EXTRAVAGANT LOVE

 

John 11:2... “This Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was [now] sick".

     Hospitality is an art. Making sure a guest is welcomed, warmed, and well fed requires creativity, organization and teamwork. Their ability to accomplish these goals makes Mary and her sister Martha one of the best hospitality teams in the Bible. Their frequent guest was Jesus Christ. For Mary, hospitality meant giving more attention to the guest Himself than to the needs He might have. She would rather talk than cook. She was more interested in her guest’s words than in the cleanliness of her home or the timeliness of her meals. She let her older sister Martha take care of those details. Mary’s approach to events shows her to be mainly a responder. She did little preparation; her role was participation. Unlike her sister who had to learn to stop and listen, Mary needed to learn that action is often appropriate and necessary.

     We first meet Mary during a visit Jesus paid to her home. She simply sat at His feet and listened. When her sister became irritated at her lack of help, Jesus stated that Mary’s choice to enjoy His company was the most appropriate response at the time. Our last glimpse of Mary shows her to have become a woman of thoughtful and worshipful action. Again she was at Jesus’ feet, washing them with perfume and wiping them with her hair. She seemed to understand, better even than the disciples, why Jesus was going to die. Jesus said her act of worship would be told everywhere, along with the gospel as an example of costly service.

     Mary worshiped the Lord extravagantly; and the Lord was about to show she and her family more extravagant love - by raising their brother Lazarus from the dead. Extravagant because, in Israel, every Hebrew virgin daughter was given an alabaster jar of perfumed oil at a tender age. An unbroken alabaster jar of perfume would remain a symbol of her virginity until the wedding night. At her wedding night, she would break the jar of the perfumed oil and use it before the husband. Together with a white bedsheet, the unbroken alabaster jar would prove to all that she married a virgin. This tradition was very deep to the people who practiced it. The Bible does not record Mary to have ever married. Mary lost her spiritual virginity to the Lord. This is how much she felt for Him. Not even her sister would understand. Recently, a sibling sneered at me, "Joo, you seem to be living in heaven already, yet, you are on earth"! She actually believes that I need counselling and is ready to walk with me through my 'difficult' time, so she thinks. If this is the way the world looks at me, so be it. I love Jesus to death! He swept me off my feet!

     The alabaster jar of oil was a very expensive perfume, "A woman came up to Him with an alabaster flask of very precious perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “for what purpose is all this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor"... Matthew 26:7-9. And because the woman did a praiseworthy and beautiful thing, Jesus honored her, "Truly I tell you, wherever this good news (the Gospel) is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told also, in memory of her"... Matthew 26:13. In this blog, I take time to honor Mary. How would you like the Master to honor you?

     Let me paint a picture of this expensive oil for you, "And while He was in Bethany, [a guest] in the house of Simon the leper, as He was reclining [at table], a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment (perfume) of pure spikenard [essence of nard], very costly and precious; and she broke the jar and poured [the perfume] over His head"... Mark 14:3. Apostle John is specific about this woman to be Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha. Other versions of the Bible say that the perfume was worth 'a year's wage'. While Judas was indignified at Mary's worship, his concern was purely greed. He often embezzled the ministry's money bag. Is this familiar servant of God?

     Mary took her only symbol of virginity, a twelve-ounce jar, equivalent of 327 grams or in Greek, 1 litra and cleaned Jesus' sweaty and dusty feet, wiping them with her long beautiful hair. She didn't care what the future had for her as long as she had her Master. The Bible records that the house was filled with the fragrance. The essence of pure nard was a fragrant ointment imported from the mountains of India. And the amount Mary used was worth a year’s wage - their day. Today, the average wage per day is between 500-1000 Kenya Shillings [approximately 4-8 USD]. The amount used on the Lord Jesus was worth a year's wage, translating to between Kshs.182, 500 - 365, 000 [USD 1,460- 2,920]. So you see, it must have been an equivalent of the most expensive designer/label perfume today to my estimation. Mary gave up all her worth and her life. No wonder, Jesus honored her. You can emulate Mary or even do better. 

     Soon after I had finished writing the above paragraph, I was given a revelation at 1645 hours, I began to physically smell a wonderful scent of perfume for about 10 seconds, and the scent of the perfume vanished. I believe this must have been the perfume of pure nard that filled Mary's house. Jesus revealed Himself and His presence in my house still smelling the perfume of pure nard. 55 minutes later, He appeared again filling my house with a different scent of sweet perfume. He had said that Mary had prepared Him for His burial. Thank you Lord for this honor. I love You too!

     Did she just wipe the Lord's feet with her long beautiful hair? Long hair on women in all cultures is a virtue. One time I wanted to cut my long beautiful hair short and the Lord discouraged me. Today, I keep it natural and many admire it especially women. If a woman kept short hair in Jesus' day, she was thought of as immoral... 1 Corinthians 11:1ff. Biblically speaking, long hair on believing woman is her glory, "Does not the native sense of propriety (experience, common sense, reason) itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is a dishonor [humiliating and degrading] to him. But if a woman has long hair, it is her ornament and glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering"... 1 Corinthians 11:14-15. Then, if the woman must have a covering on her head as her glory, so should the Bride of Christ [the woman] - the servants of God and their ministries ought to have an apostolic covering. And the covering of Christ is vested on His apostles - He is the Chief Apostle... Hebrews 3:1. Write to me for a free eCopy of my book, The True Apostolic Covering: info@apostlejoongare.com

     The tradition in Israel was that once you invited guests in your home, a servant girl would be spotted at the gate with water to clean every invited guest. Mary took on the role of a servant to clean the feet of the most important guest, her Lord. In this case, many men followed Jesus wearing open sandals. Their feet were very dusty after trending the dusty roads and sometimes on all sorts of dung. Secondly, women did not just mingle with men at that time. Just imagine what Mary did; Jesus' feet were no better than those of the men who followed Him. They must also have been very sweaty because of the heat in that part of the desert.

     Take a look, Mary broke her ‘virginity’ laying on the line her future relationships. She was saying to the Lord, "only You matters. My life can wait". She dearly loved her Master and she would often sit at His feet to gaze and listen to His voice every time Jesus visited. We often read Jesus at Bethany, the home of Martha, Lazarus and their sister Mary. She was head over heels in love with the Lord. She was one of those women who followed the Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry. Since it is by design that men pursue women, it is likely that Mary had a romantic feeling for the Lord Jesus deep down her sweet soul. We women love from the heart. This is our makeup. But the Lord never gave her a chance to express how she felt. Thus, she broke her alabaster jar.

     We are spirits. Even men can and are able to express their love for the Lord because He is a Spirit too. Apostle Paul did exactly that. He broke his 'alabaster jar' and remained unmarried. You get to gain all when you lose all for Jesus and His Kingdom. He promised to such, houses, brothers and sisters and sorrow in this life... and later, a life with Him in His Kingdom. If you are married, learn to love Jesus with all your heart and your marriage will be flawless. Jesus loves His Bride so much such that He gave up His Own life for her. This is extravagant love. 

     What kind of hospitality does Jesus receive from your life? Are you busy planning and running your life that you neglect precious time with Him? Or do you respond to Him by listening to His Word, then finding ways to worship Him with your life? It is that kind of hospitality He longs for from each of us. At Rapture, He is coming for only those who've been waiting for Him. The problem is that even the Church has stopped looking forward to His return.

     Come Lord Jesus!