Aroma of life!

Introduction: Mary, her sister Martha, and brother Lazarus (recently raised from the dead by Jesus) attended a dinner party in Bethany.

Scriptures

Mk.14:3,8   While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head…. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 

Jn.12:3   Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Commentary

In her sacrifice, service, and adoring worship, Mary emptied her offering of costly perfume upon Jesus’ head, garments, and feet. Having anointed Him, the object of her worship, Mary loosened let hair and towel off Jesus’ feet. Isaiah 52:7 (Rom.. 10:15) How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who proclaim good news, peace, good tidings, and salvation.

The entire house in Bethany was permeated by its fragrance.

In Jewish culture, it was improper to uncover and let down her hair in public, yet Mary was unrestrained (1 Cor.11:13,15). Mary, using her hair as a towel for Jesus ' feet, was expressing love, her devotion, subjection, and submission as a servant to her Lord.  Spike-nard, an imported oil extracted from grasses of Northern India, through a lengthy, costly process. Mary had anointed her dead brother Lazarus a few days earlier. The alabaster box was opened by breaking the narrow neck.  She boldly approached Jesus and poured out her expensive perfume to anoint Him. (Mary, where your treasure is Mt 6:21). Her action was looked down upon by fellow onlookers; however, it was greatly appreciated by Christ Himself. She couldn’t put that perfume back in the bottle. She had broken it! “She didn’t hold back any for a rainy day or her retirement.

Mary anointed Jesus with three-quarters of a pound of expensive aromatic oil. Mary’s jar was worth “a year’s wages,” said Judas Iscariot (Jn.12:5). 

Jesus would himself wash his disciples’ feet and dry them with a towel. He taught:

 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. Jn 13:14.

Jar of precious spike-nard - Alabastrion, widely used in burial ceremonies. When poured, the oil scent lingers for several days on hair, body, and garments. The alabastrion was frequently broken and placed in the tomb with the body of the deceased.

Jn.19:23-24 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened so that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.

Application

2 Cor.2:14-16 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one, we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?

Note: Lloyd C. Douglas' Bestseller Fiction Book “The Robe”, 1942, Movie 1953, Lloyd C. Douglas. The story of Marcellus, a Roman soldier, who won the robe of Jesus Christ in a gambling wager at the Crucifixion site. Charles Spurgeon: “That sacred robe shall remain most fair and glorious when nature shall decay”. Dictionary: Fragrance is a pleasant-smelling liquid (perfume, cologne) which people put on their bodies to make themselves smell nice. "Fragrance is to the nose what music is to the ear."

By: Dr. Laurence Wedderburn May 23, 2025