Then Mary took half a litre of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. John 12:3, GNT

 

Who among us has so much money that we could spend a whole year’s income on a bottle of perfume made of pure nard? Judas reckoned that the bottle of perfume was worth about 300 Roman denarii. One denarius was about the daily pay for an ordinary worker. A lot of money indeed, but Mary did not shrink back from spending it, for she did not spend all this money on a bottle of perfume; she spent it on Jesus when she, according to John’s version of the story, poured it on his feet.

 

Why would she do a thing like that? We know a few things about Mary, but not much. She was a sister to Lazarus and Martha. She sat at Jesus’ feet to listen to his message and was present when Jesus resurrected Lazarus, but that is all we know about her. There is one more thing we do know and it is the most important – she loved Jesus very much. The Bible does not say it in so many words, but we know it was so. Why else would she spend a year’s income on somebody that she did not love? Mary’s love for Jesus was not stingy.

 

Where did this love for Jesus come from? The answer is found in John 11:5: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Jesus loves us first and his love for us has no boundaries. He is not stingy with his love; to the contrary, he gave his most precious possession to us, his life, when he died on the cross.

 

Am I someone who is generous with my love for God and my neighbour? Do I give love in stingy little portions, or do I live a life full of love for him and those people I meet every day?

 

Prayer: Lord, please forgive us for letting things that seem very important to us stand in the way of a loving relationship with you. We pray that you will help us to be more like Mary, who focused less on worldly possessions and more on the things of the spirit. Amen