent his entire ministry serving others, but here “Martha served” him (v. 2), and he’s able to relax. He doesn’t turn her service into an enacted parable. He just lets her serve him a meal.

Then Mary brings her life savings, in the form of “a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard,” to the table. She anoints Jesus’s feet and wipes them with her hair (v. 3). In modern investment terms, think of a pound bag of solid gold coins, except that the gold doesn’t smell nearly as sweet and the ointment loses its value as soon as it’s poured out. So fine and so plentiful is the nard that “the house [is] filled with the fragrance.”

It’s an act of love and a moment of great poignancy. Neither Mary nor Martha is asking anything of Jesus other than to serve him in love. He lets them. He who serves to the point of exhaustion and will soon die for the world, is served. He who loves to point of giving his life for the lost, is loved. He relaxes, letting himself be served and loved. How it must have refreshed and blessed the still very human Jesus to be the recipient of loving service rather than the eternal giver. Of a similar gift of love, earlier in his ministry, Jesus had said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mk 14:6).

You and I can also serve Christ, not by making him an actual meal or anointing his feet, or even by loving our neighbors in practical ways, which is one of the best ways of loving God, but simply by resting from all our busyness and anxiety and focusing instead on loving Jesus, asking nothing of him but the simple privilege of loving and even refreshing him. We can sit quietly with Christ and tell him we love him. He will welcome it as “a beautiful thing.”

Peace,

Max