Mary's Story: True Sincerity of the Truly Forgiven

     Mary. A sinful woman set up, mistreated, and accused. Moments later she would be defended by Jesus, pardoned, and forgiven.

     Days after the incident that could have cost her her life, she heard of where Jesus was, walked into the house of people she might not have known, knelt at His feet, and, out of extreme gratitude and thankfulness, washed His feet with a mixture of expensive perfume and her own tears.

John 12:1-8 (NIV)

1                  Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.

2                 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.

3                 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, and 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.

4                 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected.

5                 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?  It was worth a year’s wages.”

6                 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

7                 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied.  “It was intended, that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

8                “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

     Jesus appreciated the woman’s beautiful, extravagant gift because it showed her sensitivity to Him as He faced the cross.  His disciples seemed to have had good intentions but lacked sensitivity.

     In Luke 7:44-47, Jesus said of Mary, “she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair… this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet… she has poured perfume on my feet… I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much.”

     The woman, Mary, was thought throughout town to have been “a woman who had lived a sinful life.”  It is believed that Mary was the woman supposedly caught in the act of adultery and of whom the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought to Jesus in hopes to question Jesus and trap Him so that they could accuse Him.  They used Scripture as their basis, saying, “In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.  What do you say?”  They were referring to what we know as the book of Leviticus 20:10, “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife – with the wife of his neighbor – both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.”  It’s interesting to note, however, that though the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought forth the woman, they did not bring forth the man.  That leads us to think that the whole scenario was a set-up, as though the purpose behind the accusations were two-fold: one, they were hoping to rid the town of such a sinful woman, and two, they were wanting to catch Jesus in a trap and hopefully have a sound basis for accusing Him.  That plan could have worked because there were several witnesses to back up their claim.  But Jesus, true to form, responded with, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  His response stunned both Mary and the accusers.  Mary was stunned because she thought for sure her accusers would start throwing stones.  But it stunned the accusers because they knew Jesus was right.  All of them were sinners and they knew it.

      Jesus asked her, “Where are your accusers?  Did anyone condemn you?”  And she, certainly surprised and not knowing this was going to be the end result, with the upmost thankful heart, told Him, “No.  No one has condemned me.”  And Jesus told her, “I don’t condemn you either.”  Jesus was right in telling her that.  He was reminding her then the same thing He is reminding us even today what He told us before He even met Mary when He said, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)  Jesus saved Mary.  Then He told her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  And she must have.  Because here she was now at the feet of Jesus… at the feet of the One who saved her life.

     I want to take a brief segue to remind us that Jesus still does this today.  In the presence of many who accuse us, Jesus, our great Defender, addresses our accusers, our enemy, and those of the dark forces unknown to the doubtful heart and unseen to the blinded eye.

     We don’t know how many days passed between the incident where she was accused and when she knelt at the feet of Jesus.  Could have been a few days, could have been a month, no one really knows for sure.  During all that time the scenario of her accusers grabbing her, hauling her through the street, bringing her to a man she probably didn’t know or perhaps had never seen before… the voice of this individual addressing her accusers and defending her… the sound of stones dropping to the ground one by one, stones meant to bruise and break her body… the words of this incredible man telling her to leave her life of sin… played over and over in her mind.  We don’t know how many days she cried.  It’s fair to assume she cried because she was grieving of having lived such a sinful life.  She knew what she had done.  She knew it wasn’t right.  It was her job.   It was how she earned a living.  Nothing is mentioned of her parents or relatives, so she was probably living the life of a prostitute for many years, perhaps since she was a young girl.  Remember: she had a lot of money.  The perfume she poured on the feet of Jesus cost about as much money as one would normally make in a year.  It’s also fair to assume she cried because she was relieved and thankful.  So thankful, in fact, that the money she saved up – money that could have helped her live a better, more respectable life elsewhere where nobody knew her – was spent on the most expensive, most aromatic perfume money could buy anywhere.   She didn’t buy it for herself.  She bought it as a thank offering, a type of payment for the man who saved her life. 

     Why perfume, though?  Expensive or not, why perfume?  Wasn’t a heart-felt, “Thank You,” enough?  Why not just give Jesus the money instead of spending it on an extremely expensive alabaster jar of perfume?  You see, upon first learning of this story, we could have asked those questions.  We’d be right to ask them.  Jesus was asked, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”  It’s normal not to understand.  But Jesus knew.  Mary was simply expressing her thankfulness in the best way she knew how.  And Jesus knew why she was doing it.

     Consider this song by Ce Cey Winans...

·         “Alabaster Box” – Ce Ce Winans 

The room grew still as she made her way to Jesus
She stumbles through the tears that made her blind
She felt such pain, some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper, “There's no place here for her kind.”
Still on she came through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last, she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no words, everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the Master from her box of alabaster

(Refrain)
And I've come to pour my praise on Him
Like oil from Mary's alabaster box
Don't be angry if I wash his feet with my tears and I dry them with my hair
You weren't there the night He found me, you did not feel what I felt when he

     wrapped His love all around me
And you don't know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box

I can't forget the way life used to be
I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
And I spent my days, poured my life without measure
Into a little treasure box I'd thought I'd found
Until the day when Jesus came to me and healed my soul with the wonder of His  

                 touch
             So now I'm giving back to Him all the praise He's worthy of
             I've been forgiven, and that's why I love Him so much

     In everyday life, we have our accusers including “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10).  In everyday life, we have people who are disgusted with us and talk about us whether they know we hear them or not.  In everyday life, we have those who would like to be rid of us even if it means our death.  But in everyday life we have our Defender who speaks on our behalf.  In everyday life, we have the One who doesn’t point His finger at us in a judgmental manner, but looks us in the eye, smiles, and accepts us for who we are.  In everyday life, we have the Son of God who encourages each and every one of us to leave the life of sin behind and live a life full of thankfulness, happiness, spiritual-uprightness and blessing to others.  In everyday life, we have Jesus.

     To be thankful is to be well-pleased.  Show me a person who is well-pleased, and I will show you a person who not only naturally displays that pleasure, but shares it with whomever and for whatever reason in everyday life.   For that is the life of true sincerity of the truly forgiven.