Goodness (19) Mary Magdalene’s Goodness (2)
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May 14, 2023 |
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 “And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.” (Luke 7:37-38)
When Mary Magdalene came to Jesus with the sincerity of such a good heart, she was forgiven of her sins, set free from every kind of curse, and healed of her diseases by the power of Jesus. And she became a healthy and beautiful woman.
Above all, her broken heart was renewed and came to be full of Jesus’ love, which overwhelmed her life with thanksgiving and happiness. Afterwards, she attended to Jesus as her Lord and followed Him until the end with ardent love that nobody could stop or take away.
Then, what are the spiritual implications of Mary Magdalene wetting Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiping them with the hair of her head, kissing His feet, and anointing His feet with the perfume?
1. Mary wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and kissed His feet
Mary Magdalene lived hopelessly suffering from evil spirits. One day she heard about Jesus who healed the sick and preached the gospel of the kingdom, and it made her heart flutter. She believed that meeting Him would remove herself from the pitch darkness of her life, and she was looking forward to seeing Him. Though she was a frail figure, with money that she earned and saved from needlecraft, she prepared the costly perfume. Finally, she learned that Jesus was at the home of Simon, a Pharisee in her town.
Mary went to Simon’s home with the alabaster vial of the perfume that she had prepared with her whole heart. When she arrived, there were many people. The moment they recognized her, they threw a disapproving glance at her as though they said, “It is not the place where a sinner like you can come.” But due to her strong scent of determination and longing for Jesus, they made way for her without knowing why.
The minute she entered the house, she was able to notice at a single glance that it was Jesus sitting across the room. When she saw the benign and gentle Jesus, she felt that He would forgive and accept anybody and began to shed endless tears. Because He was an extremely noble Person, she could not approach facing Him, but moved towards Him from behind until she stood behind Him.
As she approached and ended up at His feet, she burst into tears. Her tears were falling and wetting Jesus’ precious feet. Since her birth, Mary had neither felt happiness nor received love from others. But now Jesus was right next to her and she could feel that He was full of love, knew everything about her, and would embrace her. Her sudden appearance bewildered people and the sound of her weeping filled the house.
They judged her, thinking, ‘Who is that woman? What is she doing?’ or ‘Oh, no! It’s unseemly!’ After weeping for a while, Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with the hair of her head and kissed His feet. People could not control their shock and began to talk in whispers.
In those days, most people in Israel wore sandals, so it was very natural that their feet were covered with dirt. Moreover, there was not enough water to wash their feet. Thus, for Jesus’ feet, it was the same. Actually, it was widespread custom that the house owner was to provide guests with water so that they could wash their feet, but Simon the Pharisee had not even offered Jesus water to wash His feet.
But Mary Magdalene drenched Jesus’ feet with her tears, washed them with her hair, and even kissed them. In those days, Jewish women did not heedlessly reveal their hair. But Mary washed Jesus’ feet with her hair. Through her actions, Mary expressed her love and devotion for Jesus and her earnest desire to serve Him with a perfectly humble heart.
It was furthermore the manifestation of her faith with which she would receive solutions to all problems by meeting Jesus. However, no one could have known her heart. They regarded her to be a bad woman who manipulated the man she was married to and caused him to do bad things. It seemed like they would have dragged her out right away if it had not been for Jesus.
Mary Magdalene did not care about the disapproving looks of people. Nothing mattered because Jesus would know her heart and her truthfulness and He would receive her love. She could feel satisfied owing to one thing: Jesus did not consider her a sinner although everyone else criticized her with a finger pointed at her. So, she did what she wanted without hesitation. That is, she wet Jesus’ feet with her tears, washed them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume.
2. Mary broke an alabaster vial and poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet
Mary Magdalene broke an alabaster vial of perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet with the perfume. It demonstrates not only her enthusiastic love but also includes spiritually deep meaning.
Here, ‘an alabaster vial’ that contained the perfume is a high quality of container. It spiritually represents our body. ‘To break an alabaster vial’ means to devote ourselves to the Lord sacrificing our body. No matter how expensive the perfume is, only when we break the vial that contains the perfume can it come out. In other words, only when we break our self-framework of thoughts and speculation regardless of authority or decency and entirely give up our ‘selves’ will it be possible for us to make such a commitment. But still no matter how good it was, the vial was just a container for the perfume. What was of value was the perfume inside.
The Bible does not tell us how much the perfume was but the perfume was the most costly and high-priced at that time. The Gospel of John chapter 12 talks about the perfume that Mary in Bethany anointed the feet of Jesus, and it was a pound of perfume of pure nard and the price was three hundred denarii. A denarius was an average daily wage for a worker, so three hundred denarii was such a great amount of money that people could save only by accumulating all wages earned for almost a year without spending any.
We could feel how wholehearted Mary Magdalene’s devotion was to buy such costly perfume. She constantly worked with her exhausted and sick body and saved money little by little. She was nervous and afraid that the man she had married might seize it and she even reduced her food. Through this, she could give the perfume to Jesus. That is why to give perfume means to offer entire and sincere dedication.
In other words, Mary’s breaking the vial and anointing Jesus’ feet with the perfume in it signifies that she gave all her body, heart, and mind to Him. Afterwards, Mary unchangingly served Jesus and followed Him even when He was crucified. When He was buried, she came to the tomb and after waiting for the Sabbath to be over she came there again to anoint Him with perfume. Meantime, she was blessed to become the first person who met the risen Lord.
In addition, her actions carry remarkable spiritual meaning in the fact that the perfume could come out only when the vial was broken. The ‘vial’ symbolizes our body that wants to follow the desire of the flesh. Just as perfume can come out only when a vial is broken, our true love for the Lord can be revealed only when we get rid of the desires of the flesh.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will cast away the desires of the flesh and offer up a pure and holy heart to the Lord like Mary Magdalene who broke the alabaster vial containing the perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet.
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