“Days after his (Lazarus') resurrection, a celebration was held in honor of Jesus. Everyone was gathered around the Lord when Mary shattered a bottle of Perfume and wiped the lavish scent across His feet with her hair. The scent was to be used in a society where bathing was not frequent, so this particular nard was extremely pungent. A few drops would have been more than enough, but without regard to the cost or what those around her might think, she simply poured it all out as an act of pure worship. Many have speculated that Mary was preparing her beloved Savior for His death and burial, but the scent would have been on His skin a few days later when He was beaten and crucified. So, in essence, every time a Roman soldier’s whip (cat of nine tails) struck Him, the scent of Mary’s worship was released and rose all around Him; a reminder of Who He was.”
“Come with me for a moment to feast where dozens are gathered around this mysterious, glorious Jesus. As the celebration roars around Him, many people seem to be oblivious to what lies ahead. Whether or not Mary knew what the next several days would entail, we do not know. What we do know is that she could think of nothing in that moment other than an act of absolute devotion and worship.”
“In the midst of a room full of people, she went to the feet of Jesus. This may not seem like a noteworthy event, but for many reasons it was. Not the least of which was the fact that it was not considered culturally appropriate for her to be sitting at His feet. In addition, Jewish women were not to take their hair down in public. Biblical scholars have suggested that this was her way of acknowledging unworthiness before the Lord.”
“While Martha was busy serving the guests, Mary pulled the pins out, and bowed low to her Savior. I must admit, I am typically either busy doing what Martha was doing (fretting over everything being just right, or I am paying attention to the rules). It occurred to me how rarely I ignore everything that tells me how I should act, and sit in pure love with eyes only for Him. What a glorious image.”
“I don’t believe her action was simply a reflection of her gratitude over the life of Lazarus because the setting and way the events unfold communicate an inherent heaviness as she pours the perfume. It doesn’t feel totally celebratory to me. It feels like she is letting go. Regardless of whether or not he had saved her brother, she would have worshiped Him. She loved Him because of Who He was to her, not what HE had done for her. She had put her full trust in Him, and that is why she shattered the bottle at His feet. Despite the criticism she received, the Lord recognized what she was doing and commended her. Nothing in this world is of any value unless it is given freely and with abandon to Him, Just as Mary’s offering was given.”
“Would I have given every bit of what I had to Him, or would I have thought the way the world did? Many times in life, especially during a season of loss, we are tempted to hold tight to that which has earthly value. The alternative is to know the ONE who sits before us waiting, but how difficult that is in the wake of loss.”
“I still struggle with my false sense of control. In the weeks and months that followed Audrey’s death I could feel my fingers tighten around that alabaster bottle, he was asking me to pour out. My three daughters, my husband, my house, my parents- everything I could physically put my hand son- felt dangerously out of control. I watched the girls like a hawk, nervous over every movement they made. I went to their rooms at night and watched while they slept, watched their chests rise and fall.”
If you have been through this, you will know what I am about to say is true. It never brings relief.
“The more we try to cling to our babies, our jobs, our bank accounts, the more we realize that they are not ours. It took me many sleepless nights to be able to walk out of the room, and even now I struggle. As I touch their heads, sweaty from sleep and childhood, I have to force myself to step back and leave them in the hand so of the ONE who created them and gives them each breath. I shut the door behind me and let the night come in.”
“It is dark, yes. Yet the perfume of faithfulness drifts alongside me as I slip into my bed, remembering the sacrifice that a woman no so unlike me made centuries ago. What a glorious choice we have, those of us who have been chosen to carry these losses. “
“A point came while I was pregnant that the Lord showed me that I was going to have to make some hard choices about my walk with him. I couldn’t go on living it out the way I wanted to, the safe way. It was time for me to let down my hair, give it all away, and spend my days spreading the word.”
But she died, Right?
She did.
And truth be told, I wish it hadn’t been this way.
He gives and he takes away. Have I had moments of genuine questioning where I blamed myself and anyone else I could? Yes. But when those thoughts come, and they will, we must make a choice about who we will be from this day forward. Either we will go through life as bitter servants, or we will make HIM famous with our love. I want HIM to be famous.
The Lord rebuked Judas for his criticism of Mary, “Then said Jesus, Let her alone : against the day of my burying hath she kept this.” John 12:7.
I have to admit I had read the story of Lazarus more than once before this scripture jumped out at me. I hadn’t paid attention to the next part. According to Jesus, it was intended that she should use the perfume in exactly the way she had. Does that mean Mary knew Jesus was going to die? Maybe, Maybe not.
Jesus was aware of His fate and Mary’s role in the preparation of His body. She, however was acting upon the urging of the HOLY SPIRIT and felt to break the bottle and wipe into Jesus’ feet. Scripture says that it was intended that she should “save this perfume.” The Greek translation for the word save in this passage is tereo, a derivative of teros, which means “to watch.”
Tereo has several meanings, including
1. to attend
2. to guard
3. to keep
4. to observe
5. to reserve, to undergo something.
In other words, Mary was chosen to anoint the body of our Heavenly Father’s precious son, the Creator of this world.
That night, six days before Passover.
That jar, full of 12 ounces of pure, Indian nard.
She had no idea.
As I researched this, I had to stop and close my eyes, thinking about the weight of what this meant for me as a servant of Christ.
I love visuals, so every time I read a story in the scriptures I want my feet to be dirtied with the same soil they walked in, imagining every bit of how the moment felt.
I got up and looked through my favorite perfumes and found one that was about the size I pictured Mary to have, I turned it upside down and was shocked to read “1.7 oz.” I thought about what my house would have smelled like if I were to shatter this bottle. I’d never be able to get that out. The fact that hers was more than six times larger than the one I had in my hand, paralyzed me. Hers would have been closer to the size of a shampoo bottle. Can you imagine that aroma?
So she was holding a bottle of perfume, which according to some would have been worth $30,000 in today’s economy. She shattered it, and as she wiped her hair along Jesus’ feet, she probably had no idea what her role was. So how can we presume that we do?
Every one of us has been given alabaster jars in our lives. Moments that have been chosen from before there was time, where we will follow the prompting of the Holy Sprit and glorify our Father with our offering. Scan back up to the definitions of Tereo… and see if one of them resonates with you. For me I see the picture of reserving or undergoing something one does. Is it possible that we are chosen to undergo something when all the while the Lord knows that it will be given to Him in sweet surrender?
I believe I was.
I believe I am
I want you to take a few minutes and process the things in your life that are troubling you; the things that you can’t seem to understand.
Maybe you have been called to take care of a gift.
Maybe you are guarding it for a day you have yet to see.
Maybe you are watching it, reserving it, waiting for the moment the lord comes and redeems it all
And maybe you are just flat-out “undergoing it.”
Whatever it is, a loss, a divorce, a death, a hurt, something you feel is out of your control, forgotten by the one who could make it right again- know this.
He has not forgotten.
He heard you call.
He may wait to come to you because He is withholding a blessing in order to give you a better one.
“And regardless of whether or not your Lazarus walks out of the tomb, I pray that you continue to worship the Lord, keeping what He has given you until the moment you are called to give it away. And as the glass shatters all around you and you grow dizzy from the intoxicating smell of pure love, get as close to His feet as you can. And know this. It was always meant to fall from your hands. And He is glorified in the shattering."
-I Will Carry You, Angie Smith.
