266 - An Evening in Bethany
- Gwen Diaz
- Sep 23, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 8
SEPTEMBER 23- Nº 266 Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 11:55 – 12:11
The crowds were beginning to gather in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. They came a few days early so they could complete the mandatory cleansing ceremonies before it was time to make their sacrifices. For a variety of reasons, everyone was looking for Jesus. They kept asking each other, “Do you think he is coming?” The chief priests and Pharisees issued an order that if anyone saw Jesus, they had to report it. (The leaders were desperate to arrest him and get him out of the way.)
Then six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany--which was just a few miles from Jerusalem. This is the village where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived. It had only been a few weeks since Jesus had been there and raised Lazarus from the dead.
A man everyone called Simon the Leper, prepared a big meal in Jesus’ honor. Clearly, Simon had been healed from his leprosy or he would not have been able to invite people into his home. Since leprosy was a degenerative disease with no cure at the time, this would have required a miracle (see #226 - August 14). So perhaps this meal was Simon’s way of showing his gratitude to Jesus for healing him.
It is interesting to note that Simon, the Leper who lived in Bethany, is not the same person as Simon, the Pharisee, who lived in Galilee. However, a very similar event took place in his home just a few weeks before (see #233 - August 21).
Lazarus was among the men invited to join Jesus and his disciples at the table, and Martha was there to serve. While the men were eating, Mary walked in with a pint of pure nard, a very expensive perfume worth a year’s wages. It was not unusual to anoint guests with a few drops of perfume when they entered a home, since bathing was infrequent. But this particular spice was very expensive and was usually reserved for the burial process.
Mary poured all the oil that was in her alabaster jar on Jesus’ feet while he reclined at the table. (Some of the Gospel writers mention that she poured some on his head as well) while he reclined at the table. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the beautiful scent of the perfume.
Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples, became very upset. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold so the money could be given to the poor? What a waste!” he exclaimed indignantly. But Judas wasn’t really worried about the poor. The apostle John tells us that Judas said this because he was the treasurer for the disciples, and he liked to help himself to any money that was left over in the money bag!
“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “She has done a beautiful thing for me. She was saving this for my burial, but she has given it to me while I am still with you. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. Mary will be remembered forever for this meaningful gift!”
Mary seemed to be the only one who truly understood that Jesus was about to die!
Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was in Bethany, so they made the two-mile trek from Jerusalem. However, they didn’t come just to see Jesus. They wanted to see Lazarus as well. They had heard that Jesus had raised him from the dead.
The chief priests realized that many of the Jews now believed that Jesus was the Messiah because of what he had done for Lazarus. So, they decided to put Lazarus to death--as well as Jesus.
This is the third time we have run into Mary in the Gospels (see #252 - September 9 and #259 - September 16). Each time she has been humbly kneeling or sitting at Jesus’ feet. This event is no exception.
Because of her willingness to sit quietly and listen, God gave Mary amazing spiritual insight. She seems to be the only person who really understood that Jesus had come to die.
Do you spend time quietly listening at Jesus’ feet? Or is your life too hectic? He has so many special things to share with you if you will take the time to listen!
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