Saturday, March 12, 2022

STINKY FEET - Mary Anoints Jesus' Feet

 JOHN 12:1-3

Have you ever walked on the beach really far, only to have to turn back and walk just as far again to get to your towel and cooler?  Have you ever hiked a long trail in the mountains?  Or walked to a friend’s house who lived many blocks from your own?  Or spent the whole day running from ride to ride and standing in long lines at an amusement park?

These are all fun things to do, but a the end of days like that, my feet are really, really tired, and sore; sweaty, dirty and probably pretty stinky, too.

About a week and a half before he died, Jesus was visiting his friends, Martha, her sister Mary, and their brother Lazarus, in their home in the town of Bethany.  They were hosting a dinner in Jesus’ honor.  The disciples were invited, too.  Jesus walked a long way to get to the party on dusty roads.  His feet were tired, sore, dirty and probably pretty stinky, too.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus each loved Jesus with their whole heart.  He was their dear friend and teacher—the person they respected most in the world.  Mary wanted to do something for Jesus to show how much he meant to her. 

She took a pound of very expensive perfume—that’s a lot of perfume—and poured it onto Jesus’ tired, hurting feet.  Then she wiped his perfumed feet with her hair.  Imagine how wonderful that must have felt to Jesus—not only the soothing it brought to his tired feet, but the joy it brought to his heart to know that his friends loved him that much.

A few days after this, Jesus and his disciples go to Jerusalem.  There, they share another dinner, where Jesus performs a similar act of love and service for his disciples.  It involves feet, too.