I am reading this story. It is not a long story, but this story has been pulsing through my mind lately. Basically the story goes like this:
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for Passover. He stopped along the way at a close friend’s home. The town was called Bethany. In the home of His friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Jesus was relaxing at the dinner table. All of a sudden Mary takes this extremely expensive perfume, expensive as an average year’s salary, and lavishes Jesus’ feet with this perfume. The house is filled and everyone can’t help but notice what had just happened. She continues to wipe the perfume with her hair. One of Jesus’ students, whom He traveled with, spoke up saying, “why was this not sold and given to help the poor?” He actually did not want to help the poor, but he was a thief and often helped himself to the money bag. Jesus defended Mary saying she did this for His burial. “The poor you will always have,” He said, “but you will not always have me.”
I am struck by this woman’s recklessness. After that moment she had nothing to show for it except 30 grand short of her savings. What was going through her mind when she did that? It doesn’t seem like she thought much about that decision. Jesus defended her though. She acted a bit ridiculous and Jesus liked it.
Have you ever met someone who was famous or extremely rich? Or maybe you have seen others, and how they act around high-class people. Sometimes people can be a bit ridiculous. They might stumble over their words or even do things they really regret afterwards. They might agree to things they wouldn’t normally agree to.
When people of high value come into our lives we act different. This moment with Mary and Jesus didn’t happen because He was famous or because Jesus owned 17 cars and an island, but it did happen because Jesus meant everything to Mary. When someone means so much to you, sometimes it doesn’t matter to weigh the pros and cons of the decisions we make.
I remember watching Boy Meets World growing up. There was one episode where Cory and Topanga were in college and had broken up for a period of time. Cory met another girl even though Topanga and him grew up together. This other girl was exciting and when they kissed he felt a spark. Topanga had always been there in his life. Cory sat in his college apartment with his best friend Shawn with a scale and jelly beans. Shawn helped Cory go through pros and cons for each girl. After a while Cory saw a few jelly beans on one side and a few on the other side. Cory took the rest of the bag of jelly beans and put it on Topanga’s side of the scale and said, “It’s Topanga, there is no contest.”
Topanga meant the world to Cory. There was no contest.
In the same way Jesus meant the world to Mary. She saw Jesus as more valuable than anything she had, and more valuable than anything she could gain. Mary wasted everything at the feet of Jesus. It was Jesus, there was no contest.
Jesus is worth more than anything we can gain or lose in this life. This little girl from Bethany knew that. What she did seemed foolish to the world and even to the religious folks. In a moment her 401(k) was gone and even her dignity before the room of people she was in, but she gained so much more. Jesus is worth it, and sometimes it means we become a little ridiculous in the process.
