Day 2: Sabbath in Bethany

Dogwood Series:  No. 2

  

So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,

for on account of him, many Jews were going over to Jesus

and placing their faith in Him.

John 12:10-11

The day after Jesus arrived in Bethany was the Sabbath.  The activities of that day are not recorded in Scripture.  Because we know that He arrived in Bethany on Friday, and left from there on Sunday, we can only assume that the Lord and His disciples observed the Sabbath in Bethany with Lazarus’ family.  Very possibly it was a literal day of rest, due to the excitement of the activities the night before.

On Friday evening, a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor by the family in Bethany.  The recording of this story in John’s Gospel is very short: Martha served the meal; Lazarus reclined at table with Christ and His disciples.  During that fellowship, Mary came in with a container of perfume – pure nard, poured it on Jesus’ feet, then let down her hair and wiped it with her tresses. [It should be noted that a respectable woman did not unbind her hair in public.]

This story is also related in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, and Luke 7:36-50.  Matthew stated that the dinner was held at the home of Simon the Leper, the woman was unnamed, and the perfume jar was alabaster [also costly].  Mark related the same story as Matthew.  Luke’s story is very different.  A woman brought an alabaster jar of perfume, poured it on Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair; however, the woman was unnamed and was a prostitute, the dinner was at the house of a Pharisee, and Jesus confronted the Pharisee because of his thoughts regarding the woman and Jesus' treatment of her. All the same story?  Some say Yes, others say No.

In the Matthew, Mark and John accounts, there were those who objected publicly to the “waste of money,” claiming that the perfume should have been sold and the money given to the poor.  [John named Judas Iscariot as the complainer.]  Jesus hushed the whiners, commanded them to leave her alone, and called her act “a beautiful gesture” of respect and honor. They would always have the poor, but they would not always have Him.

I tell you the truth,

wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world,

what she has done will also be told,

in memory of her.

Mark 14:9