The Anointing
by
Mary
Based on Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:1-9; Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8
From "In Search of the Cross" by R. J. Wieland
(Emphasis and colour added)
Perhaps the most precious lesson on the true meaning of the Cross was taught to the Christian church by a formerly abandoned woman out of whom seven devils had been cast.
When Mary broke the "alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious," pouring the contents on the head and feet of the Saviour, she was giving unconscious expression to the world of the same love of which the life and death of Jesus was a divine example. Thus the poignant incident of Bethany is seen to be the most beautiful, heart-touching deed ever performed by a repentant human being. It was welcome evidence to Jesus and to the universe that humanity is indeed capable of attaining to a profound heart-appreciation of the Sacrifice made on Calvary's Cross.
Mary's noble deed of repentant love cheered the heart of the Saviour in His darkest hours. No mighty angel from heaven could have brought to Him the comfort which the memory of her tearful sacrifice imparted, for in her sacrificial love to Him He discerned the earnest [first installment] of the satisfaction which the travail of His soul should purchase, the making many righteous through the faith which works by love. (Isaiah 53:11; Galatians 5:6).
Such repentant love, which alone can justify effectually, was the end to be achieved by the Saviour's sacrifice. The world may owe to Mary a debt which it has never recognized, for encouraging the sorely tempted One in His hour of greatest need. Surely the cold-hearted twelve gave Him no such comfort as did Mary, whom they despised!
Mary knew not why she had been moved to make the strange, prodigal [wasteful] offering. No intellectual understanding of the approaching death of her Lord dictated the course she followed, for she had evidently heard none of the clear expositions the Saviour had made to the twelve disciples of His rejection and crucifixion. Informed only by the inscrutable reason of Love, she had prodigally spent her all to purchase the very costly ointment, thus unconsciously anointing beforehand His body for the burial. She was utterly unable to defend her mysterious action to the caviling [criticizing] and reproachful disciples.
In undertaking her defense before Simon, the self-righteous host of the social occasion, and the unfeeling obtuseness [dimness] of the twelve, Jesus transformed the incident into an illuminating lesson on the meaning of the Cross, a lesson which the church of today is hungering to understand. Inseparably bound up with an understanding of Christ's gospel is the sympathetic appreciation of Mary's mysterious deed. He bespoke [asked] for her act the reverent contemplation of His followers in all ages:
"Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Mark 14:9.
Yet not for her sake, but for the sake of this gospel was the fragrance of her deed to be published so abroad. Herein is the key to all that is enigmatic [puzzling] in our understanding of the strange transaction which took place in Simon's house at Bethany. When we realize that Mary's offering of precious ointment was worth three hundred pence, the wage of a laboring man for an entire year, money sufficient to feed five thousand men, besides women and children (John 6:7), we ourselves would be strongly tempted, if we knew not the denouement [the end] of the touching drama, to sympathize decidedly with the twelve disciples in their feelings that an extravagant waste had been perpetrated by an emotionally insecure woman whose zeal was not according to knowledge. We would even find our hearts ready to second Judas' motion of censure, "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? "
It would be difficult, did not Jesus Himself defend Mary, to see why it would not have been more sober offering to have anointed His head with a few droplets of the precious and extravagant ointment, and the proceeds from the sale of the balance used for the relief of the poor, with whose needs Jesus identified Himself. We must confess that we feel, humanly speaking, that the disciples were not without justification in their censure of Mary's prodigality.
We may even have a dim sense of thankfulness that such irrational zealots as Mary are greatly in the minority in the church today.
Even more puzzling in our understanding of this memorable transaction at Bethany is the apparently reckless extravagance with which Jesus defended her.
He might, we are inclined to think, have tenderly commended the warmth of her affection, while gently deploring the irrational extravagance of its expression, thus encouraging her while placating [soothing] the justifiable indignation of the twelve.
Not so. While the hapless penitent overwhelmed with confusion and embarrassment at overhearing the indignant murmurings of the disciples against her, seeks a way of escape unnoticed, fearing that Martha certainly, and Jesus possibly, will think her improvident [wasteful] as well, Jesus lifts His voice above the din: "Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on Me." Mark 14:6. Far from approving the disciples' apparent regard for the poor, He places an entirely different interpretation on the charitable motive of Mary: "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good; but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could. She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying." Mark 14:7,8.
Her deed was a parable of divine love, a vehicle for the proclamation of the gospel. Thus in defending her, Jesus was defending Himself. This is the way to a true understanding of this strange offering at Bethany.
Jesus was, in fact, imparting to her deed a symbolic meaning of which she herself was ignorant. In the alabaster box, broken at His feet, Jesus discerned His broken body, bruised for us. In the precious ointment, poured needlessly on the rude floor, He beheld His blood. "shed for many for the remission of sins," yet rejected by most of them. In the motive which prompted Mary's inexplicable deed, her heart-broken, penitent love for Himself, He saw the true reflection of His love for us. In her sacrifice to purchase the alabaster box of ointment with the sum total of her hard-earned savings, He saw the utter emptying of Himself in the role of the divine Lover. In her apparent extravagance, He saw betokened the magnificence of Heaven's offering poured out sufficient to save a world, yet accepted by only a handful of its inhabitants.
Thus did Jesus seek to defend His wondrous Cross before those who should have had hearts to appreciate its unutterable worth.
Lastly, and perhaps tragically, we see ourselves revealed in the cold-hearted Simon and the twelve. Judas had only sneers of contempt for the purest and holiest love eternity had known; and the stupid-hearted, unappreciative eleven could but follow the promptings of his wretched selfishness. Have we indeed a more heartfelt appreciation of divine ethics than they had?
We do well to remember that Mary was informed [guided] by the mysterious promptings of the Holy Spirit, an Inspiration which stoops to give no reason moving the heart to action through penitent love.
Only in a broken heart can that Inspiration find entrance. The disciples, on the other hand, were conscious of no such promptings; yet they were the recipients of information which Mary knew not of. Their ears had listened to direct instruction on the doctrine of the Cross; their minds were conscious of its mental understanding. But untaught by the head, a penitent human heart had preached a sermon on the Cross more eloquent than Peter's, even, at Pentecost; a sermon which to this day thrills the hearts of those who listen with the heart, as Jesus prophesied that Mary's acted sermon should do, "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached."
Thus is it shown that acquaintance with the historical details of the crucifixion is but nothing, compared with a heart understanding of the Cross. If flesh and blood cannot understand the doctrine of Christ's person, neither can it understand the doctrine of His Cross; witness the disciples.
On the other hand, flesh and blood can understand the Cross, if informed by a broken and contrite heart, witness Mary's act!
The last becomes first.
Faith only can comprehend.
How the heart of Jesus yearns to see reflected in the hearts of His people today the love that Mary knew! The love that alone was the motive prompting her to her deed His love alone can inspire. Such love was likewise the only motive which prompted Him to His deed in our behalf. Theologians may write their ponderous tomes [books] in futile efforts to account for the mysterious act of Calvary, only to return, weary at last, to the realization that no reasons can be given: love alone was the motive.
How encouraging to Jesus to see, reflected in Mary, the image of Himself!
In a sinner, do you say? Yes, in a woman which was a sinner, Luke 7:37, and a grievous one at that, He saw Himself. But how? He saw in her love the positive imprint of that which in His love was the negative. "Reproach hath broken My heart," He said (Psalm 69:20); repentance had now broken her heart, through the ministry of His broken heart.
The plan of salvation is a success!
Whether the divine risk of Calvary was as yet seen to be justified so far as the cold-hearted twelve were concerned, it was worthwhile for the sake of the daughter of Bethany. The sacrifice of God in Christ had elicited from her soul its complementary sacrifice: "A broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart," Psalm 51:17, which God, fortunately different from the disciples, would not despise.
The sacrifice of Mary's inexplicable deed shines brightest when compared with the sacrifice of Jesus' deed in giving Himself on the Cross. In commending her He said, "She hath done what she could," the intent being she had done all she could. He, too, hath done what He could, all that He could. If and how Mary was ever rewarded in a temporal way for the almost endless days of humble toil expended in the broken box of alabaster, we do not know. But that He who "emptied Himself... . humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross", might find some reward for His sacrifice.
Cannot we who have not alabaster boxes to break upon His head at least find tears with which to wash His feet pierced for us?
O Jesus, canst Thou not find seven devils in us to cast out, that we might find hearts to love Thee as Mary did? We hear Thy voice, in reply, According to Thy faith, be it unto thee. Grant us to know our heart! How else will we ever come to know Thee?
Likewise, the magnificence of Mary's deed shines brightest when likened to the magnificence of Jesus' deed for us. The disciples' reasoning concerning the seeming waste of ointment was, Why not use a little oil? Why the forehead would suffice? (sic).
To this day the human heart, uninformed by Inspiration, is incapable of appreciating the magnificence of Calvary's sacrifice. Why give the Divine Life a ransom for many when only a few will accept? Why pour out a veritable Niagra of self-sacrificing love when all but a trickle runs to waste? The sacrifice made was sufficient to redeem all of earth's myriad of judgment-bound souls; why pay such a price when the ultimate returns will be so meager? Why should the divine Form be racked with grief and tears over Jerusalems that know not of, and care not for, the days of their visitation?
Why not restrict the love and its expression to the few who will respond to its appeal rather than pour out an infinite and eternal waste which will bring comparatively few souls redeemed at last? Thus did the disciples reason concerning Mary's offering; thus do they reason today concerning Him of whom Mary's love was but a type. In this way do they view His cross.
To answer, we can only say, Love is not love unless it is prodigal.
Love never stints. Mary's very costly alabaster box of ointment was not a synthetic bargain counter economy; she paid the full price for the finest that could be gotten, with not a grudging thought of saving anything. She could do nothing else with such a motive. Could God, who is Himself Love, do less? He thought not of how to effect the salvation of the few or the many at the least possible cost to Himself. Heaven, ivory palaces, the devotion of angels, the thrones of an infinite universe, life eternal, yea, the companionship of the Father - all He freely spent in giving of Himself, and that not for time, but for eternity. An infinite ocean of the water of life to be expended lavishly, and the only returns to be a few fragile earthen vessels, filled with human tears of love! How infinitely precious must those bottles be to Him. Psalm 56:8.
"Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption." Psalm 130:7.
"It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments." Psalm 133:2.
Simon the leper had been a silent witness to Mary's act of devotion. He seems not to have been concerned, as were the twelve, with the extravagance of Mary's offering. Darker surmisings even than these were coursing through his soul, honest though he was. He had not as yet accepted Jesus as a Saviour, though he had hoped that He might prove to be the Messiah. He had experienced the thrill of a miraculous healing from leprosy, through the ministry of Jesus. In order to express his gratitude, he had condescended to invite the Galilean and His disciples on this social occasion. In so doing, he avoided according Jesus even the dignity of recognition as a social equal. He gave Him no kiss of welcome, no ointment for His head, not even water for His feet, the rudest elementary courtesy.
Beholding the sublime spectacle of a repentant sinner wiping the tear-moistened feet of the Saviour with her hair, Simon could only reason darkly within himself, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him; for she is a sinner." Luke 7:39.
How little does the self-righteous heart discern the credentials of heaven.
In the parable by which He sought to enlighten the unfortunate Simon, Jesus reveals the lesson by which the glory of the Cross enlightens every honest heart that will pause long enough to survey the wondrous scene:
"There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered, and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave the most. And He said unto him, thou has rightly judged". Luke 7:41-43.
Simon, having been the instrument in leading Mary into sin originally, was clearly the debtor owing five hundred pence, and he saw it. By contrasting Simon's cold-hearted lovelessness with the warm devotion of Mary, Jesus tactfully revealed to his darkened mind and heart the truly astounding realization that Mary's repentant love should have been his, if the one forgiven most should love the most.
More than seven devils had been possessing Simon's heart. He the self-righteous one, was bothered with an eighth, whose office [work] was, as an angel of light, to hide the presence of the other seven!
The light shining even now from Calvary's cross illumined Simon's heart, and revealed to himself the almost hopeless sinner that he was. Only the infinite pity of Jesus saved him from an ultimate ruin greater than Mary's would have been.
The parable of Jesus was not intended to show that different degrees of obligation should be felt by the two persons.
Both sinners, Simon and Mary, were infinitely and eternally in debt. Mary's love, however, was due to the simple fact that she had been forgiven much, and felt it; whereas Simon had been forgiven little, because he felt he had sinned little.
Oh, for Mary's tender conscience!
If Paul could call himself the chief of sinners, can we do less? What light the doctrine of the Cross may shed upon the heart of Laodicea. Lukewarm, self-righteous saints are no better than the publicans and harlots, many of whom will go into the kingdom of heaven before them. Matthew 21:31. In this way "many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first." Matthew 19:30.
We close with two brief quotations:
"Jesus once said, ‘He loveth much who hath much forgiven him.’ It is a deep truth, and there is another not less deep to be put alongside it: we must feel that our forgiveness has cost the Forgiver much in order to love Him much;... When the Christian thinks of the tears, agonies, bloody sweat, shame and pain endured by the Redeemer, of His marred vision, broken heart, pierced side, lacerated hands and feet, his bosom burns with devoted love. The story of the passion opens all the fountains of feeling; and by no other way than the via dolorosa could Jesus have ascended the throne of His people's hearts."
(A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve. p.453)
"A new and enduring light will shine from the cross of Christ. A true sense of the sacrifice and intercession of the dear Saviour will break the heart that has become hardened in sin: and love, thankfulness, and humility will come into the soul. The surrender of the heart to Jesus subdues the rebel into a penitent... This is the true religion of the Bible. Everything short of this is a deception."
Testimonies Vol.4, p. 625.
Additional lessons
In considering Mary's act at Bethany to be in reality an illustration of the doctrine of the Cross, we find that there are additional lessons that we should consider.
In His defense of Mary, Jesus commended her so warmly that we can only conclude that He considered her to be a model Christian. In that "she hath done what she could", what more could she do? Could Jesus have expressed the commendation "Well done, good and faithful servant" any more enthusiastically? And yet, we find the church leaders of His day almost contemptuously critical of the type of Christian experience which Jesus termed "good." Mary's good work lay in the fact that she was discerning the Lord's body, and was showing forth His death.
"She is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying," said Jesus. (Mark 14:8). Thus Mary's understanding of the Cross sets her forth as the ideal Christian.
Mary's understanding of the
Cross gave her an understanding of herself. Yea, "not a
soul knows what God is until he sees himself in the light
reflected from the Cross of Calvary, and detests himself as a
sinner in the bitterness of his soul." Mary would not
fight the conviction that she was possessed of seven devils. She
was willing to believe the worst about her case, that she might
find the Best. Thus, Jesus "lifted her up from despair
and ruin. Seven times she had heard His rebuke of the demons that
controlled her heart and mind... She knew how offensive is sin to
His unsullied purity, and in His strength, she had overcome."
The perfect sinner became the perfect Christian, because she saw
herself to be the chief of sinners. Her experience was an ideal
illustration of combating the resurgence of the "old man,"
not once, nor twice, but seven times,
a complete number.
Struggling soul, there is hope for you, once you have learned, like Mary, to despair! "Mary" may find Him even yet today, once she has found herself.
"Respectable" Christians usually find themselves regarding Mary's repentance as the norm only for harlots, or publicans [taxmen]. A much more modest and restrained repentance befits those who have not committed great sins, the lukewarm heart supposes, forgetting that when God considered that all have sinned, He knows that all have come alike short of the glory of God.
The sin of sins is the root of sin - self-love, cold-heartedness, which being not felt is lukewarmness, unbelief, blindness in the face of light.
Only the Cross will reveal this exceeding sinfulness.
No matter what our past life has been or has not been, our repentance may be according to our faith. If those who consider themselves, in their heart of hearts to be first, could see themselves as last, there would be some hope for them. Laodicean lukewarmness is the most difficult sin God's truth has ever had to battle with. No more effective weapon could the dragon have invented to use in his last battle with the remnant church, than to have them tempted into lukewarmness. Were not the ingenuity of His loving weapons truly infinite God Himself might well despair of winning such a battle. He much prefers a hot war, or even a cold war, to a lukewarm war. We may be thankful, however, that understanding, as He does, human nature, His love will find a way to deliver His elect from even this overmastering deception.
Even greater than the miracle of casting seven devils out of Mary was Christ's effective ministry for the cold-hearted Simon:
"Simon felt himself more righteous than Mary, and Jesus desired to show him... that his sin was greater than hers, as much greater as a debt of five hundred pence exceeds a debt of fifty pence. Simon began now to see himself in a new light... Shame seized upon him... He saw how true Christ's judgment of him was. His religion had been a robe of pharisaism. He had despised the compassion of Jesus... While Mary was a sinner pardoned, he was a sinner unpardoned... His pride was humbled, he repented, and the proud Pharisee became a lowly, self-sacrificing disciple."
Having seen that Mary's repentance was truly "normal," that of the model Christian, let us see that the love which led to the repentance was itself that of a model Christian. We have already noted that Jesus beheld in her love the true reflection of His own love, and that the awakening of such love in the human breast was the great end to be achieved in the offering of Calvary.
There prevails [amongst many professed Christians] a most unfortunate heart-conception of Calvary's sacrifice as a legalistic vicarious penalty exacted by divine law, whereby is imputed to sinners an unmerited "justification," enabling them to escape the jail-house of condemnation, into heaven itself.
Thus, the Cross becomes inevitably the symbol of an offering made to placate the offended anger of a wrathful Father; a spiritual lightning arrestor through which the thunderbolts of God's hot wrath fall harmlessly to the ground.
Thus God is looked upon as a lawyer, a Judge whose sense of justice is satisfied by the cruelties inflicted upon His Son at Calvary, enabling Him to pardon - perhaps ungrudgingly - those who avail themselves of the legal provisions of the atonement.
Long words are used in attempting to explain the intricacies of such a conception.
To Mary, God was not a lawyer, but a Lover.
Her conception of theology was simple, with the heart, too overwhelmed to give utterance even to such a verbal confession of faith. Love's offering, with its tears, was her confession of faith.
The complicated, legalistic theology mentioned above may not be necessarily untrue. Such is the skeletal framework of the body of truth. But when presented thus as a means to awaken love of the beholder, what wonder that spiritual repugnance [repulsion] results!
What lover would be enraptured by a photograph of the moldering skeleton of his beloved? We are told that "in many discourses the Cross of Christ is not presented before the people."
Presenting the rough, rude splintered framework of the doctrine of the Cross without presenting a dying Lover upon it, is the preaching of a Christ-less cross, an error nearly as fatal as the preaching of a Cross-less Christ. Both errors contribute to the perpetuation of lukewarmness.
The disciples in despising Mary's tender love, were in truth joining with the world in despising all enthusiasm in religious devotion. Drunkards, publicans and harlots who go to extremes in evil are condemned; likewise such devoted ardor as moved the heart of Mary to expressions out of the ordinary norm are condemned. "Be not righteous overmuch; be not overmuch wicked," Ecclesiastes 7:16,17, has been [so?] misquoted and mis-understood that the world has been encouraged by the church to regard not evil as evil, [to regard] not good as good, but enthusiastic devotion to either as less preferable than a "middle-of-the-road" compromise between the two [lukewarmness].
The twelve disciples at Bethany partook of this spirit of worldliness, by considering as fanatical the love which Jesus accepted as the model for His followers. Thus did the early church, already established, consider the fruits of holiness. Thus, to this day, has the remnant of her seed considered the heart devotion awakened by an appreciative sense of love of a crucified and risen Saviour. "It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism." Some even in the remnant church will "pour contempt upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit."
"Let us pray that when it shall be graciously bestowed, our cold hearts may be revived, and we may have discernment to understand that it is from God, and receive it with joy. Some have treated the Spirit as an unwelcome guest, refusing to receive the rich gift, refusing to acknowledge it, turning from it, and condemning it as fanaticism."
Thus is the Cross still counted foolishness by the Greeks within the church and the ministry.
No wonder, for such look upon the shadow and turn away from the light. Such cold, calculating devotion, such a middle-of-the-road course, such "balance", was foreign to the love of Mary, and is still unwelcome to Jesus.
The reason is, of course, that such cold, calculating devotion where the blinded head obscured the heart, cannot be true love.
There is nothing love detests so much as the intellectual admiration of the beloved, while the heart's affections are spurned.
Lastly, we would consider the nobility of Mary's love as being that of the model Christian. The good work she wrought upon the Saviour was more than a useful, or meritorious, or even beautiful work; it was good, in the sense of being noble. As such, there was no thought in her heart of securing reward. She had spent her all to buy the alabaster box of ointment, and offered it without the slightest expectation to hear herself praised, and justified by the One whom she loved. Love alone prompted her to action, and when Love stands alone, it transcends both faith and hope.
No selfish hope of reward clouded the clear beauty of the flame of her devotion.
In this respect, Mary is indeed the model Christian. To the extent that hope of reward and vindication in the Judgment enters into our faith are we bound by the principle of righteousness by works. Faith in Christ is not a combination fire-escape and glorified social security plan appealing to the innate selfishness of the soul. The Cross is not a spiritually commercial transaction by which an evil thing is surrendered, exchanged for a better good, a profitable bargain. It is indeed profitable; but true faith, prophesying only in part, has her eyes holden as she leads to the Cross, not discerning beyond its darkness. In such an hour, love alone assumes the leadership, not depending upon the hope of a Resurrection as its motive.
The Cross of Christ illustrates this truth. Upon the cross, "with the terrible guilt He bears, He cannot see the Father's reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Saviour in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man... The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father's acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God, that their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin... that broke the heart of the Son of God... In that dreadful hour, Christ was not to be comforted with the Father's presence."
Thus did Love lead when Hope and Faith both failed. No wonder "The greatest of these is Love." Jesus invites us to follow Him. Must we follow, when Faith and Hope fail us, and hope of reward is extinguished? Love for the Cross will conquer. Faith in Christ crucified is an element that works by love, and the hope and trust are so swallowed up in the love that the soul is quite content in its heart-broken affection to kneel at His feet and bathe them in its tears, as forgetful of reward as was Mary. Thus again have we seen that Mary's beautiful act illustrates the Cross.
Conclusion
Having considered Mary as the Model Christian, four further thoughts of comparison suggest themselves, before we close:
First, observe how Mary's love became prophetic. The cold disciples realized not that in a few days they would take the body of Jesus from the cross, and lay it in a tomb. Mary, taught only by the infallible promptings of love, anointed His body "aforehand... to the burying." Thus is Love prescient [forward-looking]. "Such as Mary can divine."
Eventually Moses' recorded prayer will be answered: "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!" Numbers 11:29. Joel says that the time will come when the prayer will be answered "upon all flesh" that love the truth, and the long-awaited gifts of the Spirit restored to the church. Joel 2:28,29.
When the disciples, having learned what the Cross meant, and what Mary's love meant, found repentance, the prayer was answered for them at Pentecost.
Pentecost always comes a very short while after Calvary.
For the remnant church John has prophesied the restoration of the gift of prophecy. Was that prophecy, so oft-quoted, ever intended to be fulfilled by one individual alone, any more than the keeping of the commandments of God being kept by one member of the remnant church would fulfil that part of the prophecy?
The power within human nature to love is anesthetized by lukewarmness, for love is a secret chamber of the soul which can be reached only by the gateway of Repentance. Repentance, in turn, can be reached only by the way of the Cross, whereon self is crucified.
In this light, the Laodicean condition is seen to be a refusal, perhaps unconscious, of the principle of the Cross - or should we say an ignorance of it.
Love alone being capable of prescience, and love being benumbed by the drug effects of lukewarmness, the gift of prophecy must lie latent and dormant until Repentance comes.
The High Priest who will cleanse the sanctuary will know how to discover the secret recesses of the temple He Himself has formed. It is in the plan of God for human nature at last to be set free from the thralldom of sin, for all who will submit to the Cross. Then will "Mary" know aforehand not merely to anoint His body to the burying, as once she knew to do, but to prepare for Him a crown. Love will know just what to do at just the right time.
Second, we are impressed with Judas' monetary appraisal of Mary's offering of love. "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence" he said. We think Mary's love cannot be measured in monetary terms. The attempt to think of it in such terms is really ignorance of its nature. Yea, we would say further, our attempts to measure love's devotion in money are condemned by the simple drama of Bethany! Our statistical tables, and the records of our comtometers [calculators?] measure not our love. Love brings her offering with tears, not with self-congratulatory per capita sheets. If some might think that Judas was about to write Mary's name first on the list of per capita givers, they should remember that he was about to cast her out.
Third, we marvel at the originality of Mary's method. Love taught her how to do, as well as what to do. Her method was utterly unusual. Who would ever have thought to bring an alabaster box of ointment, break it upon His head and feet, and then in shame and tearful confusion endeavor to dry His feet with her long flowing tresses. How thoughtless was Love not to provide a towel.
No cold-hearted committee thought up a method of doing a good work such as Mary wrought. Therein we see the resourceful ingenuity of Love. The heartbroken love awakened by repentance alone will think up the new ways and means of soul winning which will finish God's work on earth. This gospel of which Jesus spoke as he commended Mary will not be preached throughout the whole world as Jesus prophesied without the ingenuity of Mary's love, which must also be spoken of for a memorial of her. The evils of formalism are the methods of lukewarmness; the foolishness of irrational extremes the method of repentance. It will work. And when it begins, it will not take long to finish! What other light can the other angel bring to lighten the earth with his glory than the light that streams from the Cross?
Lastly, we discern in the heart-moving story of Mary, the answer to a question in the hearts of many who await the consolation of Israel:
What is righteousness by faith?
Various are the answers given as to just what constitutes faith. Perplexed and confused is the Israel of God regarding this truth of truths. To our knowledge, no answer is more intelligible than the definition of it which Jesus gave as he dismissed Mary after His conversation with Simon. The Saviour had said to him, "Her sins, which are many are forgiven; for she loved much... " He emphasized the thought that Mary loved much because she knew that she was forgiven much.
Mary knew that she loved, and that she loved much. She probably felt, however, as many since have felt, that she wanted faith. This simple, foolish, heart-broken love that she knew - of what good would it be to her if she knew not that greater virtue, faith, which alone could move mountains. Yes, Mary knew, she was but least in the kingdom of God! Imagine her surprise to hear Jesus assign His own definition to Her "foolish" repentant love, as He told her to go in peace, "Thy faith hath saved thee."
oooOooo
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