40 Lives in 40 Days by John F. MacArthur

Author:John F. MacArthur
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2022-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

21

Mary of Bethany

One thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

LUKE 10:42

In the Gospels, Mary is routinely paired with her sister Martha. They lived with their brother, Lazarus, in the small village of Bethany. That was within easy walking distance of Jerusalem, approximately two miles southeast of the temple’s eastern gate (John 11:18)—just over the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem’s city center. Both Luke and John recorded that Jesus enjoyed hospitality in the home of this family. Bethany was apparently a regular stop for Him in His travels, and this family’s home seems to have become a welcome hub for Jesus during His visits to Judea.

Martha and Mary make a fascinating pair—very different in many ways, but alike in one vital respect: both of them loved Christ. Mary’s devotion shines particularly bright in one famous episode recorded in three of the Gospels. John 12 (with parallel accounts in Matthew 26:6–13 and Mark 14:3–9) records how Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with costly ointment and wiped His feet with her hair. Both Matthew 26:12 and John 12:7 indicate that Mary, in some sense, understood she was anointing Jesus for burial. She must have strongly suspected that her brother’s resurrection would drive Jesus’ enemies to a white-hot hatred, and they would be determined to put Him to death (John 11:53–54). Mary seemed to grasp more clearly than anyone how imminent the threat to Jesus was. That surely intensified her sense of debt and gratitude toward Him, as reflected in her act of worship.

With all the disciples present, the dinner party was a sizable one. Perhaps it was a formal celebration of Lazarus’s return from the dead. If so, this group of friends had come together mainly to express their gratitude to Jesus for what He had done.

Mary knew exactly how best to show gratitude. Her action of anointing Jesus was strikingly similar to another account from earlier in Jesus’ ministry (Luke 7:36–50). At a different gathering, in the home of a different man, a woman “who was a sinner” (v. 37)—apparently a repentant prostitute (v. 39)—had once anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair, exactly like Mary in the John 12 account. In all likelihood, the earlier incident was well known to Mary. She knew the lesson Jesus taught on that occasion: “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much” (v. 47). Mary’s reenactment would therefore have been a deliberate echo of the earlier incident, signifying how much she also loved Jesus and how supremely grateful to Him she was.

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