Beautiful, This Mary of Bethany

She appears three times in Scripture, this quiet one, Mary of Bethany.

A woman unashamedly surrendered to her Lord above all; a disciple, consecrated.

I trace my fingers slowly over the verses tucked in the Gospel accounts, stories that herald her homage to the Lord, disclosing her beautifully zealous heart.

How may I emulate this lovely one whom Jesus praised?

***

The world’s mantra echoes and reverberates: create a steady life, neatly parsed into categories of self-care: work, play, and spend. Yes, shell out your money, spoiling yourself, soothing your conscience by dubbing such expenditures a well-deserved hobby, a reward for enduring the hardships of the daily grind. By all means, devote the lion’s share of each day to brooding, calculating ways to prioritize your sacred personal comfort while simultaneously fretting, diligently constructing a future retirement laced with ease and aimlessness.

How easy it is to slip into this mindset, especially in the West, striving to construct a safe and selfish life, considering it responsible, even noble, while carving God out of the entire equation.

Mary of Bethany tipped such thinking upside down, her heart burning with complete devotion to her Lord. Each account of her actions shimmer: this woman treasured Jesus deeply, rode the tide of self-forgetfulness, did not complain when maligned, and kept her soul bowed in humility.

Mary took the long, eternal view, heaping up treasure where moth and rust did not destroy.

How did she hold fast?

She listened to Jesus. (Luke 10:38-42)

Mary, brimming with faith, sat still and listened, enraptured by Jesus’ every word. Many tend to empathize with Mary’s sister, Martha, a distracted woman who scuttled about serving irritably, moaning to Jesus about all the help she was not receiving.

Jesus renounced worldly wisdom, saying, Martha, Martha, you are terribly distracted, but your sister has chosen the good portion.

What did he mean by the good portion?

Namely, himself. Mary worshipped Jesus, and her tender heart was on display. The Lord was her foundation, her treasure, and her eternal inheritance. She was not primarily consumed with cooking, entertaining, or serving. Things which in and of themselves are good, but when rightly ordered, play second fiddle to beholding Jesus.

The Lord read Mary’s heart and praised her, this devoted one who remained serenely poised, eager to listen, and happy to shun distractions.

*Will you and I dismiss all distractions and linger at Jesus’ feet? Is Jesus our portion? Are our priorities aligned with God’s Word?*

She fell at his feet. (John 11:17-34)

The second story of Mary takes place during a season of weeping. Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus, died, and after several days of mourning, Jesus returned to Bethany. Many neighboring Jews had gathered to console the grief-stricken sisters. When Martha tells Mary that Jesus is calling for her, the Bible says that Mary immediately rose to find him, and many Jews followed her.

Mary spotted the Lord and dropped at his feet, her words aching with belief: Lazarus would not have died if you had been there. Jesus, her Comforter, was so moved, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, that he wept before calling out to Lazarus, raising him back to life. The Jews who followed Mary to the tomb witnessed this miracle, and many hearts were softened, changed as they believed in Jesus.

*Will you and I rise quickly to find Jesus, trust him in our deepest sorrows, and worship at his feet?*

She anointed Jesus feet. (John 12:1-8) (Mark 14:3-9)

This final account of Mary of Bethany is astonishing. As the sisters served Jesus in the house of Simon the leper, Mary broke a precious alabaster flask of pure nard and poured it upon the Lord’s head and feet and brushed it with her hair. The cost of this fragrant perfume was worth an entire year’s wage.

Mary’s love for the Lord eclipsed boundary lines; her extravagance was remarkable. When some disciples grumbled at Mary and scolded her frivolity, arguing that she should have sold the nard to feed the poor, Jesus rose as her only Defender: Leave her alone. She has done a beautiful thing.

Jesus goes on to say: She had done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand before burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.

Do you see the exquisite mural of her surrendered life? Adoration that culminated in the highest praise from God himself.

*Will you and I spend our possessions on the kingdom of Jesus, and joyfully deny ourselves? When others call us foolish, will we stand firmly settled in our faith and allow God to defend us? Are we doing beautiful things for God?*