John 12:3

AN OFFERING OF LOVE

‘Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.’

John 12:3

What Mary brought was not a poet’s song, or a conqueror’s crown, or some great achievement of genius, but an offering of love, and the fragrance of it has floated down the ages as Christ said it should, for it is one of the most lovely deeds that have been recorded in the pages of history. We are only told three things about Mary, the sister of Martha.

I. She ‘sat at Jesus’s feet and heard His Word.’

II. She ‘arose quickly and came unto Him.’

III. She ‘did what she could’ in bringing the best she had.

Here were faith, obedience, and good works. The other Gospels omit her name, perhaps out of regard for her safety, because they were written earlier (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3).

—Rev. F. Harper.

Illustration

‘When the dying Nelson lying in the cockpit of the Victory turned his dimmed eyes to his old comrade and said, “Kiss me, Hardy,” he was expressing a primal need, a hunger for love. The heart of man longs and pants and faints for love. Sometimes our feelings are too deep for words. Does not the pressed hand in the hour of sorrow speak plainer than a thousand words? Mary’s emotion was too deep for language, so she took the box and poured it out to tell how much she loved.’