“Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.”
John 12:3 (NLT)
In John’s Gospel, this moment seems to happen in Lazarus’ home, but Matthew and Mark show us it was actually in his hometown—at Simon the Leper’s house. Martha is serving again, preparing a meal for Jesus and others. That was her way of worship. It might not look like Mary’s beautiful expression, but her serving made Mary’s worship possible. Sometimes our unseen work creates space for someone else to encounter Jesus.
But today, the focus is Mary. She brings an alabaster jar full of pure nard—rare, costly, extravagant—and she pours it out on Jesus’ feet. She wipes His feet with her hair, and the fragrance fills the whole room. Jesus’ presence changes her, but her worship changes the atmosphere. She smelled different because she had been with Him. Everyone in the house could sense it.
This wasn’t Mary’s only time at Jesus’ feet. She sat at His feet to learn in Luke 10. She fell at His feet in sorrow in John 11. And here in John 12, she is at His feet in sacrificial worship. Three moments. Three postures. One woman who teaches us how to draw close to Jesus.
What would it look like for you to sit at Jesus’ feet today?
Are you hungry for His teaching and need to slow down and listen?
Are you carrying grief that you need to surrender to Him?
Or is today the day to pour out your best in worship—to bless Him because He is the King of your heart?
May your time with Jesus leave a fragrance that others notice… a life marked by His presence.