The other day, while I was preparing this commentary on the first section of John 12, the Holy Spirit convicted me of something. I'd recently composed a social media post, and he exposed the fact that my motive was to generate likes, shares, and approving comments – even envy – solely to garner personal affirmation. And as I sat there with my prideful motive naked before God’s scrutiny, he began to use this passage to speak to me in a fresh way. Actually, he seemed to be asking me this question: “What do you want to be known for?”
The cliffhanger that concluded John chapter 11 with uncertainty about whether Jesus would return to Jerusalem for Passover and risk capture by the religious authorities, is resolved with the opening of chapter 12. Verse 1 describes Jesus’ arrival in the Jerusalem suburb of Bethany six days prior to the sacred feast. He was clearly en route to the holy city, but he stopped to visit his friends Mary, Martha, and their brother, Lazarus, whom he’d recently raised from the dead.
During a meal they shared together, verses 2 and 3 tell us Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus, Martha served, and Mary did something completely unexpected. She opened a small container filled with a precious aromatic oil that was worth a year’s wages and poured it out onto the Lord’s feet. Then, she used her hair to wipe them and the entire house was filled with the lovely fragrance.
In verse 5, Judas criticized her action as the waste of a resource that could have been sold to provide help for the poor. But verse 6 clarifies his comment was motivated out of selfishness because he had control of the disciples’ money box and embezzled from it.
Then, in verses 7 and 8, Jesus responded to Judas’ criticism by affirming the value of what May had done. He commended her sacrifice saying she was anticipating and honoring his coming death and burial.
Over time, she became renown for her act of costly worship. In fact, this event had become so widely shared among believers by the end of the first century when John penned his Gospel that he could refer to it when introducing her in chapter 11 verse 2 even before describing its occurrence in chapter 12 verse 3.
And here I am discussing it with you 2,000 years later.
Her example surfaces the question I think we all need to ask ourselves.
All of us want to be valued and known in the righteous sense of those words. We desire to make a positive mark on this world. We want our lives to matter. And I believe those aspirations are godly. According to John 14:12 and 13, Jesus wants to empower us by his Spirit to do even greater works than his so we can impact the world in his name.
But the fulfillment of that depends at least on our willingness to honestly ask ourselves what we want to be known for. Will we allow our noble desires to be hijacked by an ambition to merely attain personal acclaim, or will we subjugate selfish motives so that we can give honor to our Savior and make him famous?
Both Judas and Mary are remembered for what they did there that day. One was motivated by selfishness and the other by her love for Jesus. Which do you want to be known for?
Lord, may we be like Mary, regarded for our sacrificial acts of worship that release the fragrance of heaven into this world?