Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.  There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.  Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”   (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.). Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.  You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”  John 12:1-8

Today I ask you to join me pondering difficult questions.  Who is Jesus to you?  If you believe He is the Messiah, the Son of God, is that a mere intellectual concept, like any other abstract fact derived from a textbook?  Have you truly received Him as your Lord?  Have you surrendered your life to Him, allowing His holy, transformative grace to fully invade your soul?  Where are you along the path from salvation to sanctification?  

 One indication of the accurate answer is revealed through worship.  What does your worship feel like?

 The passage above depicts a scene of shockingly intimate worship.  Martha, Mary and Lazarus invite Jesus to their home for dinner.  Martha serves the meal, Lazarus joins Jesus at the table, and Mary sits at Jesus’ feet with a pound of perfume worth a year’s wage, pouring it over His feet and wiping it with her hair.  

 The scene is shocking in its extravagance and its intimacy.  Mary could have shown her subservience to Jesus by washing His feet.  She could have elevated her display of adoration by, after the washing, sprinkling a few drops of oil over His feet.  She might have elevated it higher by massaging the oil into His skin with her hands.  But a mere washing and a few drops would not communicate her love, and apparently a handful of oil would not do it, nor a half pound.  It required a full pound, valued at a year’s wage.  She took a year’s worth of toil and lovingly anointed Jesus’ feet.  And merely applying the oil with her hands would not communicate her love.  No, this anointing required a much more intimate gesture, so she used her hair, requiring her to lower her face near His feet, almost kissing them.  Words fall short of describing the extravagance and intimacy of her display, just as words cannot describe the fragrance filling the room.

 Lazarus and Martha joined in Mary’s worship by silently approving her actions, and by worshiping in their own way.  Martha worshiped by serving Jesus while Lazarus worshiped by joining Him at the meal.

 Can you imagine the scene?  Can you imagine the fragrance filling the small space?  Can you imagine how uncomfortable Mary’s intimate gesture made others in the room (at least those who had not yet seen His glory)?  How did Mary, Martha and Lazarus get to this place of intimate, passionate worship?  

 The passage above includes the first eight verses of John chapter 12.  Please turn back and read chapter 11 where we see Lazarus develop an illness and die.  He is placed in a tomb and after he is in the tomb four days, Jesus arrives.  Martha visits Jesus on the road where she expresses her belief that Jesus is the Messiah and her certainty that Jesus could have healed Lazarus had Jesus only been there in time.  Mary arrives later expressing similar disappointment.  They knew intellectually that Jesus was and is the Messiah, but they failed to appreciate the extent of what that means.  They failed to appreciate His authority and power, and how could they possibly appreciate the incomprehensible?  How could they possibly grasp Jesus doing what no man could possibly do?  How could they possibly grasp that Jesus, their friend, their teacher, was actually God in the flesh?

 Yet a few minutes after the interaction, Jesus walked to the tomb and raised Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus ordered Lazarus to walk out of the tomb, and the man wrapped in burial cloths walked out.

 They encountered Jesus in a wholly new way.  They had known intellectually that Jesus was the Messiah, they had known Him as friend and teacher, but as Lazarus walked out of the tomb they saw Jesus do what only God could do.  They saw Jesus demonstrate power and authority over death.  They encountered Jesus the Christ, and suddenly their intellectual concept of the Messiah shifted to heart-filling reality, and the next time we see them together they are worshipping Jesus with shocking passion and intimacy.  Their eyes were opened to see Jesus in a new way and we see their transformation through their worship.

 Martha and Mary did not expect the revelation of Jesus’ power and authority at the tomb, but we have so much more than they had at the time.  They knew Jesus as friend and they were living in that unique time on earth, but we have so much more.  We have God’s word in the fullness of the Bible.  We have the gospel to study, meditate on, prayerfully consider, and we have His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, guiding us to understanding.  So what must have seemed incomprehensible to them should not be to us.

 Consider your encounters with Jesus.  Consider who you were before meeting Him and who you are now.  Consider how your life has changed through relationship with Him.  With that in mind, who is Jesus to you?  Is He merely an intellectual concept?  How do you worship Him?