Chapters 11 to 15 of Mark form a record of the final few days of the Lord’s ministry on earth. In chapter 14, we come to the penultimate day—the day before the trial and the crucifixion of the Lord. It is a full day!
As all the Gospel writers record, Mary’s worship is set against the background of the plotting of the chief priests and others, together with the scheming of Judas. There could be no greater, or starker, contrast between the actions of the many and the devotion of the few.
The circumstances (v. 3)
Who Simon was, and where else he fits into the gospel narrative, is unknown, yet he offered the Lord hospitality. The occupants of the chief offices of society—the Pharisees, the scribes, and the rulers of the people—were united in their desire and their plan to destroy the Savior. In the capital city of the land, Jerusalem, there was no place and no time for the Son of God. Yet, in the house of a leper in the town of Bethany, the Lord found a home in the heart and the life of Simon. The Scripture enjoins, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb. 13:2).
The cost (v. 3)
Apart from the sacrifice of Simon the leper in providing his house and his food to feed those that were present, we see the sacrificial giving of Mary. Worship is costly! It takes time. It takes effort to bring something to the Lord.
Both Matthew and Mark call the gift “spikenard, very precious.” John calls it “spikenard, very costly” (Jn. 12:3). To tell us it was spikenard is to tell us of its purity and, hence, of its value. The added description is to tell us of the quality of the material that was to be lavished on the Savior.
We can notice, too, that she broke the box. She had no more use for the box in which the nard was kept, and she had no further need of the nard once it was bestowed on the Savior. Notice, too, that she poured it on His head. She did not administer the nard sparingly. She gave willingly, and she gave generously. Do we have a similar appreciation of the Lord? Do we give our time and our effort willingly and generously so that we may bring something of such preciousness as we remember the Lord?
The center (v. 3)
Judas and the other disciples who followed his lead saw the woman. The contrast is that Mary saw only the Lord. The Lord said, “Me ye have not always” (v. 7). She could have bestowed time upon the disciples. She could have spent time with Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead. But Mary saw only the Lord. He was the center of her affections and her activity. How important these things are!
You will notice two things:
• She poured it on His head. Both Matthew and Mark mention the head as the place where she poured it. To anoint His head is to acknowledge Him as Messiah and King, having the rightful claim of the heart of the nation.
• John notes that she anointed His feet as well as His head (Jn. 12:3). Considering the Lord was reclined at the table, we judge this to be a separate act of devotion. To anoint His feet is to draw attention to His condescending grace as He traversed this scene.
But to pour the contents of the box upon the head and the feet is to encompass the whole. Apart from the hands being used to partake of the food provided, these would be the only parts of the body visible. As the Lord said, “she is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying” (v.?8). That is, the anointing of the head and the feet was symbolic of an anointing of the whole body.
In a practical sense, we might contrast the life of the Lord with Isaiah’s description of the nation, “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores” (Isa.1:6). Whereas, the Shunamite was able to say of her beloved, “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend” (Song 5:16). We would have to acknowledge that, whether we view the Lord in a particular facet of His person or His ministry or consider the whole, He is altogether lovely!
The calculations (v. 6)
The Lord said of Mary’s act of devotion, “She hath wrought a good work on Me.” What a contrast of evaluations! For Judas, the action was a waste of the ointment (v.
4). The ungodly look on and see our gatherings and our acts of devotion in exactly the same light—a waste of time and energy. However, the key question that must be borne in mind is what does the Lord think? What is His judgment on the matter?
It would appear from Mark’s construction of events that there is a link between the worship of Mary and the decision of Judas to betray the Lord.
• Contrast of values: Mary took “an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she broke the box” (v. 3). Judas sought money as “they…promised to give him money” (v. 11).
• Contrast of appreciation: For Mary, “She hath wrought a good work on Me” (v. 6). Judas asked, “Why was this waste of the ointment made?” (v. 4)
• Contrast of outcomes: For Mary, “She hath wrought a good work on Me” (v. 6). Of Judas, it is recorded, “He sought how he might conveniently betray Him” (v. 11).
• Contrast of memorials: For Mary, “This also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (v. 9). Of Judas, the Lord said, “Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed” (v. 21).
What is most striking of Judas’s actions is that from that first meeting with the Jewish leaders he was focused upon achieving the aim of betraying the Lord: “He sought how he might conveniently betray Him” (v. 11). The use of the imperfect tense in the Greek shows that this became his sole and continuous occupation from that time forward.
The challenge (v. 8)
The Lord said of Mary, “She hath done what she could” (v. 8). As we face the issues of life, the mountain top experiences and the valleys below, may it be said of us that we have done what we could. We might feel that we do not have the gift or the ability to do certain things; we might not be called to a public service amongst the saints, but that should never stop us from doing what we can in the service of the Lord.
It is worth remembering that this was the only anointing that the Lord received prior to His burial. When the other company of women came to anoint the body, the Lord was already risen. We should appreciate also that Mary realized that the Lord’s death was imminent but that He was not going to remain in the tomb long. This anointing was anticipatory, “to anoint My body to the burying” (v. 8). It was an appreciation of the fact that the Lord would rise from the dead in fulfillment of all that He had said. Mary believed what the disciples had been told but had not appreciated for themselves.