Perhaps it was an act of repentance for doubting Him. So she anointed Him with the perfume, which was everything she had to sacrifice, giving Christ the one (and only) anointing for His burial that He ever received.

He had planned on raising Lazarus, that much is obvious, but now He was determined not only to resurrect His friend, but this woman's faith in Him as well. He read her heart and decided to show her that wasn't the case at all. I believe that is why He was overcome with emotion. She knew He was the Messiah, but she felt betrayed and hurt that He hadn't come in time, that He thought less of her, that her hopes and dreams weren't important to Him. I believe He saw her heart - and in her heart, where there once had been lofty dreams of Messiah, was now nothing but shards. But why was Mary's response to Him, weeping at His feet, that moved Him to act? Why? He knows Lazarus is dead - He's God first of all, and Martha told Him second of all. Perhaps her future lies with Him.īut one look at Him and she collapses at His feet - and here's where my heart broke in the story - Christ becomes angry and troubled all of a sudden. Mary doesn't hesitate - she loves Yeshua after all - and runs to meet Him, but only after He calls her. What was the hope of her young life now? She'd have to sell her dowry to survive, and maybe no man would want her because she'd have nothing to give him.Ĭhrist calls to her, and Martha goes to tell her. It's likely the women, with no steady income now that Lazarus is dead, would have to sell the bottle, leaving Mary no dowry and no 'wealth' with which to start a family. We learn (later in the story from Judas) that the perfume was worth a YEAR'S wage. Likely with the death of their brother, the women were spun into a panic, wondering what they were going to do now? Mary had a flask of very expensive perfume. Her heart was broken, not only because her brother died, but because the man she adored hadn't come through for her. She thought He was the Messiah, surely He would have known how poor her brother's health had suddenly become. She sat at His feet, she'd believed His words. I've heard commentary that Martha is the more aggressive sister, and that Mary didn't come until Yeshua called to her. We then see it is Martha who greets the Lord before He enters town. He will come.īut for Christ's own purpose, He doesn't come 'in time', and when He does come, Lazarus has been dead four days. Maybe even had a crush? Who knows what stars may have been before her eyes?īut in John 11, when Mary and Martha's brother Lazarus gets sick, they know Yeshua will come - He's their good friend, and He heals the sick. Sitting so close to Christ, it is obvious she greatly admired Him.

But because Mary (later in the story) has a flask of expensive perfume, I don't think she was ever married, as likely that was her dowry. I've always viewed Martha as the older, more practical sister. The siblings lived together, and I have always taken it to mean the women were never married and Lazarus took care of them. She (seemed) to be a dreamer, willing to forsake cooking (and likely cleaning) to sit at Yeshua's feet and learn of Him. I think Mary truly believed Christ was the Messiah. But Christ lets her sit there and no one puts up a fuss. Even though He's sitting in her home, she's in a place usually reserved for disciples, and disciples of Rabbis in those days were men. When we first meet her, we realize that her place at Yeshua's feet is likely controversial. I don't know if it was a revelation by the Spirit, or just my writer's heart 'filling in the gaps', but just in case, use your discernment with my interpretation of her story. It seemed to add another layer to her story, and brought it alive to me. I've always been somewhat of a dreamer, content to sit at the Lord's feet rather than slave away in the kitchen (or any other part of the house).īut as I was reading Scripture out of the book of John, I got a little insight that I'd never thought about before. Of course, Martha comes in wanting the Lord to rebuke her sister, when *she* is the one who ends up getting rebuked. We see her in Luke 10:38-42, when she's sitting at our Lord's feet and Martha is slaving away in the kitchen.

She's my 'heroine', because I feel like I have a lot in common with her. I have a heroine in the Bible, and that's Mary of Bethany.

Lazarus bible character study