Mary anointed Jesus’
head as he reclined at the table for a meal at the home of Simon the leper. She
was asked, “Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a
high price and the money given to the poor.” Jesus answered the complaints with, “Why do you bother this woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. The poor
you have with you always; but you do not always have Me.”
The closest thing to
a room filled with the scent of perfume that I have ever experienced was when I
visited the Celestial Seasonings tea factory in Boulder, Colorado. In a room where
the peppermint was stored, the enveloping fragrance of the peppermint was so
strong in the air that you could literally taste it. I love peppermint, so it
was exhilarating to me! For me that peppermint would make a great perfume. Could the
scent from a vial of pure perfume in Jesus’ day literally fill that room? Since
many of the disciples were indignant about the “waste” of the perfume, they
certainly did smell it.
This same event,
as recorded in Mark 14:3-9 and John 12:1-8, occurs in Bethany which was about one and
one-half miles east of Jerusalem. It was a place where the sick were cared for
since it was the required distance from the Temple; where Jesus raised Lazarus
from the dead; and where traditionally it is thought that Jesus ascended into
heaven.
Taking care of the
poor in a town like Bethany where there were lots of poor people with needs may
have been upper most in some of the disciples minds, but Jesus was being
honored by Mary, who anointed Him for as if for burial, just days before He was
crucified. As we recall this story, let us remember that Mary did a special
thing, focusing her love and devotion on the Lord. The perfume was about a
year’s salary for a rural worker. Would you be willing to give up a year of
your wages to buy perfume to pour over Jesus’ head?
Lord, may I be as focused on you as Mary was when she anointed your head with that precious oil.
© 2012
by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights
reserved.
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