“Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.” John 11:54.
“Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.” John 11:57.
“Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.” John 12:1.
While we are concerned with chapter 12 here, the two verses from chapter 11 have been included for context.
“Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany…” while it appears that the supper with Lazarus occurred six days before the Passover, other accounts place that supper two days before the Passover, it simply states here that He arrived six days before the Passover.
On the day He arrived in Bethany Jesus made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem two miles away.
“And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.” Mark 11:11.
The next day He returned to Jerusalem, and for the second time He cleansed the temple.
“So they came to Jerusalem. And Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves.” Mark 11:15. See also, Matthew 21:12-17 and Luke 19:45-48.
These things occurred before the supper with Lazarus in Bethany which took place two days before the Passover at Simon the leper’s house. The same day before that supper, Jesus prophesied the following.
“You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Matthew 26:2.
“And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.” Matthew 26:6-7.
See also Matthew 26:8-13 and Mark 14:1-9.
“There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” John 12:2-3.
It was in Bethany at Simon the leper’s that they made this supper, and in this we have a beautiful picture of the threefold function of the members of the body of Christ, the church.
I have often said this and will continue to do so; it is the responsibility of the church to evangelize, train up and nurture, the new Christian as well as all of its members bringing them to a mature stature for the work that the Lord has called them to do.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10.
There are not only good works that God has for us to do, but there are rewards for doing them if we are faithful to walk in them, these will be ours in heaven; but a right walk here will also bring many blessings our way while we are here on earth.
Jesus’ last words in Matthew to His disciples, who were to build His church, are these.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ‘Amen.’” Matthew 28:19-20.
This is the purpose of Christ’s church.
“…till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive…” Ephesians 4:13-14.
Please read Ephesians 4:1-16 to understand this quote in its entire context.
“…they made Him a supper; and Martha served”, the only other place that we hear of this family outside John chapters 11 and 12, is in Luke 10:38-42 where Martha had invited Jesus into her home and even there we read.
“But Martha was distracted with much serving…” Luke 10:40a.
So Martha had a servant’s heart and while there is a gift of serving given to certain individuals by God.
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:6-8.
All of us have ways of serving (ministry above) without necessarily having this gift.
Serving does not have to mean mopping floors or cooking; it could be hosting a Bible study, either with you leading or another; teaching Sunday school, being an usher.
Just talking to someone new, or listening to someone who is grieving, taking someone to lunch, ministering to someone in need. So you see service does not have to mean something scary it can be anything that builds up the body of Christ or even helps those outside.
Service can be anything that the Holy Spirit leads you to do, it can be something easy like taking a friend to lunch, or it can actually be scary, like talking to someone new. The Holy Spirit may indeed take you out of your comfort zone, yet when you are stretched a little you may say, “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”
The Spirit will not lead you into a dangerous place; this means you ladies in particular, if someone gives you the creeps, let a man talk to that person, you are not obligated.
Do not let Satan imitate the Holy Spirit and whisper in your ear that you are disappointing God.
Ladies do not stop in a dark place to play good Samaritan, use your cell phone to call for help, while noting license plate numbers, addresses, or cross streets.
And remember 911 is only for emergencies, so use the regular police number for non-emergency or suspicious things. Be sure and have that number and the highway patrol’s on your speed dial too.
And this is crude, but good advice, for you, your husband and your children, always go with your gut!
Service then, could probably be best defined as anything that builds up the body of Christ.
“…Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.” Eating together at the dinner table has the idea of fellowship, camaraderie; it is symbolic of healthy relationships or healthy resolutions of problems.
Fellowship is not just at the dinner table, it can be a baseball game, picnic, a breakfast somewhere, or going to a coffee shop. It may even be just hanging around church afterward and catching up with friends.
The important thing is that it solidifies the body, bringing folks closer, prayer requests may be shared, problems may be aired out, and misunderstandings can be resolved.
Hopefully this can be done without gossip, which is a church killer.
Too often fellowship is, “Hi, hello, how are you, well I guess I’m doing fine.” “Well that is nice, see you next Sunday!” Then we return to the work week feeling as alone as ever; perhaps even wondering if there is another church that has what we need.
“Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” John 12:3.
You may have noticed that in the other accounts of this incident that Mary, actually the unnamed woman, anointed Jesus’ head with the oil of spikenard, while here, only His feet are mentioned.
There is a reason for this, the gospel of John portrays Jesus as God, whereas Matthew shows Him as King, Mark displays Him as a servant, and Luke portrays Him as a Man.
It is because He is God that the feet are mentioned and not the head. The anointing of His feet and wiping of them with her hair is an act of worship. A woman’s hair is given in Scripture as a symbol of her glory.
“But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her; for her hair is given to her for a covering.” 1 Corinthians 11:15.
To take her hair and wipe ones feet is humbling to her, but to wipe the feet of God it is an act of worship in putting the symbol of her glory at His feet.
The fragrance of the spikenard filled the house and surely rose up to heaven to God the Father Himself, signifying the sweet aroma of the sacrifice which His Son was about to make.
And when we worship, our prayers and praises also rise to heaven to God. This woman’s worship shows us that our worship consists not of hollow words that we chant, or something done for show, or to ingratiate ourselves to God, it is something that comes from the heart.
There is actually only one other woman who is mentioned in the book of Luke who does something similar, with a significant difference which will interest you.
“And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.” Luke 7:37-38.
Now the difference between this woman and Mary is that, as it says, she was a sinner, while Mary already had a saving belief in Christ. This woman exhibited her repentant tears and faith in Jesus by publicly worshipping Him as well.
“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” Romans 10:9-10.
This act of worship showed that in her heart she believed that Jesus was the Christ, putting her faith in Him, and with her public act of repentance, she confessed Christ before men.
Wiping His feet with her hair was placing all at the feet of God. Notice too that she did not anoint His head. As a sinner she could not bring herself to approach His head and was unworthy to anoint it, she even stood behind Him, rather than coming before Him. This is the worship of a sinner coming to God.
“For ‘whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Romans 10:13.
The difference in these accounts then is between the worship of a sinner and one who has accepted Christ as their Savior. Mary could anoint His head and feet, there were also no tears, because all of her sins were gone. But the woman who was a sinner too had reason to rejoice as she left because Jesus said to her.
“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Luke 7:50b.
“Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ‘Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?’ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. Then Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.’” John 12:4-8.
How often true worship is interrupted by a prating ungodly fool!
It is not stated here but all of the disciples got in an uproar and upbraided this poor woman. Since only Judas is mentioned here, I would not be surprised if he instigated this.
Judas is a good example of what has been happening in the church since its inception. Men, who are seemingly pious and trustworthy worm their way into the church unawares and defile it with their worldly and demonic ideas, often causing dissensions and divisions within the church itself.
Men like this are to be rooted out and denied positions of authority if a church is to stay true to what the apostles set up in the beginning.
“Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.” John 12:7.
Some think that Mary had some kind of knowledge that He was about to be crucified. But surely she did it out of worship guided by the Holy Spirit.
“Then a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests took counsel that they might also put Lazarus to death, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.” John 12:9-11.
Lazarus’ notoriety was also drawing crowds, and his powerful testimony was bringing many to faith in Christ. So much so that they “…went away and believed in Jesus.”
“But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.” John 12:10-11.
These priests show by their own plotting that they are nothing but a, sick, malicious, pack of ravening wolves.
“[Jesus said] Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Matthew 26:13.
Service, Fellowship, Worship, John 12:1-11 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 1-29-13, updated on 12-13-17.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.