This chapter is based on Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-11; Luke 7:36-50; John 11:55-57; 12:1-11.
(HLv 371)
Simon of Bethany was one of the few Pharisees who had openly joined Christ’s followers. He hoped that Jesus might be the Messiah, but had not accepted Him as a Saviour. His character was not transformed; his principles were unchanged.
(HLv 371.1)
Simon had been healed of leprosy, and he desired to show his gratitude. At Christ’s last visit to Bethany he made a feast for the Saviour and His disciples. This feast brought together many of the Jews who closely watched His movements, some with unfriendly eyes.
(HLv 371.2)
According to His custom the Saviour had sought rest at the home of Lazarus. Many of the people flocked to Bethany, some out of sympathy with Jesus, and others from curiosity to see one who had been raised from the dead. With assurance and power, Lazarus declared that Jesus was the Son of God.
(HLv 371.3)
The people were eager to see whether Lazarus would accompany Jesus to Jerusalem and whether the prophet would be crowned king at the Passover. The priests and rulers could hardly wait for the opportunity of removing Him forever from their way. They remembered how often He had baffled their murderous designs, and were fearful that He would remain away. They questioned among themselves, “What think ye, that He will not come to the feast?”
(HLv 371.4)
A council was called. Since the raising of Lazarus the sympathies of the people were so fully with Christ that it would be dangerous to seize Him openly. So the authorities determined to take Him secretly and carry on the trial as quietly as possible. They hoped that when His condemnation became known, the fickle tide of public opinion would set in their favor.
(HLv 371.5)
But so long as Lazarus lived, the priests and rabbis knew they were not secure. The existence of a man who had been four days in the grave and had been restored by a word from Jesus would cause a reaction. The people would be avenged on their leaders for taking the life of One who could perform such a miracle. The Sanhedrin therefore decided that Lazarus also must die.
(HLv 372.1)
While this plotting was going on at Jerusalem, Jesus and His friends were invited to Simon’s feast. At the table Simon sat on one side of the Saviour, and Lazarus, on the other. Martha served, but Mary was earnestly listening to every word from the lips of Jesus. In His mercy, Jesus had pardoned her sins and called forth her brother from the grave, and Mary’s heart was filled with gratitude. She had heard Jesus speak of His approaching death, and she had longed to show Him honor.
(HLv 372.2)
At great personal sacrifice she had purchased an alabaster box of “ointment of spikenard, very costly,” with which to anoint His body. But now many were declaring that He was about to be crowned king. Her grief was turned to joy, and she was eager to be first in honoring her Lord. Breaking her box of ointment, she poured its contents on the head and feet of Jesus; then, as she knelt weeping, moistening them with her tears, she wiped His feet with her long, flowing hair. Her movements might have passed unnoticed, but the ointment filled the room with its fragrance and published her act to all present.
(HLv 372.3)
Judas looked upon this act with great displeasure. He began to whisper his complaints to those near him, throwing reproach on Christ for suffering such waste. Judas, treasurer for the disciples, had secretly drawn from their little store for his own use, thus narrowing their resources to a pittance. He was eager to put into the bag all he could obtain. When something that he did not think essential was bought, he would say, Why was not the cost of this put into the bag that I carry for the poor?
(HLv 372.4)
The act of Mary was in such marked contrast to his selfishness that he was put to shame. He sought to assign a worthy motive for his objection to her gift: “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief.” Had Mary’s ointment been sold and the proceeds fallen into his possession, the poor would have received no benefit.
(HLv 373.1)
As a financier Judas thought himself greatly superior to his fellow disciples, and he had gained a strong influence over them. His professed sympathy for the poor deceived them. The murmur passed round the table, “To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.”
(HLv 373.2)
Mary heard the criticism. Her heart trembled within her. She feared that her sister would reproach her for extravagance. The Master, too, might think her improvident. She was about to shrink away, when the voice of her Lord was heard, “Let her alone; why trouble ye her?” He knew that in this act she had expressed her gratitude for the forgiveness of her sins. Lifting His voice above the murmur of criticism, He said, “She has wrought a good work on Me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying.”
(HLv 373.3)
The fragrant gift which Mary had thought to lavish upon the dead body of the Saviour she poured upon His living form. At the burial its sweetness could only have pervaded the tomb; now it gladdened His heart. Pouring out her love while the Saviour was conscious of her devotion, she was anointing Him for the burial. As He went down into the darkness of His great trial, He carried with Him the memory of that deed, an earnest of the love that would be His from His redeemed ones forever.
(HLv 373.4)
Mary knew not the full significance of her deed of love. She could not explain why she had chosen that occasion for anointing Jesus. The Holy Spirit had planned for her, and she had obeyed His promptings. Inspiration stoops to give no reason. An unseen presence, it moves the heart to action. It is its own justification.
(HLv 374.1)
Christ told Mary the meaning of her act: “In that she hath poured this ointment 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 life was to fill the earth. “Christ hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” Ephesians 5:2.
(HLv 374.2)
“Verily I say unto you,” Christ declared, “Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” The Saviour spoke with certainty concerning His gospel that was to be preached throughout the world. And as far as the gospel extended, Mary’s gift would shed its fragrance, and hearts would be blessed through her unstudied act. Kingdoms would rise and fall, the names of conquerors would be forgotten, but this woman’s deed would be immortalized on the pages of sacred history. Until time should be no more, that broken alabaster box would tell the story of the abundant love of God for a fallen race.
(HLv 374.3)
What a sharp lesson Christ might have given Judas! He who reads the motives of every heart might have opened before those at the feast dark chapters in the experience of Judas. Instead of sympathizing with the poor, he was robbing them of the money intended for their relief. But had Christ unmasked Judas, this would have been urged as a reason for the betrayal. Judas would have gained sympathy, even among the disciples. The Saviour avoided giving him an excuse for his treachery.
(HLv 374.4)
But the look which Jesus cast on Judas convinced him that the Saviour penetrated his hypocrisy and read his contemptible character. And in commending Mary’s action, Christ rebuked Judas. The reproof rankled in his heart, and he went directly to the palace of the high priest and offered to betray Jesus into their hands.
(HLv 375.1)
The leaders of Israel had been given the privilege of receiving Christ as their Saviour, without money and without price. But they refused the precious gift and bought their Lord for thirty pieces of silver.
(HLv 375.2)
Judas grudged Mary’s gift of costly ointment to Jesus. His heart burned with envy that the Saviour should be the recipient of a gift suitable for the monarchs of the earth. For far less than the ointment cost, he betrayed his Lord.
(HLv 375.3)
The disciples were not like Judas. They loved the Saviour but did not rightly appreciate His character. The wise men from the East, who knew so little of Jesus, had shown a truer appreciation of the honor due Him.
(HLv 375.4)
Christ values acts of heartfelt courtesy. He did not refuse the simplest flower plucked by the hand of a child and offered to Him in love. He accepted the offerings of children, and blessed the givers. In the Scriptures, Mary’s anointing of Jesus is mentioned as distinguishing her from the other Marys. Acts of love and reverence for Jesus are an evidence of faith in Him as the Son of God.
(HLv 375.5)
Christ accepted Mary’s wealth of pure affection which His disciples did not, would not, understand. It was the love of Christ that constrained her. That ointment was a symbol of the heart of the giver, the outward demonstration of a love fed by heavenly streams until it overflowed.
(HLv 376.1)
The loneliness of Christ, living the life of humanity, was never appreciated by the disciples as it should have been. He was often grieved. He knew that if they were under the influence of the heavenly angels that accompanied Him, they too would think no offering of sufficient value to declare the heart’s affection.
(HLv 376.2)
When Jesus was no longer with them and they felt as sheep without a shepherd, they began to see how they might have brought gladness to His heart. They no longer cast blame on Mary, but on themselves. Oh, if they could have taken back their censure, presenting the poor as more worthy of the gift than Christ! They felt the reproof keenly as they took from the cross the bruised body of their Lord.
(HLv 376.3)
Today, few appreciate all that Christ is to them. If they did, the great love of Mary would be expressed. Nothing would be thought too costly to give for Christ, no self-denial or self-sacrifice too great to be endured for His sake.
(HLv 376.4)
The words spoken in indignation, “To what purpose is this waste?” brought vividly before Christ the greatest sacrifice ever made—the gift of Himself as the propitiation for a lost world. From a human point of view, the plan of salvation is a wanton waste of mercies and resources. Well may the heavenly host look with amazement on the human family who refuse to be enriched with the boundless love expressed in Christ. Well may they exclaim, Why this great waste?
(HLv 376.5)
But the atonement for a lost world was to be full, abundant, and complete. Christ’s offering could not be restricted so as not to exceed the number who would accept the Gift. The plan of redemption is not a waste because it does not accomplish all that its liberality has provided for. There must be enough and to spare.
(HLv 376.6)
Simon the host was surprised at the conduct of Jesus, and he said in his heart: “This Man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him: for she is a sinner.”
(HLv 377.1)
Because Christ allowed this woman to approach Him, because He did not indignantly spurn her as one whose sins were too great to be forgiven, because He did not show that He realized she had fallen, Simon was tempted to think that Christ was not a prophet. But it was Simon’s ignorance of God and of Christ that led him to think as he did.
(HLv 377.2)
He did not realize that God’s Son must act in God’s way, with compassion, tenderness, and mercy. Simon’s way was to take no notice of Mary’s penitent service. Mary’s act of kissing Christ’s feet and anointing them with ointment was exasperating to his hard-heartedness. He thought that Christ should recognize sinners and rebuke them.
(HLv 377.3)
To this unspoken thought the Saviour answered: “Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee... . There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell Me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And He said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.”
(HLv 377.4)
As did Nathan with David (2 Samuel 12:1-7), Christ threw upon His host the burden of pronouncing sentence on himself. Simon had led into sin the woman he now despised. She had been deeply wronged by him. By the two debtors of the parable, Simon and the woman were represented. Jesus did not design to teach that different degrees of obligation should be felt by the two persons, for each owed a debt of gratitude that never could be repaid. But Jesus desired to show Simon that his sin was as much greater than hers as a debt of five hundred pence exceeds a debt of fifty pence.
(HLv 377.5)
Simon now began to see himself in a new light. He saw how Mary was regarded by One who was more than a prophet. Shame seized upon him, and he realized that he was in the presence of One superior to himself.
(HLv 378.1)
“I entered into thine house,” Christ continued, “thou gavest Me no water for My feet,” but with tears of repentance Mary has washed My feet and wiped them with the hair of her head. “Thou gavest Me no kiss: but this woman,” whom you despise, “since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet.” Christ recounted the opportunities Simon had had to show his appreciation of what his Lord had done for him.
(HLv 378.2)
The Heart Searcher read the motive that led to Mary’s action; He saw also the spirit that prompted Simon’s words. “Seest thou this woman?” He said to him. “I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”
(HLv 378.3)
Simon had thought he honored Jesus by inviting Him to his house. But he now saw himself as he really was. He saw that his religion had been a robe of Pharisaism. He had despised the compassion of Jesus. He had not recognized Him as the representative of God. Mary was a sinner pardoned; he was a sinner unpardoned.
(HLv 378.4)
Simon was touched by the kindness of Jesus in not openly rebuking him before the guests. He had not been treated as he desired Mary to be treated. He saw that Jesus sought by pitying kindness to subdue his heart. Stern denunciation would have hardened him against repentance, but patient admonition convinced him of his error. He saw the magnitude of the debt he owed his Lord. He repented, and the proud Pharisee became a lowly, self-sacrificing disciple.
(HLv 378.5)
Christ knew the circumstances that had shaped Mary’s life. He might have extinguished every spark of hope in her soul, but He did not. He had lifted her from despair and ruin. Seven times she had heard Him rebuke the demons that controlled her heart and mind. She had heard His strong cries to the Father in her behalf. She knew how offensive is sin to His unsullied purity, and in His strength she had overcome.
(HLv 379.1)
When to human eyes her case seemed hopeless, Christ saw in Mary capabilities for good. The plan of redemption has invested humanity with great possibilities, and in Mary these were to be realized. Through His grace she became a partaker of the divine nature. The one who had fallen, whose mind had been a habitation of demons, was brought near to the Saviour in fellowship and ministry. Mary sat at His feet and learned of Him; Mary poured on His head the precious anointing oil and bathed His feet with her tears; Mary stood beside the cross and followed Him to the sepulcher; Mary was first at the tomb after His resurrection; Mary first proclaimed a risen Saviour.
(HLv 379.2)
Jesus knows the circumstances of every soul. You may say, I am sinful, very sinful. You may be; but the worse you are, the more you need Jesus. He turns no weeping, contrite one away. He freely pardons all who come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.
(HLv 379.3)
The souls that turn to Him for refuge, Christ unites to His own divine-human nature. No man or evil angel can impeach them. They stand beside the great Sin Bearer in the light proceeding from the throne of God. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:33, 34.
(HLv 379.4)