Jesus was perfumed

JESUS WAS PERFUMED
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
John 12:3 3Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard,
an expensiveperfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and
wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled
with the fragrance of the perfume.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Odorous Offering
John 12:3
J.R. Thomson
The fact that three of the evangelists have recordedthis interesting incident,
proves how deep was the impression it made upon the minds of Christ's
followers and friends. We recognize in Mary's gift -
I. AN EVIDENCE OF GRATEFUL LOVE. Mary had many reasons for
regarding Jesus with affectionate thankfulness. To him she was indebted for
many precious lessons in spiritual knowledge. Sitting at his feet, she had
imbibed his incomparable teaching. To him she was indebted for a brother
restoredto life and home. That she appreciatedwhat Jesus had done for her is
abundantly apparent from her conduct on this occasion. And her love is a
rebuke to the cold-heartedness with which many of our Savior's professed

disciples regard him to whom they owe every privilege in the present, and
every prospectfor the future.
II. AN INSTANCE OF CHRIST-LIKE SELF-SACRIFICE. Although the
circumstances ofthe family of Bethany may be presumed to have been easy,
still the costly gift of perfumed unguent here describedwas the fruit of self-
denial. Mary did not offer a common gift, did not give of her superfluity, did
not part with what costher little or nothing. Our offerings to Christ's cause
too seldomin this respectresemble hers. But if we give our hearts to Jesus, it
will be natural in us to render to him offerings which shall be meet
expressions ofour consecration, to serve him with our best.
III. THE WILLINGNESS OF JESUS TO ACCEPT THE OFFERING OF A
FRIEND. One of our Lord's disciples lookedwith cold disapproval upon this
act of ardent love, grudging a gift evidently costlybut not, in his view,
evidently useful. To Jesus himself the tribute was welcome, forit was the
sincere and genuine tribute of affection. Christ had, and has, a human heart;
and he can understand and sympathize with the disposition which is not
satisfiedunless treasure canbe poured out at his feet. He found a meaning in
the gift deeper than any of which the giver was conscious. He saw in the
perfumed unguent the offering for his embalming, for he knew that his death
and burial were at band. They who bring to the Lord Christ any gift which
the heart dictates and the judgment approves, need not fear lesthe should
repulse them. Since he seeks anddesires their love, it must needs gratify him
to receive its genuine expression, whateverform it may assume. It may be said
that this is to take a somewhatsimple and childlike view of religion. Be it so;
still the language and conduct of Christ here recordedassure us that it is a
view which the Lord himself approves. - T.
Biblical Illustrator
Father, glorify Thy name.
John 12:28-30
The glorified name

R. Tuck, B. A.
1. One important aspectof Christian life is the imitation of Christ. But this is
not necessarilydoing the same things that Christ did, but involves the
discoveryof the principles by which His life was ruled, and the imitation of
ways of expressing characterafterwe have gained Christ's principles.
2. A man's ruling principle can bestbe discoveredin his prayers, particularly
in those which are forced on by sudden calamity or pressure. Then all the
guards and formalities around a man are brokendown, and the man reveals
himself in his heart cry to God. The circumstances ofthe text present such an
occasion, and that we may know what was our Lord's ruling principle, let us
study this revealing prayer.
I. THE PRAYER THAT EMBODIESTHE PRINCIPLE OF THE NOBLE
CHRISTLY LIFE. Observe —
1. The apprehension of God that is in it. The characterof our prayer depends
on the name we are able to use for God. Our Lord could only employ the
richest and dearest — Father. This apprehensionincludes some apprehension
of the mystery of life and suffering, and a comforting recognitionof the Divine
purpose. His is a fatherhood of many sons whom He is training for glory.
2. The attitude of soulit indicates.
(1)Perfecttrust in the goodness ofall the Father's arrangements and doings.
(2)Simple and unquestioning obedience.
(3)Intense love making complete self-sacrifice possible.
3. What is involved in the petition — living out to the end such a perfect
sonship that men, throughout the ages, thinking of the life of Jesus, should fill
the name of Father with highest, tenderest, and holiestmeanings. To live for
self is ignoble; to live for God in His characterof Father, the noble life indeed.
II. THE DIVINE RESPONSE TO SUCH A PRAYER.

1. A side of tender comforting — "I have glorified it; that has been the
meaning of all your life's toil and pain." This voice may be heard to cheerall
true-hearted sons of God. Their life has not been lived in vain.
2. A sign of assurance forthe future — "I will," etc. Therefore our Lord may
calmly go on to new scenes oftoil and suffering.
(R. Tuck, B. A.)
The glory of God interpreted in Christ
H. W. Beecher.
The true glory of God must be interpreted in Christ Jesus;and when you
understand what it is that God makes to be His glory; when you understand
that the glory of God is not self-laudation, nor enriching His own power, nor
multiplying His own treasures, but that it is supremely to make others happy;
when you understand that the glory of God means loving other people and not
oneself, mercy and not selfishness, the distribution of His bounty and not the
hoarding it up; when you understand that God sits with all the infinite stores
of redemptive love only to shed them abroad upon men forever and forever,
then you form a different conceptionof what it is for God to reign for His own
glory. If love is His glory; if generosityis His glory; if giving is His glory; if
thinking of the poor is His glory; if strengthening the weak is His glory; if
standing as the defender of the wrongedis His glory; if loving and watching
over every being that He has createdforever and foreveris His glory, then,
blessedbe that teaching which represents that God does reign for His own
glory. That is a glory which is worthy of the Divine regality. It will bring out
blossoms of joy and gladness in heaven and on earth.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The glory of God in Christ crucified
J. McLaurin.

Here shine spotless justice, incomprehensible wisdom, and infinite love, all at
once;none of them darkens or eclipses the other; every one of them gives a
lustre to the rest; they mingle their beams, and shine with united, eternal,
splendour. The just Judge, the merciful Father, the wise Governor — no other
objectgives sucha display of all these perfections;yea, all the objects we know
give not such a display as any one of them. Nowhere does justice appearso
terribly awful, mercy so sweetlyamiable, or wisdom so unfathomably
profound. The glories that are found separatelyin the other works of God, are
found united here. The joys of heaven glorify God's goodness;the pains of hell
glorify His justice; the cross ofChrist glorifies both of them in a more
remarkable way than heaven or hell glorifies any of them. The justice of God
is more awfully displayed in the sufferings of Christ, as the substitute of
sinners, than in the torments of devils; and His mercy is far more brightly
manifested in these sufferings, than in the joys of angels.
(J. McLaurin.)
The glory of God the objectof grace
C. H. Spurgeon.
Whenever God has blessedthe Church, He has securedHimself the glory of
the blessing, though we have had the profit of it. Sometimes He has been
pleasedto redeem His people by might; but then He had so used the power
that all the glory hath come to Him, and His head alone hath worn the crown.
Did He smite Egypt, and lead forth His people with a strong hand and an
outstretchedarm? the glory was not to the rod of Moses, but to the Almighty
powerwhich made the rod so potent. Did He lead His people through the
wilderness and defend them from their enemies? Still, did He, by teaching the
people their dependence upon Him, preserve to Himself all the glory. So that
not MosesorAaron amongstthe priests or prophets could share the honour
with Him. And tell me, if ye will, of slaughteredAnak, and the destructionof
the tribes of Canaan;tell me of Israel's possessing the promised land; tell me
of Philistines routed, and laid heaps on heaps; of Midianites made to fall on
eachother; tell me of kings and princes who fled apace and fell, until the

ground was white, like the snow in Salmon. I will say of every one of these
triumphs, "Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously;" and I will
say at the end of every victory, "CrownHim, crownHim, for He hath done it;
and let His name be exalted and extolled, world without end."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Human glory, what it comes to
J. Saurin.
A moment before he uttered his last sigh he calledthe herald who had carried
his banner before him in all his battles, and commanded him to fastento the
top of a lance the shroud in which the dying prince was soonto be buried.
"Go," saidhe, "carrythe lance, unfurl this banner; and while you lift up this
standard, proclaim, 'This, this is all that remains to Saladin the Great (the
conqueror and the king of the empire) of all his glory.'" Christians, I perform
today the office of this herald. I fasten to the staff of a spearsensualand
intellectual pleasures, worldly riches, and human honours. All these I reduce
to the piece of crape in which you will shortly be buried. This standard of
death I lift up in your sight, and I cry, "This, this is all that will remain to you
of the possessions forwhich you exchangedyour souls."
(J. Saurin.)
Voices from the excellentglory
C. H. Spurgeon.
(Text and Matthew 3:16, 17;Matthew 17:5): —
I. THE THREE TESTIMONIES.
1. When the voices were heard —(1) In relation to Christ's personal
ministry.(a) The first at the commencementof His public ministry.(b) The
secondsome little time after its central point.(c) The last just before its close.

How cheering at the beginning of a greatenterprise to have God's testimony
that He has sent you; how encouraging whenthe labour is heavy and the spirit
faint to receive another affirming word; but best of all to have it when we are
about to depart.(2) In relation to His life and enterprise.(a)The first celestial
witness was given after He had lived for thirty years in obscurity. It was meet
when He first appearedthat there should be some tokenthat He was whatHe
professedto be. It came also before the temptation, for which there could not
be a better forearming. So with us: before temptation, spiritual sustenance.(b)
The secondwas whenour Lord (according to Luke) was about to send out
other seventy disciples. Before extending His agencies ofmercy He receiveda
tokenfor good. When the Lord calls us to wider service;let us go up into the
mountain to pray, and there too we may expect to enjoy the comforting and
strengthening witness of the Spirit.(c) The third came just before His
sufferings and death. It was meet that the Sufferer who must tread the
winepress alone should receive a word meeting the point about which His soul
was most concerned, viz., God's glory.(3) In relation to His habits.(a) The first
came when He was in the attitude of obedience — "fulfilling all
righteousness."Whenyou are in the path of filial obedience you may expect
the Spirit to bear witness with yours that you are born of God.(b) The second
came when He was in devout retirement. He had gone up into the mountain
alone, and when you are there you may expectto receive Divine
testimonies.(c)The third came when about Isis work, preaching in the
Temple. If you are calledto any form of service, under no pretext neglectit, or
you may lose the inward witness.
2. To whom the attestations were given.(1)To an increasing number of
persons. The first to John alone;the secondto five; the last to many. God's
testimony to Christ is an ever growing one.(2)It was given in this wise.(a)The
first to the greatestofmen, yet the voice revealeda greaterthan he.(b) The
secondto the best of men, but the voice bear witness to a better.(c) The third
in the holiestplace, and there it testified to a holier. Jesus is everywhere
magnified beyond all others.
3. To what God bore testimony.(1) The first was to Christ's miraculous origin:
"This is My beloved Son."(2)The secondsealedHis appointment as the Great
Prophet — "Hear Him."(3) The third bore witness to the successofHis work

— "I have glorified it," etc. Some have thought that the three voices attested
our Lord in His threefold office.(a)John came proclaiming the kingdom, and
Jesus was in His baptism proclaimed the chief of the new kingdom.(b) On the
secondoccasion, "HearHim," ordained Him the Prophet of the people.(c)In
the third He was owned as Priest. Is this threefold witness receivedin your
hearts the testimony of God, who cannot lie. Behold Christ well pleasing to the
Father; let Him be well pleasing to you. Hear Him proclaimed as God's
beloved; let Him be the beloved of your hearts. Hear the testimony that He
has glorified God, and remember that His further glorifying God depends in
some measure on you.
4. How were these testimonies given?(1)On the first occasionthe heavens
were opened and the Spirit descended. What if this proclaims to us that by His
obedience our Lord procured the opening of heaven for us that our prayers
might go up and our blessings come down!(2) Heaven was not beheld as
opened the secondtime — the overshadowing cloudrepresentedthe
Mediatorship of Christ veiling the excessive brightness of the Godhead.(3)In
the third our mind rests neither upon the opening of heaven nor on the cloud,
but on the voice. The opening of heaven and the interposition of a Mediator
are but means to the greatend of glorifying God. Let this one greatobject
absorb all our souls.
5. What was it that was spoken?(1)The first time the heavenly voice preached
the gospel, "This is My beloved Son," etc. The gospelis tidings concerning a
blessedperson, and His acceptableness as the chosenof God, and of the Divine
pleasure with those who are "in" Him.(2) The secondtime the voice uttered
the greatcommand, "HearHim." Salvation does not come by seeing, as
Romanists have it. Faith comethby hearing, and not the doctrines of men,
even such as Moses andElias, but Him.(3) On the third occasiontestimony
was given to the gospel's result. It is through the gospelthat God is glorified.
II. INSTRUCTIVE CIRCUMSTANCESCONNECTEDWITH THESE
TESTIMONIES.
1. On eachoccasionJesus was in prayer. Learn that if any would have God
speak comfortably to him, he must speak to God in prayer.

2. Eachtime His sufferings were prominently before Him. John, at the waters
of Jordan, said, "Beholdthe Lamb," etc. On TaborMoses and Elias spoke of
His decease.In the Temple His soulwas troubled at the prospectof His death.
Learn, then, if you desire to see the glory of Christ, as attestedof the Father,
you must dwell much on His death.
3. Eachtime He was honouring the Father. In His baptism by obedience, on
the mountain by devotion, in the Temple His very words were, "Glorify Thy
name." If you would see God's glory and hear His voice you must honour
Him. Conclusion:Receive these testimonies.
1. With assuredconviction.
2. With profound reverence.
3. With unconditional obedience.
4. With joyful confidence.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The best prayer ever offered
W. F. Adeney, M. A.
I. ITS OBJECT.
1. It is unselfish. Personalapprehensionis swallowedup in the craving for
Divine glory. Compare this with Matthew 6:9. Prayer is often too selfish.
2. It seeksthe revealing of God's glory. God is changelessand cannotgrow
more glorious in Himself. But His name is glorified when the beauty of His
characteris revealed. The mountains are not changedwhen the mists lift; but
they are glorified in being unveiled.
3. The particular form is the glory of the Fatherhoodof God. His creative
glory of wisdom and might had been revealedin nature; His regalglory of
justice and government in providence; His highest glory of goodnessawaited

its full manifestation when His Fatherhood would be seenin personal self-
sacrificing love to His children.
II. ITS MOTIVES.
1. The name of God as our Fatherdeserves to be glorified.
2. Christ found His own greatestencouragementin the vision of the glory of
God. So did Moses(Exodus 33:18, 19). We are most strengthenedwhen we
forgetself in God.
3. Christ's work is accomplishedwhen the name of God as our Fatheris
glorified. This name had been dishonoured till Christ raisedit to honour
among His disciples. The Christian is glorified only as he reflects the glory of
God, and this can only be as God is first revealedto him (2 Corinthians 3:18).
III. ITS ANSWER.
1. God's Fatherhoodhad been revealed —(1) In creation, providence, and Old
Testamentrevelation, but dimly and partially.(2) In the incarnation, life,
character, words, and works of Christ, but still not perfectly.
2. It was destined to be revealedmore fully.(1) In the passionof Christ, by the
love of God shown in sustaining His Son, by His holiness and goodness in the
suffering Saviour, and by the greatactof redemption then accomplished.(2)
In the resurrection, and the proof this gave of God's redeeming goodness.(3)
In the fruits of the redemption seenin the history of the Church.(4) Through
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in helping the Church to read aright the
mystery of the Cross, which, after Pentecost, became the central theme of the
Church's praises.
(W. F. Adeney, M. A.)
The changedprayer
A man once complained to his minister that he had prayed for a whole year
that he might enjoy the comforts of religion, but found no answerto his

prayers. The minister replied, "Go home now, and pray, 'Father, glorify Thy
name.'"
The truest and deepestview of life
R. Tuck, B. A.
I. A MAN TAKING THE TRUEST AND DEEPESTVIEW OF LIFE. A
sentence is often a revelation. This is unique, suggestive. Ifwe were to put our
deepestdesires into words would they be this? The worldly man's life is
limited to the self sphere; the very point of this is that Christ had no self
sphere. The former is the shallow, the latter the ennobling view. Observe our
Lord's —
1. Cherishedlife thought. This inspiring thought for Christ and us starts the
question, Will not a cherished sense ofour independence do more for us than
the sense ofdependence, and so of responsibility? Let Christ's life be the
answer. The independent view — I am my own — may be fascinating;but it is
untrue and deteriorating, and sooneror later is found to be such. What is the
condition of the parasite when the tree on which it feeds is dead? or that of the
ivy cut below and made independent of its secretrootings? Whatgoodis an
independent vine branch?
2. Ruling life-force — obedience inspired by affectionfor His Father. Here we
see how all the seeming hardness of dependence is lost in the atmosphere of
love. The wife never finds it hard to obey when she loves. Mere obedience is,
for man, very hard; but obedience out of love is the highest joy; and this deep
joy we find in Christ.
3. Prevailing life-attitude — the activity of submission; for true submission is
not mere bearing, but bearing in doing. This is fully illustrated in the life of
Christ.
II. GOD'S RESPONSETO THE MAN WHO TAKES THIS VIEW OF LIFE.
1. That the deepestwish of His heart has been already realized and He may
read His past in the light of it. All depends on the light in which we read our

past. ReadChrist's in the light thrown by this response and see how it had
been a glorifying of the Father-name of God in —
(1)His own Sonship.
(2)His teachings about the Father.
(3)His brotherhood with men.
2. That the deepestwish of his heart shall yet be realized, and he may go
calmly on into darkness with the assurancethat even his Cross shall glorify
the Father. Deathshall do even more than life. The "forsaking"was a final
triumph of obedience. The will of God was so beautiful that He could even
suffer and die for it. Conclusion:We say, "Godis our Father." Do we say,
"Father, glorify Thy name." Is this our inspiring life secret? In life labour,
relationships, sufferings, bereavements, death, do I honour myself or my
Father?
(R. Tuck, B. A.)
The voice from heaven
F. Godet, D. D., T. Whitelaw, D. D.
The whole multitude heard a noise;but the meaning of the voice was only
perceivedby eachin proportion to his spiritual intelligence. Thus the wild
beastperceives only a sound in the human voice; the trained animal discovers
a meaning, a command, e.g., which it immediately obeys; man alone discerns a
thought.
(F. Godet, D. D.)
The voice from heaven: —
I. THE VOICE.
1. Grosslymisunderstood by the bystanders —(1) As a natural phenomenon,
as thunder.(2) As a supernatural utterance, the speechof an angel — a

significant proof of man's incapacityto understand the words of God (1
Corinthians 2:14).
2. Lovingly by Jesus;as an old and familiar voice, the voice of His Father,
which twice previously had addressedHim out of heaven. It needs a child's
heart to recognize a father's voice.
3. Rightly interpreted again by Jesus — perhaps also by John and his co-
apostles — to whom it spoke in the language of —
(1)Approbation, "I have glorified it."
(2)Consolation, "Willglorify it again."
II. THE PURPOSE OF THE VOICE.
1. Notfor His sake;since He knew His Father always heard Him (chap. John
11:42).
2. But for theirs — to assure them that He was the Father's Son, the heaven-
sent Messiah.Learn—
1. The superiority of faith to unbelief in the understanding of Divine
revelations.
2. The condescensionofChrist in considering man's weaknessand infirmity.
(T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(3) Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard.—Here, again, St. John
alone gives the name of her whom St. Matthew and St. Mark call“a woman,”
and here, too, she is true to the earlier characteras we have it drawn in St.

Luke (Luke 10:40;Luke 10:42). From this passage alsowe know that it was a
“pound” of ointment which she took. The other accounts tell us that it was an
“alabasterbox.” This pound was the Greek litra, the Latin “libra,” the pound
of twelve ounces.
For the “ointment of spikenard,” see Mark 14:3. It may perhaps mean “Nard
Pistik,” or Pistik ointment, the word Pistik being a localname. The fact that
this peculiar word occurs only in these two passagespoints to this as the
probable explanation.
And anointed the feetof Jesus, andwiped his feet with her hair.—St. Matthew
and St. Mark both state that she anointed His head. This was the usual custom
(comp. Note on Luke 7:46, and Psalm23:5); but St. John remembers that the
act of love went beyond that of common esteem, in the depth of its gratitude
and reverence, and anointed the feet, and wiped them with her own hair.
And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.—The ointment was
imported from the Eastin sealedflasks, whichwere broken when it was used.
The strong perfume then escaped, and spreadthrough the house (Mark 14:3).
BensonCommentary
John 12:3-8. Then took Mary a pound of ointment, &c. — See notes on
Matthew 26:6-13;Mark 14:1-9. She did what is here related in tokenof the
warm sense she had of the many favours Christ had conferred on her and her
relations, but especiallyforthe wonderful kindness he had lately shown to her
brother Lazarus. Then saith Judas, Why was not this ointment sold, &c. —
Judas was angry because his Masterhad not takenthe ointment with a view
to sell it, pretending that the price received for it might have been bestowedon
the poor. Nevertheless, his realmotive was covetousness;for as he carriedthe
bag, he thought if his Masterhad sold the ointment, he would have gottenthe
money to keep, and so might have applied part of it to his own private use.
But it is no new thing for the basestmen to covertheir blackestcrimes with
the fair pretence of zealfor the honour of God and the interests of religion.
For three hundred pence — These were Romanpence, and consequently

amounted to nine pounds sevenshillings and sixpence. The expressiononly
intimates a generalguess at the value by a round sum, as we speak, for such
three hundred denarii were, though the correspondentvalue with us is not so.
Against the day of my burying, which now draws nigh, hath she kept this —
Mr. Whiston thinks this is as if our Lord had said, “She has spent but a little
of this ointment, but has reservedthe main part of it to pour on my head some
days hence, which shall be so near my death, that it may be consideredas a
kind of embalming.” But it is unnatural to suppose that, in the transport of
her love and gratitude, she would use this little managementof keeping back
most that was in the vessel;or that, if she had, John would have mentioned the
quantity she took, which was no way to his purpose, or have taken notice of
the room being filled with the odour of it.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
12:1-11 Christ had formerly blamed Martha for being troubled with much
serving. But she did not leave off serving, as some, who when found fault with
for going too far in one way, peevishly run too far another way; she still
served, but within hearing of Christ's gracious words. Mary gave a tokenof
love to Christ, who had given real tokens of his love to her and her family.
God's Anointed should be our Anointed. Has God poured on him the oil of
gladness above his fellows, let us pour on him the ointment of our best
affections. In Judas a foul sin is gilded over with a plausible pretence. We
must not think that those do no acceptable service, who do it not in our way.
The reigning love of money is heart-theft. The grace ofChrist puts kind
comments on pious words and actions, makes the best of what is amiss, and
the most of what is good. Opportunities are to be improved; and those first
and most vigorously, which are likely to be the shortest. To consultto hinder
the further effect of the miracle, by putting Lazarus to death, is such
wickedness, malice, and folly, as cannot be explained, exceptby the desperate
enmity of the human heart againstGod. They resolvedthat the man should
die whom the Lord had raised to life. The successofthe gospeloftenmakes
wickedmen so angry, that they speak and actas if they hoped to obtain a
victory over the Almighty himself.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explainedin the notes at Matthew 26:3-16.
John 12:2
A supper - At the house of Simon the leper, Matthew 26:6.
Lazarus was ... - The names of Martha and Lazarus are mentioned because it
was not in their own house, but in that of Simon. Lazarus is particularly
mentioned, since it was so remarkable that one who had been once dead
should be enjoying againthe endearments of friendship. This shows, also, that
his resurrectionwas no illusion - that he was really restoredto the blessings of
life and friendship. Calmetthinks that this was about two months after his
resurrection, and it is the last that we hear of him. How long he lived is
unknown, nor is it recordedthat he made any communication about the world
of spirits. It is remarkable that none who have been restored to life from the
dead have made any communications respecting that world. See Luke 16:31,
and the notes at 2 Corinthians 12:4.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
3. spikenard—orpure nard, a celebratedaromatic (So 1:12).
anointed the feetof Jesus—and"poured it on His head" (Mt 26:7; Mr 14:3).
The only use of this was to refresh and exhilarate—a gratefulcompliment in
the East, amidst the closenessofa heatedatmosphere, with many guests at a
feast. Such was the form in which Mary's love to Christ, at so much costto
herself, poured itself out.
Matthew Poole's Commentary
Ver. 3-8. Both Matthew and Mark relate this story with some different
circumstances:see the notes upon those two places, where all the differing
circumstances are consideredand explained, and the parts of this history are
more largely explained.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenardvery costly,.... Worththree
hundred pence, according to Judas's estimationof it. This Mary was the other

sisterof Lazarus; See Gill on Matthew 26:7, See Gill on Mark 14:3,
concerning the nature and value of this ointment:
and anointed the feetof Jesus;as he lay upon the bed or couch, at supper:
and wiped his feetwith her hair; See Gill on Luke 7:38.
And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment; see Sol1:3; ointment
of spikenard was very odoriferous: this may be an emblem of the sweetsavour
of Christ, in the ministration of the Gospel, throughout the whole world.
Geneva Study Bible
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed
the feetof Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled
with the odour of the ointment.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
John 12:3-4. To explain the greatquantity of the ointment (12 ounces)as the
outcome of the superabundance of her love (Olshausen), is arbitrary. Mary
did not anoint with the whole pound, but with a portion of it (comp. on John
12:7). On πιστικός,[104]genuine, unadulterated, see on Mark 14:3.
πολυτίμου]belongs to ΜΎΡΟΥ, as ΠΟΛΥΤΕΛ., Mark 14:3.
ΤΟῪς ΠΌΔΑς ΑὐΤΟῦ]repeated, on accountof the correlationwith ΤΑῖς
ΘΡΙΞῚΝ ΑὐΤῆς, in order to make prominent the greatness ofthe love; with
her hairs, His feet.
ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς]ἐκ causal. Comp. Matthew 23:25;Revelation8:5; Plat. Phaedr.
p. 235 C; Dem. 581. 26, et al.

εἷς ἐκ τ. ΜΑΘ. Ἀ.] the rest did not agree with him; but it was Judas, etc.
ὁ μέλλων, κ.τ.λ.]This utterance stoodin truth already in psychological
connectionwith this destiny; see on John 6:71.
[104]If John adopted this word from Mark,—which, considering the rareness
of its occurrence,is probable, and may have been done quite involuntarily,—
this shows no literary dependence, and does not justify the suspicion that he
also drew the subject-matter from this source (Hilgenfeld). Should πιστιχός be
the adjective of a proper name (Pistic), all objectionwould disappear of itself.
Comp. on Mark 14:3, note 2. Goth. also has pistikeinis.
Expositor's Greek Testament
John 12:3. Ἡ οὖν Μσρία … The third member of the Bethany family appears
also in character, λαβοῦσα λίτρανμύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμου. λίτρα
(Lat. libra), the unit of weight in the Romanempire, slightly over eleven
ounces avoirdupois. μύρον (from μύρω, to trickle, or from μύρρα, myrrh, the
juice of the Arabian myrtle) is any unguent, more costly and luxurious than
the ordinary ἔλαιον. Cf. Luke 7:46, and Trench, Synonyms. νάρδος, “the head
or spike of a fragrant EastIndian plant belonging to the genus Valeriana,
which yields a juice of delicious odour which the ancients used in the
preparation of a most precious ointment”. Thayer, πιστικῆς is sometimes
derived from πίστις, and rendered “genuine,” γνήσιος, δόκιμος. Thus
Euthymius, ἀκράτουκαὶ καταπεπιστευμένης εἰς καθαρότητα,unadulterated
and guaranteedpure. But πιστός is the common form; cf. Θηρικλέους πιστὸν
τέκνον, Theopomp. in Com. Frag. Some suppose it indicates the name of the
place where the nard was obtained. Thus Augustine: “Quodait ‘pistici,’
locum aliquem credere debemus, unde hoc erat unguentum pretiosum”.
Similarly some modern scholars derive it from Opis (sc. Opistike), a
Babylonian town. In the ClassicalReview (July, 1890)Mr. Bennett suggests
that it should be written πιστακῆς, and that it refers to the Pistacia
Terebinthus, which grows in Cyprus, Chios, and Palestine, and yields a

turpentine in such inconsiderable quantities as to be very costly. The word is
most fully discussedby Fritzsche on Mark 14:3, who argues at greatlength
and with much learning for the meaning “drinkable”. He quotes Athenaeus in
proof that some ointments were drunk, mixed with wine. πιστός is the word
commonly used for “potable,” as in Aesch., Prom. Vinct., 480, where
Prometheus says man had no defence againstdisease οὔτε βρώσιμον, οὐ
χριστὸν, οὔτε πιστόν. And Fritzsche holds that while πιστός means “qui bibi
potest,” πιστικός means “qui facile bibi potest”. The weightand nature of the
ointment are specifiedto give force to the added πολυτίμου;see John12:5.—
ἤλειψε τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, Mt. and Mk. say “the head,” which was the
more natural but less significant, and in the circumstances less convenient,
mode of disposing of the ointment.—κα ἐξέμαξε … αὐτοῦ, “andwiped High
feet with her hair”. Holtzmann thinks this an infelicitous combination of
Mark 14:3 and Luke 7:38; infelicitous because the anointing of the feet which
was appropriate in the humbled penitent was not so in Mary’s case;and the
drying with her hair which was suitable where tears had fallen was unsuitable
where anointing had takenplace, for the unguent should have been allowedto
remain. This, however, is infelicitous criticism. In Aristoph., Wasps, 607, the
daughter anoints her father’s feet: ἡ θυγάτηρ… τὼ πόδʼ ἀλείφῃ;and if, as
Fritzsche supposes, the ointment was liquid, there is nothing inappropriate
but the reverse in the wiping with the hair.—ἡ δὲ οἰκία ἐπληρώθη ἐκ τῆς
ὀσμῆς τοῦ μυροῦ, atonce attracting attention and betraying the costliness of
the offering.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
3. took Mary a pound] S. John alone gives her name and the amount of
ointment. The pound of 12 ounces is meant. So large a quantity of a substance
so costly is evidence of her over-flowing love. Comp. John 19:39.
ointment of spikenard] The Greek expressionis a rare one, and occurs
elsewhere onlyMark 14:3, which S. John very likely had seen: his accounthas
all the independence of that of an eye-witness, but may have been influenced
by the Synoptic narratives. The meaning of the Greek is not certain: it may

mean (1) ‘genuine nard,’ and spikenardwas often adulterated; or (2)
‘drinkable, liquid nard,’ and unguents were sometimes drunk; or (3) ‘Pistic
nard,’ ‘Pistic’ being supposedto be a localadjective. But no place from which
such an adjective could come appears to be known. Of the other two
explanations the first is to be preferred.
very costly]Horace offers to give a cask ofwine for a very small box of it;
‘Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum.’ Odes iv. xii. 17.
anointed the feet] The two Synoptists mention only the usual (Psalm23:5)
anointing of the head; S. John records the less usual act, which again is
evidence of Mary’s devotion. The restof this verse is peculiar to S. John, and
shews that he was present.
Bengel's Gnomen
John 12:3. Ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς, owing to [“with”] the odour) It was at this very
odour that Judas took offence.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 3. - Mary therefore took a pound (the synoptists Matthew and Mark say
"an alabaster,"i.e. a flask made of the costlyspar, which was peculiarly
adapted to the preservationof liquid perfume, hermetically sealedbefore it
was broken for immediate use. The fact, as stated by Matthew and Mark, is
inconsistentwith her reserving any of the precious fluid for another occasion)
of ointment ("liquid perfume," sometimes added to the more ordinary oil), of
pure (or possibly; pistie) nard. Mark uses this unusual word πιστικός, which
belongs to later Greek. The derivation of πιστκτικός from πίνω, equivalent to
"potable," is not appropriate in meaning, though this "nard" was used for
perfuming wine. In Mark 14:3 also the Authorized Version translates it
"spikenard," as it does here (cf. also Song of Solomon 1:12 and Song 4:13, 14,
where Hebrew ֵ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ד‬ְּ corresponds with νάρδος). But the one place where the
word was supposedto be found in Aristotle is now seennot to be πισττικός,

but πειστικός, trustworthy, or unadulterated. It is possible that the word may
have had a localgeographicalvalue, belonging to some proper name, and is
untranslatable. Very precious. Mark (Mark 14:3) uses the word πολυτελοῦς,
and Matthew (Matthew 26:7) βαρυτίμου.Johnappears to combine the idea of
both words in his πολυτίμον. Eachof the synoptists severallymentions a fact
which John omits - that Mary broke the alabasterbox, and poured the costly
unguent on his head in rich abundance, as though hers had been the royal or
high-priestly anointing (cf. Psalm133.);but John shows that this at leastwas
not all she did. She anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair:
and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Thoma thinks that,
conformably with John's idea, the anointing of the head of the true High
Priestwas the work of God alone, quoting Philo's comment on Leviticus
21:10, etc., "The head of the Logos, as High Priest, is anointed with oil, i.e. his
innermost essence gleams with dazzling light;" and adds, that as the feetof
the high priest were washedwith waterfrom recentdefilement of the world's
dust, so God's anointed Lamb and Priestwas anointed on his feet with the
spikenard of faith, the best and costliestthing that man could offer. So
profound an analogyseems to us contrary to the simplicity of the narrative,
which is perfectly natural in its form. The perfumed nard ran down to the
Savior's feet and the skirts of his garments, and there accumulating, the
significant actis further recounted how Mary wiped off the superfluous
perfume from his feetwith the tresses ofher loosenedhair. This simple act
proclaimed the self-humiliation and adoration of her unbounded love, seeing
that the loosening of a woman's hair was a mark of unusual self-
abandonment, Many most unnecessaryinferences have been drawn from this.
John adds an interesting feature, revealing the sensitive eye-witness ofthe
scene, "andthe house was filled with the odor of the ointment;" and the whole
house of Godever since has been fragrant with her immortal and prophetic
act.
Vincent's Word Studies
A pound (λίτραν)
Only here and John 19:39. Matthew and Mark, ἀλάβαστρον, a flask.

Of spikenard (νάρδου πιστικῆς)
So Mark. See on Mark 14:3.
Very precious (πολυτίμου)
Literally, of much value. Matthew has βαρυτίμου, ofweighty value.
Anointed
See on John 11:2.
Feet
The Synoptists mention only the pouring on the head.
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Verses 1-11
Verses 1-16
John 12:1-16
Then Jesus six days before the Passover.
--The following calendarof the Passoverweekis takenfrom Lightfoot (2.586):

NISAN IX The Sabbath. Six days before the Passover, Jesus sups with
Lazarus at the going out of the Sabbath, when according to the custom of that
country their suppers were more liberal.
NISAN X Sunday. Five days before the Passover, Jesus goes to Jerusalemon
an ass, and in the evening returns to Bethany (Mark 11:11). On this day the
lamb was taken, and kept till the Passover(Exodus 12:1-51), on which day this
Lamb of God presentedHimself, who was the Antitype of that ride.
NISAN XI Monday. Four days before the Passover, He goes to Jerusalem
again;curseth the unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21:18;Mark 11:12);in the
evening He returns againto Bethany (Mark 6:19).
NISAN XII Tuesday. Three days before the Passover, He goes againto
Jerusalem;His disciples observe how the fig tree was withered (Mark 11:20).
In the evening going back to Bethany, and sitting on the Mount of Olives, He
foretelleth the destruction of the Temple and city (Matthew 24:1-51), and
discourses those things which are contained in Matthew 25:1-46.
NISAN XIII Wednesday. This day He passethawayin Bethany. At the coming
in of this night, the whole nation apply themselves to put away all leaven.
NISAN XIV Thursday. He sends two of His disciples to getready the
Passover. He Himself enters Jerusalemin the afternoon. In the evening eats
the Passover, institutes the Eucharist: is taken, and almostall the night had
before the Courts of Judicature.
NISAN XV Friday. Afternoon, He is crucified.
NISAN XVI Saturday. He keeps the Sabbath in the grave.
NISAN XVII The Lord’s Day. He riseth again.
Came to Bethany
The arrival of the Passovercaravan
Coming into Bethany, the nearestpoint of the greatroad to Galilaeans’Hill,
the caravanbroke up; the company dispersed to the south and north, some
seeking forhouses in which they could lodge, others fixing on the ground

where they meant to encamp. Those marchedround Olivet to the south,
following the greatroad, crossing the Cedron by a bridge, and entering the
Holy City by the SheepGate, near Antonio; these mounted by the short path
to the top of Olivet, glancing at the flowers and herbage, and plucking twigs
and branches as they climbed. Some families, having brought their tents with
them from Galilee, could at once proceedto stake the ground; but the
multitude were contentwith the booths called Succoth, built in the same rude
style as those in which their father Israelhad dwelt. Four stakesbeing cut and
driven in the soil, long reeds were drawn, one by one, round and through
them. These reeds, being in turn crossedand closedwith leaves, made a small
greenbower, open on one side only, yielding the women a rude sort of privacy,
and covering the young ones with a frail defence from both noontide heat and
midnight dew. The people had much to do, and very little time in which it
could be done. At sundown, when the shofa sounded, Sabbath would begin;
then every hand must cease its labour, even though the tent were unpitched,
the booth unbuilt, the children exposed, the skies darkening into storm.
Consequently the poles must be cut, the leaves and branches gathered, the
tents fixed, the water fetchedfrom the wells, the bread baked, the cattle
penned, the beds unpacked and spread, the supper of herbs and olives cooked
before the sofa sounded from the Temple wall. But everyone helped. While the
men drove stakes into the ground and propped them with stones, the women
wove them togetherwith twigs and leaves, the girls ran off to the springs for
water, the lads put up the camels and led out the sheepto graze. In two or
three hours a new city had sprung up on the Galilaeans’Hill--a city of booths
and tents--more noisy, perhaps more populous, than even the turbulent city
within the walls. This Galilaeans’Hill made only one field in a greatlandscape
of booths and tents. All Jewryhad sent up her children to the feast, and each
province arrayed its members on a particular site. The men of Sharon
swarmedover Mount Gideon, the men of Hebron occupiedthe Plain of
Rephaim. From Pilate’s roof on Mount Zion the lines and groups of this vast
encampment could be followedby an observer’s eye down the valley of Gihon,
peeping from among the fruit trees about Siloam, dotting the long plain of
Rephaim, trespassing evenon the Mount of Offence, and darkening the grand
masses ofhill from Olivet towards Mizpeh. All Jewryappeared to be
encamped about the Temple Mount. From sundown all was quiet on the

hillsides and on the valley, only the priests and doctors, the Temple guards,
the money changers, the pigeondealers, the bakers of shewbread, the altar
servants being astir and at their work. There was no Sabbath in sacredthings.
But everywhere, save in the Temple Courts, traffic was stayed, movement
arrested, life itself all but extinct. (Hepworth Dixon.)
There they made Him a supper
Jesus honoured
I. BY IMPROMPTUACTS. One of the plainest proofs of the inspiration of
the Bible is its selectionof facts for the world’s instruction. Its standard of
utility is not ours. Acts to us unimportant are given a prominence that arouses
our curiosity and lead to profitable study. Thus the single act in Jacob’s life,
which is used as a proof of his faith in Hebrews 11:1-40, is his blessing the sons
of Josephon his dying bed. We should have selectedthe scene at Bethel.
Nothing gives such a solemnity to the last judgment as the picture of the
separationof goodand bad. On what ground? Not on that of an intelligent
and determined rejectionof Christ’s claims or of pronounced and heroic
service, but upon what we should call the waste and forgottenmaterials of
life--things done so naturally and thoughtlessly that both cry out, “When saw
we Thee,” etc. And so, according to the common standard, these two acts here
of unpremeditated honour are given undue importance. The anointing was
done in a few moments, yet Jesus selectedthatone act as a service never to be
forgotten. The scene onthe day following had no greatutility. A modem
reporter would have calledit a simple outburst of popular enthusiasm. But
Jesus neededthese songs of welcome andprized them.
II. BY UNCALCULATED LOVE. Paul declares that without love we and our
works are unprofitable, and John makes it the sum of all virtues. We live in
times of great religious activity. The poor in body are with us--the poor souls
of heathens are yonder. We do a good dealfor both, and we do well. Yet
because Christianwork is so highly organized and reportable we need the

lessonof Mary’s uncalculating love. We may be inside the greatcircle of
Christian beneficence, and yet lack Mary’s “good part.” The institutions of
Christianity open avenues to pride and ostentationnever knownbefore. The
machinery of benevolence may exhaust the soul until all its sweetnessand
grace are wasted. We may shine in use and yet lack the ineffable charm and
grace ofa life hid with Christ in God. (Monday Club Sermons.)
Bethany and its feast
The house in which we find ourselves is that of Simon the leper (Matthew
26:1-75;Mark 14:1-72). The feastis a greatone; but Christ is the centre, and
gives to it and the guests all their significance. Letus considerthe latter in
their relation to Christ.
I. SIMON ENTERTAINING. He had known Christ before, probably first
through his leprosy. Our first interview with Christ is respecting our moral
leprosy. But Simon finds that he has much more to do with Jesus than merely
for His cure: therefore he must have Him under his roof. So our
acquaintanceshipmust be a companionship, and Christ must sit at our table.
This is the sinner’s side of the gospel. Here it is, not Christ receiving the
sinner, but the sinner Christ. We must not overlook either side.
II. LAZARUS FEASTING. Whata feast, what a company! Simon healed,
Lazarus raised, dipping into the same dish, drinking of the same cup with
Christ the Healer and Raiser. How Lazarus first became acquaintedwith
Christ we know not; but it was his death that had brought about the special
closeness ofcontact--type now of risen saints who are to take their places at
the marriage supper of the Lamb. What has Lazarus now but to gaze and
listen? This is our true posture who have died and risen with Christ--listening,
not bustling and talking. There is a time for both.

III. MARTHA SERVING. Her usual employment, lowly but not leastblessed;
like His who came to serve. Angels might covet service to Christ in any form,
were it for nothing else than near contactwith Him. “Inasmuchas ye have
done it,” etc.
IV. MARY ANOINTING--notentertaining, feasting, serving, but doing what
some would considera useless thing. Yet her act gets most notice. Christ says
nothing to Simon, etc. It is no labour, suffering, etc., that gets the fullest
commendation but love. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The supper at Bethany
Note
I. THE ABOUNDING PROOFSOF OUR LORD’S GREATEST
MIRACLES. Here was Lazarus. No one could pretend that his resurrection
was an optical illusion. The same proofs attend the mightier miracle of
Christ’s resurrection(Luke 24:42). We do well to remember this in this
scepticalage.
II. THE UNKINDNESS AND DISCOURAGEMENTSCHRIST’S FRIENDS
RECEIVE. Mary thought nothing too greatand goodto expend on such a
Saviour. Greatlyloved, she thought she could not show to much love in
return. But she was blamed by those who had lesserviews than hers of the
dignity of Christ’s person and of their ownobligations to Him. There are only
too many of the same spirit, who begrudge nothing to push trade or advance
science, but count it waste to spend money on Christ’s cause. We must not
allow ourselves to be moved from well doing by such. It is vain to expect men
to do much for Christ who have no sense of debt to Him. We must pity them,
but work on. He who pleaded the cause ofMary will not forgetthe “cup of
cold water.”

III. THE DESPERATEHARDNESS AND UNBELIEF OF THE HUMAN
HEART.
1. Unbelief in the chief priests (John 12:10-11), who would rather commit a
murder than confess themselves in the wrong.
2. Hardness in Judas, who after this could betray Christ (1 Corinthians
10:12). (Bp. Ryle.)
The true Church
I. ITS INTERNAL ASPECT.
1. Christ as the central figure, “Theymade Him a supper.” Lazarus was
conspicuous, but Christ was the centre of attraction. In the true Church
Christ is in the “midst,” and in all things has the preeminence.
2. A variety of guests. Lazarus silent, Martha busy, Mary tender, Simon
healed and grateful. The true Church embraces all shades of character.
3. The presence of an incongruous character. Judas partaking of the feast, but
unsympathetic. He shows three base things
4. The display of genuine devotion. Mary’s actwas
(a) In principle. She wrought a goodwork
(b) In extent. She did what she could.
(c) In reason--againstthe day of Christ’s burying.
II. ITS EXTERNALINFLUENCE.
1. Some were attractedby curiosity (John 12:9). The wonderful fact on which
the Church’s theologyis founded, as well as the moral revolutions it is
constantly effecting, have a natural tendency to rouse inquisitiveness. Hence
the questions, criticisms, and discussions in society, public halls and literature.

2. Some men attractedby malice (John 12:10). The determination of the
priests was
Prodigality praiseworthy
In the practicalworking of goodagencies, there must almost always be a
certain prodigality. The light which illuminates this speck of a world is but a
single beam in comparisonwith that immense body of light which passesoff,
to be lost, apparently, in endless space. Nature produces a hundred seeds for
everyone which comes to maturity; and at every sculptor’s feet there is an
unheeded pile of marble chips which have been sacrificedto the fulfilment of
the artist’s design. If this is waste, then what the world wants is waste--waste
of precious seedin sowing it, late and early, by the wayside, in thorny places,
beside all waters. And what many a Sunday Schoolwants is more waste like
this--waste of money and time and effort over an apparently hopeless
enterprise, waste of thought and speechand prayer in behalf of those for
whom these seemto be spent in vain. (H. O. Trumbull, D. D.)
The fragrance oftrue piety
When I was in Paris, I used to rise early and sit at my open window. I always
knew when the stores beneathme were open; for one was a flower store, and
from its numberless roses, and heaps of mignonette, arose suchsweet, sweet
fragrance, that it proclaimed what was done. It seems to me that Christians
should be as a flower store, and that the odour of sanctity should betray them
whereverthey are. Not that they should go about obtruding themselves and
their actions on others, with the cant of usefulness, but that they should live
the purity and joy of religion, so that men might see the desirablenessofit,
both for the sake ofnobleness, and for the enjoyment both of this world and
that which is to come. (H. W. Beecher.)
Powerof perfumes
Lieutenant Conder, in his “TentWork in Palestine,” mentions that the
perfume of the orange groves is detectedmany miles from Jaffa. (H. O.
Mackey.)

The lasting perfume of pious deeds
It has been shownthat the odoriferous molecule of musk is infinitesimally
small. No power has yet been conceivedto enable the human eye to see one of
the atoms of musk, yet the organs of smell have the sensitivenessto detect
them. Their smallness cannoteven be imagined, and the same grain of musk
undergoes absolutelyno diminution in weight. A single drop of the oil of
thyme, ground down with a piece of sugar and a little alcohol, will
communicate its odour to twenty-five gallons of water. Haller kept for forty
years papers perfumed with one grain of ambergris. After this time the odour
was as strong as ever. And so the perfume of this generous gift to Christ will
last throughout all time, and be carriedover the whole world.
The philosophy of beneficence
He who selfishly hoards his joys, thinking thus to increase them, is like a man
who looks athis granary, and says, “Notonly will I protect my grain from
mice and birds, but neither the ground nor the mill shall have it.” And so, in
the spring, he walks around his little pit of corn, and exclaims, “How wasteful
are my neighbours, throwing awaywhole handfuls of grain!” But autumn
comes;and, while he has only his few poor bushels, their fields are yellow with
an abundant harvest. “There is that scatterethand yet increaseth.”
Motive for greatgifts
A poor Protestantcongregationin Lyons was trying to build a small house for
their public worship. An old soldier brought all his three months’ earnings.
“Canyou spare so much?” askedthe minister. “My Saviour spared not
Himself,” he answered, “but freely gave His life for me; surely I can spare one
quarter of a year’s earnings to extend His kingdom on earth.” Then saith one
of His disciples, Judas Iscariot.
Here is
I. A FOUL INIQUITY gilded over with a specious pretence.

II. WORLDLY WISDOM passing censure on PIOUS ZEAL.
III. Charity to the poor made a colour for opposing an actof piety to Christ.
(M. Henry.)
Mary’s offering: criticisedand vindicated
I. THE BETRAYER’S CRITICISMOF MARY’S OFFERING.An eminent
statesmanonce saidthat critics were men who had failed. What a lurid light
this definition casts overthe conduct of Judas at this hour! Moreover,
criticism is too often the outcome of an utter incapacity to appreciate, arising
from inferiority on the part of the critic. Judas, too, was not only too prosaic,
but was also too officialto be touched by the beauty of this deed. It is a hard
thing for any man to be the treasurerof one societyand maintain the breadth
of his humanity. Judas felt that his “bag” had greaterclaims than his Saviour.
Then, again, as a thief he could not understand that there are some offerings
which cannot be sold, but which lose all their sacrednessthe moment you put
them under the auctioneer’s hammer; that in this instance the alabasterbox
must be broken in the giving, and that there are offerings the value of which
the giver never counts.
II. OUR LORD’S VINDICATION OF MARY AND HER OFFERING.
1. He bade Judas and the other disciples whom he had induced to repeat his
cry (Matthew 26:8; Mark 14:4) to “let her alone.”
2. He not only vindicated the deed, but also explained its meaning. What a
gracious constructionHe puts upon our poor services whenthey are
prompted by love! That little child of yours wants to give you a present on
your birthday. She buys it a week orso before the day. You notice some
mysterious movements and looks, andthere are little whispers heard all over
the house. She confides in her little brother; and he, too, looks very wise and
then very excited. At lastthe pressure is too great, the safetyvalve of speech

gives way, and out comes the secret;then there is a rush out of the room and
back again, and then the disclosure of a present which all the cupboards in the
house could not conceala moment longer. The present is thrust on your lap,
and young eyes shootlight and love into yours. It has come before the proper
date but it is all the better for that. Mary, on this occasion, was like that little
child, she could keepher alabasterbox of ointment no longer; and what had
been intended for the dead body was now poured, in the prodigality and
impatience of an overflowing love, over His living form. Jesus knew all, and
rejoicedover a love which had ante-dated its purpose, and given to the living
Lord what had been kept for His burial.
3. Having done this, He emphasized the urgency for such an actas compared
with the duty to the poor, who would remain when He had vanished from
their sight and this actwould be no longer possible. What they desiredto do to
Him, whether it were Mary to anoint, or Judas to betray, must be done
quickly. (D. Davies.)
John 12:1-9
A PORTRAIT OF EXTRAVAGANT WORSHIP
Intro: The word “extravagant” is defined as “1. spending too much:
characterizedby spending excessivelyorwastefully; 2. beyond what is
reasonable:exaggeratedorunreasonable;3. unreasonablyhigh in price:
unreasonably high in price or cost;4. flamboyant: profusely or exaggeratedly
decorated, decorative, orshowy.”[i] It has the idea of “going overboard, of
doing too much.” Our text talks about a woman named Mary. We are told
that she gave a gift to Jesus that some people thought was overboard. Some
people thought what Mary did for Jesus was excessive,overthe top, simply
too much. In other words, many thought Mary’s gift to Jesus was
extravagant.
Now, I would be the first to agree that many things in our societyare
extravagant. When I hear of someone spending 2 million dollars on a

wedding, I think that is extravagant, over the top, simply too much! When I
hear of someone spending $10,000for one night in a hotel room, I think that is
extravagant. I think spending $250,000onan automobile is extravagant. I
could go on and on telling you what I think is extravagant.
Now, often the word “extravagant” has negative connotations. It is used in
a bad way. And, when we see people take the blessings they have been given
by the Lord and squander them on themselves, it is a bad thing. However,
when a person expresses theirlove and worship for Jesus Christ in an
extravagantmanner, there is nothing negative about that! After all, He is
worthy of everything we can render to Him, because all we have comes from
Him anyway. No gift is excessive;no expressionof love is over the top, and no
form of worship should ever be consideredtoo extravagant to give to Jesus.
I would like to take a few minutes to look in on this scene as it is presented
in our text today. I think the worship of Mary has much to teachus about
what our own worship of the Lord Jesus shouldbe like. Let’s look into these
verses togetherand learn how to worship our Savior in an extravagant
manner. I want to preachfor a few minutes on A Portrait Of Extravagant
Worship.
I. THE EXPENSE OF HER WORSHIP WAS EXTRAVAGANT
A. She broke a box of ointment and poured it on the head of Jesus and the feet
of Jesus, See Mark 14:3. This ointment was valued at 300 pence. A pence was
the daily wage ofthe average worker. Therefore,in modern terms, it would be
worth fifteen and twenty thousand dollars!
This spikenard was produced from a rare plant that grew in India. It
was hard to acquire and it was very expensive. People were forcedto save for
many years just to be able to provide enough ointment for their own funeral.
B. In the breaking of this box, two ancienteasterncustoms are in view. The
first has to do with the breaking of glasses. Whena distinguished person ate in
a home, often the glass they had used was broken to prevent a lesserperson

from using it in the future. This may have been in Mary's mind as she broken
the box.
Another custom had to do with burial rituals. After the body of the
deceasedhad been washedand anointed, the box that had contained the
embalming spices was brokenand the fragments were buried with the
individual.
Perhaps these were in Mary's mind. However, I like to imagine that
she broke the vesselso that she might extract every drop of ointment for use
on the Lord Jesus.
C. Regardlessofthe reason, one thing is clear:Mary gave everything she
possessedto the Lord Jesus Christ! I wonder, have we broken the alabaster
box of our life and poured out ourselves, every drop for Him? This is the
thought that occupiedthe mind of Paul as he facedhis own death, 2 Tim. 4:6!
D. We should look at our lives and ask ourselves if we have given everything
we have and are to Him. You see, Mary's sacrifice was the ultimate expression
of her love and worship of the Lord Jesus. She gave all she had! After all,
Jesus said, “She hath done what she could,” Mark 14:8.
Have we placedeverything we are on the altar for Him? Think about it
seriously. What have you given to Him and what have you held back for
yourself? When we love Jesus with all of our hearts, and when He occupies
the proper place within our hearts, no price will be too greatand no gift too
extravagantto give to Him for all He has given to us!
(Ill. 0. Henry's short story called"The Gift of the Magi," illustrates the
idea very well. It is the story of a young couple named Della and Jim. They
were a poor couple but they loved eachother deeply. Eachone had their own
unique possession. Della's hair was her pride and joy. When she let her hair
down it was like a robe on her back. Jim had a gold watch, which his father
had given him.

On the day before Christmas, Della had exactly$1.87 with which to
buy Jim a present. She wanted to gethim something he would really like, but
she knew that she could not get much with a $1.87. She did the only thing she
could do. She went and sold her hair for $20.00. With the money she bought a
platinum chain for Jim's precious watch.
Jim came home from work that night. When he saw Della's shorn
head, he was left speechless. Slowlyhe handed her his gift. His gift was a setof
expensive tortoise-shellcombs with jewelededges for her lovely hair. He had
sold his gold watch to buy them for her. Eachhad given all he or she had to
give.)
II. THE EXPRESSIONOF HER WORSHIP WAS EXTRAVAGANT
A. In Christ's day, people did not sit at a table to eat their meals. The tables
they used were low to the floor, and the people reclined around the table at
meal time. Typically, their heads were near the table while their feet were
farther away. This would mean that anyone walking up to a person in such a
position would be considerablytaller than the person at the table. It is,
therefore, assuredthat Mary would have assumed a kneeling position near
Jesus, in order to anoint His head and His feet with the ointment.
In this one moment of time, Mary was making a great statementof
surrender. By kneeling to Him and anointing Him, she was declaring her faith
in Him as the Messiah. She was telling everyone who saw her do what she did
that her faith was in the Lord Jesus Christ. She, at that moment, surrendered
all to Him!
B. By her selfless actoflove and worship, Mary was making a tremendous
statementconcerning Who she believed Jesus to be. Four classesofpeople
who were anointed those day: Kings (2 Kings 9:3), Priests (Ex. 29:7), Prophets
(1 Kings 19:16)and the dead (John 19:39-40;Luke 23:56; Mark 16:1). I
believe that by her act of worship, Mary was acknowledging Jesus to be all of
those things to her heart.

Certainly, Jesus is all of those things. He is the King of Kings, Rev. 19:16.
He is the Great High Priest, Heb. 3:1. He is the Prophet, Matt. 13:31. He was
dead, but is alive forevermore, Rev. 1:18. This is what Mary believed about
Jesus and she demonstratedher surrender to Him as all those things by her
act of love and worship.
C. Mary was more in touch with Who Jesus was andis than His own disciples
were. She believed that He was about to die. They did not! Apparently she
knew that His body would not available to anoint after death, so she did it
aheadof time. No doubt her faith enabled her to see beyond the cross and the
tomb to a day when Jesus would rise from the dead and occupy the throne of
glory in Heaven. She was absolutelysurrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ.
D. Her humility is on display in two profound ways. First, Mary was willing
to do the work of a common slave for the Lord Jesus. Then, she was also
willing to be seenin public with her hair down. This was a sign of an immoral
woman. It appears that Mary was totally unselfconsciousin her adorationand
love of the Lord Jesus.
She didn't care what others thought. She didn’t care about their gasps,
their stares or their ridicule! Not only has she surrendered her possessions,
she had also surrendered her pride. Her primary focus was serving and
honoring the Lord.
E. What about us? Are we as surrendered as Mary? Does the life you live
revealyou kneeling before Him as absolute Lord and God? When Mary came
to the feetof Jesus and gave her all; truly she had done all that she could do.
When we getthere, we cango no farther with Jesus. Justas Mary broke the
box of ointment so that every drop might be extracted, let us break our lives
on His altar so that He might extract the very last drop of glory from us. That
is the price of surrender!
We should be so grateful for all that He has done for us that we are
totally uninhibited and unashamed in the expressionof our love and worship
for Jesus. Therefore, we should allow our pride to die and show a lost and
dying world that we are not ashamedto worship, witness, or work for the

glory of Him who died to set us free. After all, our love for Him is in direct
response to His love us, 1 John 4:19.
III. THE ENLARGEMENTOF HER WORSHIP WAS EXTRAVAGANT
A. Mary appears centerstage three times in the Gospelrecord. Every time
she shows up, she is doing the same thing: she is found at the feet of Jesus.
The first time she appears it is at her own home. Martha is working,
preparing a meal for Jesus and the others and Mary is sitting at His feet
listening to Him teach, Luke 10:38-42. The next time we meet her is at the
tomb of Lazarus. He has just died and Jesus has arrived at the tomb. Mary
runs to Jesus and bows at His feet in supplication, John 11:28-32. The last
time we see her is here, in our text tonight. She offers her worship to Him
because ofwhat He means to her. John 12:1-12;Mark 14:1-9; Matt. 26:6-13.
As we see Mary on the three occasionsI mentioned, it is easyto witness
the enlargementof her heart for worship, and of her capacityto worship, the
Lord Jesus. The first time we see her in Luke 10, she is sitting at His feet as
one Learning. She wants to hear His Word. The next time we meet her, in
John 11, she is at His feetas oneLeaning. She wants to experience His Works.
Here, she is at His feet as one Loving. She wants to declare His Worth.
B. Mary demonstrates the kind of steady progress that should mark the
worship of every child of God! As we mature in the Lord, as we learn from
His Word; lean on Him and experience His mighty Works in our live and as
we learn to love Him more than anything, our worship should become more
and more extravagant.
C. You see, everyone there that day had a reasonto worship the Lord Jesus.
Let’s look at the evidence:
1. Lazarus had just been raisedfrom the dead; but he is not worshiping,
he is watching!
2. Simon the Leper has been healedof leprosy, and the God of creationis
dining at his house; but he is not worshiping, he is also watching.

3. Martha had witnessedJesus raising Lazarus from the dead just like
Mary did; but she is not worshiping, she is working and worrying.
4. Elevenof the disciples had experiencedthe saving touch of Jesus Christ
and had been calledto follow the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; but they
are not worshiping, they are just watching.
5. Judas Iscariotis in the presence ofthe only One Who could save him
from his sin and deliver him from Hell; but he is complaining and finding
fault, insteadof worshiping. In fact, all eyes had been on Jesus until Judas
opened his mouth! (Ill. Some folks ought to think about that!)
6. Then there is Mary! She did what any of the others could have done.
But, instead of holding back, she took the initiative and honored the Lord
Jesus. Here was a woman who loved the Lord more than anything. As a
result, she engagesin profound worship at His feet. She bowedherself before
Him. She did not care what anyone else thought. She openedher heart, and
then she openedher hands, giving all she had in humble, intense worship of
the Lord.
D. Is your worship experience growing deeperas the days go by? As
you walk in His light, enjoy His salvation and experience His powerday by
day, can you honestly say that your worship is enlarging? If you will stopand
think for about 1 second, you will realize that you have many wonderful
reasons forworship. Think of all He has done for you! Think of His
salvation, His love, His provision, His grace, His mercy, His presence, etc.
Think of Who He is, what He has done and what He has promised you, then
be like Mary, not like the others, and give Him the worship He deserves.
Conc: When Mary broke that box and poured out that ointment on the head
of the Lord Jesus, the Bible says that the “house was filled with the odour of
the ointment.” Everyone there was made a part of the experience. There was
no denying that Mary was giving her all in an effort to honor Jesus. Even
those who criticized her could enjoy the fragrance of her sacrifice for the

Lord. It probably wasn’t long before the fragrance drifted outside so those
around the house could smell it.
You see, whenthe Lord is worshiped by His people in Spirit and in truth,
it will be hard to keepit quiet. The fragrance ofour worship will fill this
house and follow us out into a lost and dying world. Like Mary, there may be
those who will criticize us, v. 5, but in spite of that, there will always be One
Who will receive our worship and honor those who honor Him, Matt. 23:12; 1
Pet. 5:5-6.
Friends, it honors the Lord when His people express their love for Jesus in
extravagantworship. We should considerno gift too excessive. We should
look at no sacrifice as being too great. We should praise God for every
opportunity to give our all to Him is worship and humble service.
Has the vesselof your life been broken? Is the worship of your life being
poured out at the feet of Jesus? Does the scentof your love for Him permeate
your life with the sweetfragrance ofHeaven? Or, is there room for more
sacrifice;more love and more worship? Why don’t you bring all you have
and all you are to Him tonight? Why don’t you lay it all down at His feetas
the ultimate expressionof your love and worship?
[i] Microsoft®Encarta®ReferenceLibrary 2004. ©1993-2003Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.
STEVEN COLE
Wasting Your Life on Jesus (John 12:1-11)
RelatedMedia

August 17, 2014
This story of Mary anointing our Lord shortly before His death has had a
profound influence on my walk with the Lord for over 45 years now because
of a sermon I read and have re-read many times by the late Chinese preacher,
Watchman Nee. It’s the last chapter of his book, The Normal Christian Life
[Christian Literature Crusade], titled, “The Goalof the Gospel.” It’s also in a
pamphlet titled, “Why This Waste” (youcan find it online).
Nee points out that in the parallel accounts in Matthew (26:6-13)and Mark
(14:3-9; Luke 7:37-39 is a different incident), all the disciples joined Judas in
scolding Mary for wasting this expensive perfume on Jesus when it could have
been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus defends Mary by
replying (Matt. 26:13), “Truly I sayto you, whereverthis gospelis preached
in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spokenof in
memory of her.” Nee says (p. 186)that Jesus “intends that the preaching of
the Gospelshould issue in something along the very lines of the action of Mary
here, namely, that people should come to Him and waste themselves on Him.”
Or, to state it another way (p. 187), the gospelis “to bring eachone of us to a
true estimate of His worth.” If Jesus is the pearl of greatprice and the
treasure hidden in the field, then it’s not a waste to selleverything you have to
buy that pearl or buy that field. Jesus is worthy for you to devote all you are
and all you have to Him.
So this is a story about how not to waste your life. It’s also a story about
motivation: why do you do what you do for the Lord? Do you serve Him for
the satisfactionyou get when you see results? It is satisfying to see Him use
you, but that’s the wrong motivation. Do you serve Him because it helps
others? Again, it’s gratifying to see others helped, but that’s the wrong
motivation for serving Him. The true motive for serving Christ is because He
is worthy of everything you cando for Him and because you love Him and
want to please Him because He gave Himself for you on the cross. We learn
this from Mary’s actof devotion.

But John contrasts Mary’s actof devotion with Judas’ self-centeredfocus and
with the evil plans of the chief priests, who now not only want to kill Jesus, but
also Lazarus, whose resurrectionwas resulting in many believing in Jesus. So
the story’s lessonis:
A life spent in selfless devotionto Jesus is not wasted, but a life spent on self is
totally wasted.
This story illustrates Jesus’words in Mark 8:35-36:
“Forwhoeverwishes to save his life will lose it, but whoeverloses his life for
My sake andthe gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the
whole world, and forfeit his soul?”
Jesus repeats this idea (John 12:25), “He who loves his life loses it, and he who
hates his life in this world will keepit to life eternal.” Mary denied herselfand
“hated her life” for Jesus’sakeby her extravagantact of devotion to Him, and
she gainedthat which would not be takenfrom her (Luke 10:42). Judas
greedily wished that he could have pocketedsome of Mary’s gift. In a few
days, he would sell Jesus for a paltry sum. But he forfeited his soul.
1. You will not waste your life if you spend it in selfless devotionto Jesus.
To put it another way, to “waste”your life on Jesus is to save your life.
Mary’s actreflects four components of selfless devotion:
A. Selfless devotionis costly.
Mary’s anointing Jesus with this perfume was costlyin at leastthree ways:
1) Selfless devotioncosts you financially: “Do I treasure Jesus more than my
stuff?”
Pure nard was a spice that came from the Himalaya Mountains in the far
north of India. It had to be imported to Israel at greatcost. We don’t know
where Mary gotthis 12-ounce jar of perfume. Perhaps it was a family
heirloom. Judas estimates that it could have been sold for 300 denarii, which
was equivalent to about 300 days’ pay for a working man (Matt. 20:2).
Figuring $10 an hour, 300 eight-hour days adds up to $24,000!Any wayyou

figure it, Mary’s actionwas extravagantly costly!Judas and the disciples, who
according to the other Gospels joined him in scolding Mary, were only being
sensible:She could have sold this jar of perfume, given 90 percent of the
money to help a lot of poor people, and still had a sizeable amount to give to
the Lord. But were they really sensible?
The Lord rebukes them (John 12:8), “Foryou always have the poor with you,
but you do not always have Me.” He was not saying that we should not help
the poor, but He was saying, “I am more worthy of your unselfish devotion
than all the world’s poor put together!” He was accepting the worship that
Mary gave Him because she rightly saw that He is worthy of all that we can
give Him and even more. As Isaac Watts put it (“When I Survey the
Wondrous Cross”):
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
The point is, devotion to Christ will costyou financially. If He bought you
with His blood, you don’t ownanything. It’s all His and He can direct you to
give some or all of it for His kingdom purposes. Probably, most of us would
have sold the perfume, given ten percent to the Lord, and pocketedthe rest to
spend on getting a later model mule! But Mary gave it all because she knew
that Jesus is worth it.
Many years ago, a pastorwent down from the pulpit one Sunday and watched
what eachperson put in or didn’t put in the offering plate as it was passed.
Some of his people were angry, others were embarrassed, but all were
surprised. Then he went back to the pulpit and preachedon the Lord standing
near the treasury in the temple and watching what eachperson put in,
including the widow and her two mites. He reminded them that the Lord
watches the collectioneverySunday to see what His people give.

So let me ask:Is your devotion to the Lord costing you financially? If others
lookedat how you spend your money, would they conclude that you must love
Jesus a lot?
2) Selfless devotioncosts you socially:“Do I treasure Jesus more than my
pride?”
Matthew and Mark say that Mary anointed Jesus’head, but John says that
she anointed His feet. There is no contradictionif she anointed both. Matthew
and Mark mention Jesus’head because anointing the head signified kingship.
John mentioned her anointing Jesus’feetbecause it was the lowly task of a
servant to washa guest’s feet. In the next chapter John tells how Jesus washed
the disciples’feet as an act of greathumility that we should follow.
But Mary didn’t use a towel. Rather, she wiped the Lord’s feet with her hair.
RespectableJewishwomennever let down their hair in public. In fact, it was
considereda mark of a woman of loose morals (Leon Morris, The Gospel
According to John [Eerdmans], p. 577). But Mary was so caught up with her
devotion to Christ that she didn’t stop to considerwhat others might think
about her. Like David dancing before the Lord wearing only an ephod (2 Sam.
6:14-23), Mary castpublic opinion to the wind, let her hair down, and wiped
Jesus’feet. David’s fervent devotion embarrassedhis wife, but the Lord stood
with David. Mary’s actionmade the apostles uncomfortable, but Jesus sided
with Mary.
So ask yourself, “Do I treasure Jesus more than my pride?” Or, am I more
concernedabout what others think about me? People may think you’re a
zealotor a religious fanatic. But what matters is what Jesus thinks about your
selfless devotionto Him.
3) Selfless devotioncosts you some criticism: “Do I treasure Jesus more than
my reputation?”
Judas led the attack, but the other disciples echoedhis criticism. Matthew
26:8 reports, “But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said,
‘Why this waste?’” Theywere only being pragmatic and sensible. The money

could have benefitted many poor families. But instead, it was all wastedon
Jesus. Or, was it wasted?
Count on it: If you give yourself without reserve to Jesus, youwill be criticized
and the loudest criticism will come from some church members who will say
that they’re only using common sense in how the Lord’s resources are spent.
When Jim Elliot set his sights on going to the unreached tribes of Ecuador, his
Christian parents askedhim to consider whether his gifts could be better used
among young people in the United States. He replied with a scathing
denunciation of the lukewarm American church (Shadow of the Almighty
[Zondervan], p. 132). He went to South America, where he and four others
were murdered trying to tell a lost, savage tribe about the love of Jesus. They
“wasted” theirlives for Jesus!
When John Patonlet it be knownthat he planned to move with his new bride
to take the gospelto the cannibals in the South Sea Islands, an old man in his
church would say, “You’ll be eatenby cannibals!” Finally, Patongrew
exasperatedand replied (modified from John G. PatonAutobiography
[Banner of Truth], ed. by his brother James Paton, p. 56), “My dear sir,
you’re getting up in years and soonwill be laid in the grave and eatenby
worms. If I can but live and die honoring the Lord Jesus, it doesn’tmatter to
me whether I’m eatenby cannibals or by worms, and on resurrection day, my
body will arise as fair as yours!” Selfless devotionto Christ involves personal
cost.
B. Selfless devotionstems from personallove and gratitude.
Although the text doesn’t state it directly, Mary’s actionobviously stemmed
from her love for Jesus and her gratitude for His raising her brother from the
dead. Jesus lovedMartha, Mary, and Lazarus (John 11:5) and they loved
Jesus.
Love for Christ should be the motive in all that we do for Him. Judas
postured himself as being concernedfor the poor, but even if he had given
some of the money to the poor, he would not have been motivated by love for
Christ. People cangive greatsums of money to the Lord’s work, but their real
motive may be that they want others to know how generous they are. Some

Christian organizations caterto this by naming a building after a generous
donor, or telling potential donors that they will have a plaque put on the wall
letting everyone know that they donated this room.
But the Lord looks on the hidden motives of our hearts, not on our outward
actions. As Watchman Nee points out (ibid., pp. 189, 190), the first question
we must ask in all we do is, “Has the Lord been satisfied?” Did I do what I did
because I love Him and I wanted to please Him?
We’ve seenthat selfless devotionis costly; it stems from love and gratitude
toward Jesus.
C. Selfless devotionflows from knowing Jesus personally.
John 12:7 is difficult to interpret: “Therefore Jesussaid, ‘Let her alone, so
that she may keepit for the day of My burial.’” Mary had just poured out the
precious perfume, so she couldn’t keepit to anoint Jesus afterHe died. And,
how much did she understand about Jesus’impending death when none of the
disciples saw it coming? The meaning may be that Mary had not sold this
perfume, as Judas and the disciples had proposed, so that she could keepit for
this anointing of Jesus’body in anticipation of His death. Perhaps from her
time of sitting at Jesus’feet, Mary had some sense that Jesus was aboutto die.
Or, in the providence of God, she may have anointed Him unwittingly.
But in either case, Maryknew more about the infinite worth of Jesus than
even the apostles did at this point. Her personalknowledge ofJesus, gainedby
sitting at His feet, led her to this actof selfless devotion.
If you want to follow Mary’s example of devotion to Jesus, you have to follow
her example of sitting at Jesus’feet, listening to His word (Luke 10:39). Every
time we encounter Mary in the Gospels, she is at Jesus’feet—first, learning
from Him; then, pouring out her sorrow to Him; and now, expressing her love
and devotion to Him. You won’t love the Lord as you should unless you’ve
spent much time at His feet. You do that by spending consistenttime in the
Word and in prayer.
D. Selfless devotionresults in action.

Mary didn’t just think about this radicaldisplay of love, but then allow
reasonto prevail and not do it. Rather, she did it! Goodintentions are nice,
but it takes goodactions to produce results. This story highlights three results
that flow from selfless devotion:one from Mary, one from Martha, and one
from Lazarus:
1) Action results in the fragrance of Christ surrounding your life.
John 12:3 says, “And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
If you had walkedin the door or stoodoutside nearan open window, you
would have smelled the wonderful fragrance ofthat expensive perfume. It was
in Mary’s hair, so that everywhere she went, the fragrance went with her.
Can people smell the fragrance of Christ on you? You ask, “Whatdoes it
smell like?” It smells like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23):Love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, andself-control.
Does your home smell like that? Do others sense from the fragrance of your
life that you spend much time at Jesus’feet, worshiping Him in selfless
devotion? Do your relationships at church smell like the fragrance ofChrist?
I am often saddenedwhen I hear about strained or broken relationships
betweenbelievers. People who come into this church should smell the sweet
fragrance of our Savior on us.
2) Action results in service for Christ.
Here we’re looking at the simple statement in John 12:2, “and Martha was
serving.” In Luke 10:38-42, Martha was serving, but she was hassledby trying
to do it all herself and she complained to Jesus because hersisterwouldn’t
help. Also, as G. Campbell Morganobserves (The GospelAccording to John
[Revell], p. 207), in Luke she was fixing dinner for four people and was
hassledby her work, but here she is fixing dinner for at least17 people and
there is no word about her being hassled. Martha had learned from the
previous incident to serve out of selfless devotionto Christ. If you love Him,
you serve others for His sake without complaining.
3) Action results in witness for Christ.

Here, we’re looking at Lazarus. The text tells us three things about him: First,
Jesus had raisedhim from the dead (John 12:1). Second, he was reclining at
the table in fellowship with the Lord who had raisedhim from the dead (John
12:2). Third, his resurrectedlife resulted in many coming to see him and
believing in Jesus as a result (John 12:9-11). Some scholars saythat these were
just curiosity seekers andnot genuine converts. But John doesn’tsay that. He
just says (John 12:11), “on accountof him many of the Jews were going away
and were believing in Jesus.”
In this, Lazarus is an example for our witness:First, Christ has to give you
new life before you canbe a witness for Him. Granted, our transformation is
probably not as dramatic as a physical resurrectionfrom the dead! But people
should see a definite change in your life after you’re born again. Second, you
must spend time in fellowshipwith Jesus, learning from Him. Then, because
our Saviorcame to seek andto save the lost, as you grow to be like Him, pray
that God will use you to seek and save the lost. Wouldn’t it be great if we all
could put our names in verse 11 and say, “On accountof [Steve] many were
going awayand believing in Jesus”?
But this story isn’t only about how to “waste”your life by giving it in selfless
devotion to Christ. The other side is here, too:
2. You will totally waste your life if you spend it on yourself.
Judas and the Jewishleaders who sought to kill both Jesus and Lazarus were
acting out of selfish interests. Judas thought that more money would bring
him more happiness. The Jewishleaders wantedto hang onto their power.
But both parties wastedtheir lives because they spent them on themselves.
John tells us about Judas’greedin verse 6: He really wasn’tconcernedabout
the poor, but he was a thief. He had the money box and used to help himself to
the funds. If Mary had given her perfume to sell and give to the poor, some of
that money would have ended up in Judas’ pocket!Perhaps Judas had joined
the apostolic band because he thought that if Jesus became the King of Israel,
he would enjoy a nice position in Jesus’kingdom.

But now the future lookeddim. Jesus kept talking about His death, not His
reign. This incident pushed Judas over the top. When Jesus came to Mary’s
defense with more talk about His death, Judas decided to go to the authorities
and betray Jesus. (BothMatthew and Mark place this event out of
chronologicalsequenceto connectit with Judas’ betrayal.)So for a measly
thirty pieces of silver, Judas sold his soul. And, the chief priests irrationally
wanted to kill both the author of life and the man who was raisedfrom the
dead because they both threatened their hold on power. Judas and the Jewish
leaders wastedtheir lives because they spent them on themselves. As Jesus
states (John 12:25), “He who loves his life loses it ….”
Conclusion
Mary’s actionreveals the proper basis for evaluating your actions:Did you do
what you did because you love and treasure Jesus? She didn’t do this out of
duty or pragmatism, but out of sheerdevotion for Christ. Mary did what she
did because she had a perception of Christ that even the apostles atthis point
lacked. She knew that He was worthy of extravagantlove. She gainedthis
knowledge ofChrist by sitting at His feet. When Jesus is your treasure, you
will spend your life in selfless devotionto Him.
At a pastors’conference, BillMills told about a time when he was speaking to
a group of Wycliffe missionaries in South America. On the lastevening as he
ate dinner with the director and his wife, she told him how years before they
had been assignedto translate the Bible into one of the Indian tribal
languages. This is a lengthy and tedious process.Before computers, it often
took as long as twenty years.
During the process, the translators were teaching the Scriptures and seeing a
new church emerging among the tribe. But as they came toward the end of the
translation project, the tribal people were becoming more and more involved
in selling their crops for the drug trade and less and less interestedin the
Scriptures. When they finally finished the translation of the New Testament
and scheduleda dedication service, not even one personcame!
This missionary wife was angry and bitter. She had given twenty years of her
life so that these people could have the Scriptures, but they didn’t evenwant

it! Then with regard to Bill’s ministry of the Word that week, she said(in,
Finishing Well in Life and Ministry [Leadership Resources International], p.
190.):
It is as though God has been washing His Word over my soul and healing me,
and He has opened my eyes to see this all from His perspective. I am just
beginning to realize now that we did it for Him! That is the only thing that
makes any sense in all of this. We did it for God!
Mills concludes, “Thatis the only thing that makes any sense in ministry. We
do it for Him.” The world may scornus and reject our message.Other
believers may criticize us and not appreciate whatwe’re doing. But we aren’t
wasting our lives if we spend them in selfless devotionfor Jesus.
Application Questions
Where does common sense (orwisdom) fit in with extravagantdevotion to
Christ? Shouldn’t goodstewards be sensible?
What does treasuring Jesus more than our stuff look like in practicalterms?
Is it wrong to have a savings account? To save for retirement? To take good
care of possessions?
Why is your motive for serving Christ primary? How can you keepthe right
motive in focus?
How practically canyou keepalive and deepen your love and devotion for
Jesus?
Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2014,All Rights Reserved.
CRISWELL
GOD’S EXTRAVAGANCES

Dr. W. A. Criswell
John 12:1-8
6-6-71 8:15 a.m.
I am preaching this morning on God’s Extravagances, andit is a sermon
takenfrom the twelfth chapterof the Gospelof John:
Then Jesus six days before the Passovercame to Bethany, where Lazarus was,
who had been dead, whom He raised from the dead.
There they made Him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of
them that satat the table with Him.
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed
the feetof Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled
with the odor of the ointment.
Then said one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, which should betray Him,
Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the
poor. . .
Then Jesus said, Let her alone: againstthe day of My burying hath she kept
this.
For the poor always ye have with you; but Me ye have not always.
[John 12:1-7]
And here is raisedthat equation that always comes up as betweendoing
something beautiful, extra, and feeding the poor. "Why was not this ointment
sold for three hundred pence?" [John12:5]. A pence would be a day’s wages
for a laboring man. "Why was it not sold for three hundred pence, and given
to the poor? Why this greatwaste? Justwhatgoodis ointment, perfume?

Why was it not soldand given to the poor?" And of course, it is Judas
Iscariotwho askedit. When I was working on one of these buildings, and I’ll
speak of it later, doing something beautiful in it, one of the members of the
church came to me and greatly objectedto it, saying, "Why do you not take
this money and give it to the poor?" I said, "You know, somebodyin the
Bible askedthat same question, that same question." He said, "Oh? Who
was it?" I said, "Judas Iscariot. Readit in the Book. Readit in the Book,"
God’s extravagances.
I listened to an address at one of our conventions of a president of one of our
colleges. And it was one of those typical socializing addresseswherebyhe was
hammering on that old, worn-out and trite theme that what America ought to
do is to take her wealth and give it to the poor and underprivileged nations of
the earth. It happened to be that I sat on the plane with him after the
convention was over. So he askedme what I thought about his address. I
said, "Do you want me to tell you the truth, or would you like me to string you
along and say how magnificent it was?" Well, he paused before that. Finally
he said, "Yes, you tell me the truth." Well, I said, "I’ll tell you exactly the
truth. I have two comments to make about it. First comment: I have just
returned from a trip around the world, visiting Pakistanand India and
Indonesia, and all of those subtropical countries around the earth." I said,
"Firstof all, you could take all of the wealthof America, all of it, and give it to
these poor nations, and they would still be just as poor! And if they were not,
they’d be just that poor tomorrow. That’s my first observation. And my
secondobservationis, I think there is more to the life and soul of a man than
just feeding his mouth. There is something over and beyond in a man than
that animality." All right, we shall look at it – God’s extravagances.
Look around you. "Circumspice, lector," look around you. Just what benefit
is all of the colorthat God puts in the world? His gorgeous sunsets, andif you
get up early enough, His beautiful dawns and sunrises;just what goodis a
rainbow, the most beautiful colorful spectaclein the earth? Why isn’t it all
just gray? The emerald of the meadows and of the forests, the greattowering
purple mountains, the blue of the deep blue sea, and the coloryou see in the
feathers of birds like the strutting peacock, justcoloreverywhere. And His
light: the softmoonlight, and starlight, and God’s glorious sunlight. And the

marvelous sounds that we hear: the wind blowing through a pine tree or a
spruce tree, the sound of the rippling of water, a mountain stream. Why does
God have to put all of these extras around, these extravagances thathave no
particular purpose at all? Godjust did it.
I bought ten thousand sunsets
And a friendly old oak tree
And a hundred thousand violets
When my farm was deeded to me.
Ten thousand dewy mornings
With a mockingbird to sing
And a mossyglade with a willow shade
And the music of a spring.
The ownerthought he soldme land;
How poor a trader, he!
But it all was fair for it all was there
For all the world to see –
A meadow starred with daisies
And a wild rose rambling free
And a squirrel’s den and a nestedwren –
And it all belongs to me.

I paid the man his money,
And he did not understand
He had put a price on paradise
When he thought he sold me land.
["Attitude," C.C. McWhorter]
How do you like that? God’s extravagances – but some people never see it;
they’re clods – God’s glorious world.
I do not deny that there are animal needs that must be satisfiedin the human
life. We gethungry and we ought to eat;we need to eat. We getthirsty and
we need water to drink; it’s a whole lot better than tea and coffee. We need
waterto drink – and milk for me. I don’t deny that. When you gettired you
need to sleep, and when you are cold you need clothing and shelter; I do not
deny that. And there are people who look upon men – I think the whole
communist world does – who look upon men as just utilitarian pieces.
They’re to work, they’re to produce, they’re to plow, or they’re to build, or
they’re to work with their hands and that’s all, the prosaic life. But in God’s
Book, and in God’s nature, and in God’s image He placedin us, there is
something else. There is something in a man that God put there, that cannot
be expressedexceptin poetry, or in music, or in art, or in architecture. It’s
true what the florist says:there are some things that cannot be said except
with flowers.
Poetry: it’s just something in the soul. Just what utilitarian purpose,it’s just
God in us; He is like that. For example, the little quatrain from Wordsworth:
Flowerby a mossy bank
Half hidden from the eye!
Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.

[adapted from "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways," William
Wordsworth]
It does something to your heart.
Or music: there are a thousand feelings in the world in which I live that are
expressedin no other way but in music:
Happy day, happy day
When Jesus washedmy sins away!
He taught me how to watchand pray,
And live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, glorious day
When Jesus washedmy sins away!
["O Happy Day, That Fixed My Choice";Author Unknown]
Can’t say it any other way, can’t express it. Or God’s love in Christ Jesus:
Rock ofAges, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the waterand the blood,
From Thy flowing wounds which flowed,
Be for sin a double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
["Rock ofAges," Augustus M. Toplady]

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