Lives of Scripture

Mary of Bethany, sister of Martha and Lazarus, first appears choosing to sit at Jesus's feet listening to His teaching while Martha busied herself with hospitality preparations; Jesus commended Mary's choice as "the good part," one that would not be taken from her (Luke 10:39-42). When Lazarus died, Mary stayed at home until Martha told her Jesus was asking for her, then went to Him and fell at His feet with the same words her sister had used: "if You had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:28-32). Seeing her weeping, along with the Jewish mourners who came with her, Jesus Himself was "deeply moved" and wept, just before raising Lazarus from the dead (11:33-35, 43-44). Mary's most memorable act comes shortly before Jesus's crucifixion: at a dinner in Bethany, she took about a pint of very costly perfume made of pure nard, worth roughly a year's wages, anointed Jesus's feet with it, and wiped them with her hair, filling the house with its fragrance (12:1-3). Judas Iscariot objected to the extravagance, feigning concern for the poor, but Jesus defended her: "let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial," recognizing in her act a preparation for His coming death that even His own disciples had not grasped (12:4-8; compare Mark 14:8-9, where Jesus says her act will be told wherever the gospel is preached). Mary's story is one of consistent, worshipful devotion centered entirely on Jesus.