Mk.14:3 – While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper, He was reclining at the table, and a woman came with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume of pure nard. She broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head.

This act of worship and faith performed by Mary of Bethany stands as one of the greatest acts of love displayed in the Bible. Mary got it, the rest of the disciples appeared to be stuck somewhere between depression and selfish ambition but Mary apparently knew exactly what was going on. Jesus described her act of devotion as anointing His body for burial. Apparently Mary was the first to connect the dots from this apostolic band, Jesus was going to the cross for her sins. This revelation in Mary’s heart overrode everything else. She pushed through the unacceptable nature of her extravagant love and worshipped the Lord with her whole being, washing the Lord’s head and feet with her tears, her hair, and her perfume. She not only poured out her soul but poured out her wealth, this perfume was expensive and was estimated to be valued at a full year’s wage. Here is something Jonathan Edwards said about Mary’s shocking actions.

“At the same time that she poured forth the precious ointment out of her box, she as it were poured forth grace and divine love out of her heart upon Jesus Christ. She was a woman that had a great love to Christ, and was at that instant in an high exercise of grace and love to Christ, and did as it were pour forth her love upon [him] as she poured forth her sweet ointment out of her box. And this was what she intended to signify by it: she poured out this sweet ointment on Christ as a testimony and token of her love to him.….The sweet ointment poured forth out of Mary’s box on the head of Christ, was a type of true grace and divine love flowing forth out of the heart of the true believer towards Jesus Christ.”

Jesus said that what Mary did would be proclaimed for all time as an example of pure worship. What do we learn from Mary? Worship goes beyond tradition and involves our affections. Worship may cost us everything but at the same time pays back more than we can imagine into our hearts. Finally worship is not intimidated by other people or the acceptable behavior of the day. Worship corresponds to our value of this person Jesus of Nazareth.