April 6, 2025
There is a British company that sells perfume, and I’m not going to advertise them here, but their flagship, non-custom perfume is called, “Imperial Majesty” and it sells for $215,000.00 an ounce. I wish I was kidding… I’m not. If we don’t count the million-dollar custom perfumes that they make that come in solid gold and diamond encrusted bottles, I believe it is the most expensive commercially available perfume in the world. Compared to perfumes like these, the perfume that Mary used in today’s story is somewhat of a bargain.
Nard is an extract of oil from the Nardostachys Jatamansi plant (maybe?). This plant grows only in the Himalayas, and only at altitudes above 10,000 feet, so it’s not hard to imagine why this perfume, harvested two miles up a mountain, and transported 3,000 miles on foot, might have been a bit pricey in 1st century Palestine. Nard is light red in color and very thick, more of an ointment than an oil, and it has an extremely strong, yet pleasingly fragrant aroma. In the first century, nard was almost always mixed with other, inferior oils to lower the cost, which is why our text today makes it a point of telling us that the nard was pure and not diluted. The pound to which our text refers was a Roman measure and was not weight but was volume and it was equivalent to what today would be about 12 ounces, and anyone who has bought perfume or cologne can tell you that enough perfume to fill a soda can is a LOT of perfume. In fact, Judas was kind enough to do the math for us and determined that the perfume was worth about 300 denarii. Since a denarius was a standard day’s wage for a common worker, that means that Mary’s nard cost nearly a year’s salary. The median annual income in the United States in 2024 was $80,610 just to give us a point of reference. So, Mary’s nard was not quite as expensive as Imperial Majesty, but it was still some pretty darn expensive perfume.
Our story today tells us that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, Jesus’ dear friends were giving Jesus a dinner in His honor, not too long after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. We read that Lazarus was reclining with Jesus at the table and that Martha was serving. Back in Luke 10 we had another dinner at the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and perhaps you remember that Martha was upset with Mary because Martha was doing all of the work while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened. Jesus told Martha that to take the opportunity to learn at His feet was one of the “few things [that] are needed – or indeed the only one”. And yet here we find that Martha is again serving. But I think that we need to understand that people are different and that they have different ways of doing things. Martha saw her gift to Jesus as being one of service. Her preparations and her hosting of the meal, and her desire to make everything perfect was her gift to Jesus. Or as modern counselors might say, serving was Martha’s language of love. It’s for this very reason that God gives different gifts to different people, that all of the different needs in this world, and in the world to come, may be filled by those who feel drawn to, and indeed enjoy serving in that particular way.
But Mary’s language of love is different. And she who has sat at Jesus’ feet and listened appears to have understood what His disciples had yet to figure out. Mary appears to have understood the truth about the fact that Jesus was soon to give up His life for the life of the world. And so, Mary, in an act of unimaginably extravagant love, takes what is probably her most valuable possession, a container of that incredibly expensive nard that we just talked about, and poured the entire container over Jesus’ feet. And as if that wasn’t enough, she then let down her hair and wiped His feet with her hair.
And before Judas even said a word, I can assure you that every single person at that table with the possible exception of Jesus, was shocked. A woman’s long hair was said to be her glory, and Jewish women wore their hair long. But traditionally, a Jewish woman’s hair would be uncovered and let down only for her husband, and so, Mary’s choice to uncover her hair, to let it down, and to wipe Jesus feet with it was not something that was generally socially acceptable, and so it almost certainly would have raised some eyebrows. However, Klink tells us that, “Evidence from the ancient world suggests that a lowering of one’s hair in this manner could be a sign of extreme gratitude and an expression of humility.” [1] Extreme gratitude may be an understatement as Jesus had just recently raised Mary’s beloved brother, Lazarus, from the dead. But I do believe that there is more to this story than just gratitude over Lazarus.
Last week in the story of the Prodigal Son I explained how the word, “Prodigal” can mean “having or giving something on a lavish scale” and I remarked that our story wasn’t really about a prodigal son, but about a prodigal father; a father who had offered lavish and undeserved love and grace to his son. And so, the question becomes, to a God who gives so extravagantly to us of His love and His grace, what is our proper response? Time and time again, Jesus tells us that He wants all of us. In Mark 8 Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, let [them] deny [themselves] and take up [their] cross and follow me. For whoever would save [their] life will lose it, but whoever loses [their] life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Jesus asked the rich young ruler to sell everything he had, and of course Jesus tells us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. And so, our call, of course IS to make Jesus our treasure.
In light of that call, we have to ask ourselves, what is OUR appropriate response to God’s extravagant love? For Mary, it was to love extravagantly in return… to give extravagantly in return. Carter and Wredberg tell us that, “The example of Mary forces us to consider what a right response to Jesus looks like. If we really see Jesus for who He is – the almighty, infinite God of the universe who condescended to take on human form so that He could die a brutal death in the place of His rebellious creatures – if we understand His beauty – that He is the all-satisfying wondrous, joyful God who promises to give peace, blessing, and satisfaction in Himself to those who come to Him – if we get this, how can we possibly withhold anything from Him?” Is there anything in our lives that is more meaningful to us, more valuable to us, more impactful upon our lives, than God’s gracious love and forgiveness?
This isn’t a stewardship sermon. I have no interest in talking about material gifts today. I am talking about what we give of our lives. I am talking about Martha serving at the dinner because that is what she loves doing, and that is what she does best. It is her gift, and she gives it joyfully, pouring out her love for Jesus in her service. Lazarus was one of Jesus’ closest friends and as Jesus’ soul was troubled over the events that would transpire over the next two weeks, His dear friend reclined at the table next to Him giving his love, support compassion, and friendship. This is what Lazarus loves to do and what he does best. It is his gift of love being poured out for Jesus. And of course, Mary gives her extravagant gift. And it is also an act born of love and devotion.
And so, we have to ask, what shape does our love and devotion to Jesus take? I would imagine that most of us know what our gifts are. What do we love to do? What brings us joy? Those things are the gifts with which God has blessed us, and those things are the most appropriate gift for us to return to the One who has given us everything.
As the fragrance of Mary’s perfume permeated the house, a dissenting voice arose. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” Judas asked. “It was worth a year’s wages.” Judas might have had a point. Selling the perfume would have been able to help a lot of people and probably help them pretty significantly. But a parenthetical statement in our text tells us that Judas didn’t actually care for the poor, he just wanted the money in the disciple’s treasury so that he might be able to help himself to some of it. But that fact didn’t make his question entirely invalid. And it doesn’t really help us that Jesus responded with an answer that was somewhat cryptic. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
And there are two things in Jesus’ statement that we need to address. The first is the comment about His burial. And we first must realize that Mary wasn’t washing Jesus’ feet, she was anointing them. In the ancient world, one was anointed to set them apart for service in a particular role, almost always a really important one like a king or a prophet or a priest. And anointing was almost always done on the person’s head. There are, however, extremely rare historical examples of anointings of people’s feet. And in the ancient world, this was considered to be an act of extravagance. And so, in the story that we have just witnessed we have Mary, making an extravagant gift, in an extravagant manner, and doing so with extreme gratitude and humility. In her heart, Mary has anointed Jesus as king; a coronation that will happen on Calvary in two short weeks.
Jesus’ gentle rebuke of Judas pointed to the different ways that Mary and Judas viewed the extravagance of Mary’s gift. Judas valued the gift in terms of its financial worth; how much could have been raised by selling it and what potential good may have been done with those funds. Mary valued the gift as the best and most appropriate offering she could make to her Lord and Savior. For her, it wasn’t about the value of the perfume, it was about the value of Jesus in her life and the gift that she was able to give, especially in light of the fact that it appeared that Mary had at least some level of understanding of Jesus’ impending sacrifice.
The second thing that Jesus said is a little problematic. “You will always have the poor among you” Jesus said. Over the centuries, this passage has been misinterpreted by some as being an excuse not to help the poor, as if Jesus is somehow being dismissive of the need to care for “the least of these”. But here, Jesus is echoing the words of Deuteronomy 15:11 that says, “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land”. R. C. Sproul explains, “Jesus’ words here may sound callous, but He was not saying the poor should be ignored. Rather, He was saying that the opportunity to serve Him in a tangible way would not last for long, while ministry to the poor would always be in demand.” [2]
Yes, Mary’s gift was extravagant, almost beyond measure. Not everyone has the resources to gift Jesus with something that expensive. But every one of us has been blessed with gifts of the Spirit, and every one of us has the capacity to give of that gift extravagantly and lovingly. Today, let us let Mary’s gift be an example, an inspiration, as we each ask ourselves what could be our own extravagant response to the love and forgiveness that God has so abundantly showered upon us.
[1] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 526
[2] R. C. Sproul, John, Pg. 205
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