We Will Be Secure

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (he who was about to betray Him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me.”

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

John 12:1-11

As I studied our passage, I noticed how John juxtaposed Mary, a true worshiper, and Judas, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Pondering the presence of evil at the table with our Lord, I remembered a terrible event in my childhood.

When I was in third grade, my family moved out to the edge of town where the neighbor’s cows and chickens would sometimes wander into our yard. This put us closer to the new hospital where my Dad worked, allowing him to get to the hospital quickly in an emergency. The closest elementary school was a public school where my sister and I attended for a couple of years. Public schools in Louisiana, at that time, allowed children to repeat grades long after they should have matriculated from elementary. On one unforgettable day, I was helping our teacher to clean up the classroom, and thus, was late to the lunchroom. I had to sit at the very end of the very last table, across from the one boy who, having been held back several times, was now about 13 years of age compared to my 9. Though terrified to sit near this older boy and his friends, I ate my lunch quickly and quietly, hoping to make it to recess before playtime was over. Pure evil is the only way I can describe what held this boy. He said things of a sexual nature to me that I did not understand, but I knew they were not good. I was unable to finish eating lunch. I exited quickly to surround myself with friends. This was one of my earliest memories of brushing up against evil in a way that made me feel shame. I felt dirty just for being in this boy’s presence and hearing the words he said to me. Why was I left unprotected? Why wasn’t anyone watching out for me?

Unlike my school memory, the prose of our passage sets a joyous scene. Mary is a model of what we all will be someday. Through the cacophony of people gathered at the table, our narrator zooms in. The scene takes on slow motion, and the noise of table talk is drowned out as we are drawn further into a deeply personal moment. Mary appears behind Jesus and pours a very expensive, very large, bottle of perfume over her Savior. Concluding with His feet, she catches the runoff with her hair. It is pure worship of the One she knows is Messiah, the One she knows has come for her, and the One who has brought her beloved brother back from the dead. For Mary, there is nothing else in life worthy of her attention. There should have been silence and awe all around as others joined in her worship of the Lord. Instead, Judas opens his mouth. A traitorous, thieving, self-seeking man doing Satan’s bidding, Judas attempts to shame Mary. Jesus stops him, “Leave her alone.”

I hate that Judas was there at the special dinner for our Lord – our Lord who was about to lay aside His power, placing Himself in the hands of monsters in order to rescue us from Satan’s clutches. Jesus went to the cross for us, for Judas, and for the boy in elementpcary school. If only they had eyes to see and receive Him, they would not spend eternity in hell, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The One who raised Lazarus, and then Himself, from the dead will also raise us. One day, we will have another dinner in honor of Jesus. The Bible calls it the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). We will fall at His feet when we realize the evil He has rescued us from (even within ourselves). We will offer fragrant sacrifices of praise, and we will feast in a place where evil cannot enter, where pain and suffering do not exist, where shame is no more, and where we are secure (Revelation 21:27).