March 27 -- John 12:1-11
“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” –John 12:3 (NIV)

Jesus went back to Bethany before the Passover, and a dinner was given in His honor. According to Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9, this dinner took place at Simon the leper’s home. Lazarus was one of the guests, and Martha was serving. While Jesus was at the table, Mary took expensive perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet (and His head according to the other accounts), and then she wiped His feet with her hair. This was an act of pure love and humble devotion.
Judas objected to this use of the perfume because it was worth a year’s wages and might have been sold to benefit the poor. Note that he really had an ulterior motive. As the keeper of the money, he wanted to help himself to it. Like the Pharisees who said they wanted to kill Jesus to protect the people but really wanted Him gone to protect their own power and prestige, Judas did not want to do anything good with the money from the perfume; he simply wanted it for himself.
Jesus did not point out Judas’s true motive; instead, He told Judas to leave Mary alone because she was preparing Him for His burial. He acknowledged Mary’s sacrificial act of love toward Him. She gave Him the most expensive thing she owned, acknowledged His mission as both King and sacrifice as she did so, and used the symbol of her own anointing (long hair was considered a woman’s “glory”—see 1 Corinthians 11:15) to wipe His feet.
Read the passage again, slowly. Imagine Mary’s face and her movements. Listen to the sound of Judas’s complaint. Then, ask the Lord to cleanse your heart of ulterior motives. Spend some time pouring your heart out in praise to Him. You can anoint Him with your love in prayer.
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