Mary’s Gift

“And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” — John 12:3

Six days before the Passover festival, Jesus came to Bethany, the village where His friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary lived. They gave a special dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, sat at the table with Him.

Then Mary came in, carrying a jar of perfume. It wasn’t just any perfume. It was made from a plant called nard, and it was very, very expensive. It was worth about a whole year’s wages!

Mary poured the perfume over Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped His feet with her hair.

And the whole house was filled with the beautiful smell of the perfume.

But one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot, objected. Judas was the one who would later betray Jesus. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold, and the money given to the poor?” he said. “It was worth three hundred silver coins!”

Judas didn’t really care about the poor. The Bible tells us that he looked after the disciples’ money bag, and he used to steal from it.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “She has kept this perfume for the day of My burial. You will always have poor people with you, but you won’t always have Me.”

Mary loved Jesus so much that she gave Him the most precious thing she had. She didn’t care what it cost. She didn’t care what people thought. She just wanted to show Jesus how much she loved Him.

And somehow, Mary seemed to understand something the other disciples hadn’t understood yet. Jesus was going to die. In those days, people put perfume on the body of someone who had died. Mary was getting Jesus ready, even before it happened.

Jesus said that what Mary did would be remembered wherever the good news about Him is told, all over the world (Mark 14:9). And here we are, two thousand years later, still telling her story!

Mary gave Jesus her very best, because He was worth it. What would it look like for us to love Jesus like Mary did?

Read it in your Bible: John 12:1–8; Mark 14:3–9

Dear Jesus, you are worth more than anything. Help me to love you with all my heart, like Mary did, and to give you my very best. Amen.