Well, there's one other thing to be said about this story. It's not here in John, but it is mentioned elsewhere. In Mark 14:9, Jesus said of this woman, “What she has done is going to be a memorial for her throughout all generations.” And so it is, because it is here in the Bible. Look how many centuries it has been since this happened, and here we are studying what this woman did. We remember her, because of the love she showed to Jesus Christ and the understanding she had of his coming death and burial.
Now here's the third thing. I have talked about Mary's extravagance, as well as her love. The third thing is her understanding. She was great at all three of these. Again, you have to see this by a contrast. Jesus said in verse 7, “Leave her alone; it was meant that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” Mary knew what she was doing. Nard was used in funeral arrangements, and when she poured this out on Jesus it was a way of saying, “I know that you're going to die. I know that's what you came for.”
Now the second thing, in addition to the extravagance, is Mary's love, and I would even combine the two by saying that what we see in the story is the extravagance of her love. Real love is always extravagant. Love isn't cautious about what it gives or what it promises. Love always promises the most. It gives everything it can, and beyond. You only have to read 1 Corinthians 13 to find out something about what love is like, and that's the kind of love that Mary was showing here.
Now we get to the twelfth chapter, where we have Mary of Bethany, who as I said corresponds in a way to what John the Baptist does. But now she's not identifying him in terms of who he is; she's identifying him in terms of what he came to do. In her action what she's doing is anointing him for his burial, because he is soon going to die. For you see, it's a way of saying that Mary of Bethany, in her role at this point, plays a very important part in the story of Jesus of Nazareth. That's important to see, I think, as we begin, as otherwise, we just pass over it. It’s easy for us to pass quickly over this story, knowing what great events are coming next, beginning with Jesus’ triumphal entry. But this is a significant story because of when it happens and what it points to as Jesus begins his climatic week before his crucifixion.
Let me introduce this story of Jesus and Mary of Bethany by calling attention to the fact that this is the third of four important women who are introduced to us in the Gospel. There are other women of course, but there are four women whose stories are told at some length, a couple of which we have already looked at. We looked at the woman of Samaria, found in John 4. Though she was a Samaritan and therefore looked down upon by Jews, she was nevertheless favored by Jesus, and was greatly blessed spiritually and became a great witness to Jesus Christ.
