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Mary Anoints Jesus
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sold and the proceeds come into his possession, the poor would have
received no benefit.
As a financier, Judas thought of himself as far above his fellow
disciples, and he had gained a strong influence over them. His
professed sympathy for the poor deceived them. The murmur went
round the table, “Why this waste? For this fragrant oil might have
been sold for much and given to the poor.”
Mary heard the criticism. Her heart trembled within her. She
was afraid that her sister would criticize her for extravagance. The
Master, too, might think her wasteful. She was about to shrink away,
when she heard the voice of her Lord, “Let her alone. Why do you
trouble her?” He knew that in this act she had expressed her gratitude
for the forgiveness of her sins. Lifting His voice above the rumblings
of criticism, He said, “She has done a good work for Me. For you
have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do
them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she
could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial.”
The fragrant gift that Mary had thought to lavish on the dead
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body of the Savior she poured on His living form. At His burial its
sweetness could only have filled the tomb; now it gladdened His
heart. She was pouring out her love while the Savior was conscious
of her devotion, even as she was anointing Him for the burial. When
He went down into the darkness of His great trial, He carried with
Him the memory of that deed, a foretaste of the love that would be
His from His redeemed ones forever.
Mary Had Obeyed the Holy Spirit’s Promptings
Mary did not know the full significance of her deed of love.
She could not explain why she had chosen that occasion to anoint
Jesus. The Holy Spirit had planned for her, and she had obeyed
His promptings. Inspiration is not obligated to give its reasons.
An unseen presence, it moves the heart to action. It is its own
justification.
Christ told Mary the meaning of her act: “In pouring this fragrant
oil on My body, she did it for My burial.” As the alabaster box was
broken and filled the house with fragrance, so Christ’s body was to
be broken; but He was to rise from the tomb, and the fragrance of His