Reference: Mary, Sister of Lazarus and Martha
Morish
The three are spoken of as those whom Jesus loved. They resided at Bethany, where they were privileged to welcome the Lord Jesus as a guest. On one of these visits Mary took her place at the feet of the Lord, feasting upon the words that fell from His lips. Martha wanted her help, but the Lord declared that one thing was needful, and Mary had chosen that good part, which should not be taken away from her. Lu 10:38-42. The heart of Mary was riven at the death of Lazarus. Word had been sent to the Lord that he was sick, and yet He had not come. When Jesus arrived Mary exclaimed, as Martha had done previously, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died:" but Mary said it at the feet of the Lord. Jesus wept, and Mary thus learned His sympathy, and had a fresh taste of the good part which death could not take from her. To Martha Jesus said that she should have her brother back, and should see the power of death broken by the One who was "the resurrection and the life;" but Mary had Himself. Joh 11:1-44.
Afterwards, when they made the Lord a supper, a few days before He suffered, Mary, in full appreciation of her Lord, anointed His head and His feet with costly ointment. Judas and others were indignant at what they called 'waste,' but the Lord defended Mary's action, and said He was being anointed for His burial: this act should be told of her in the whole world. Nothing was too costly to be spent upon such a Lord. Joh 12:1-8: cf. Mt 26:6-13; Mr 14:3-9. It should be noted that this is not the same event as that recorded in Lu 7:36-50.
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When Jesus came back to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper, a woman with an alabaster bottle of very costly perfume came up to Him while He was at table and poured it upon His head. read more. When the disciples saw it, they were very indignant, and said, "Why such waste? Surely it could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, because He understood them, said to them, "Why do you embarrass the woman? She has done a good deed to me, for you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. For in putting this perfume on my body she has done it to prepare me for my burial. I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the good deed that she has done will be told, in memory of her."
While He was in Bethany, He was a guest in the home of Simon the leper, and as He was sitting at table, a woman came in with an alabaster bottle of pure nard perfume, very costly; she broke the bottle and poured the perfume on His head. But some of the guests were indignantly saying to themselves, "Why was such a waste of the perfume made? read more. It might have been sold for more than sixty dollars, and the money have been given to the poor." So they kept on grumbling at her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you embarrass her? She has done a good deed to me. For you always have the poor among you, and whenever you please you can do them good, but you will not always have me. She has done all she could; she has beforehand perfumed my body for my burial. I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the deed that she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
Now one of the Pharisees invited Him to take dinner with him. So He came to the Pharisee's house and took His place at the table. There was a woman in the town who was a social outcast, and when she learned that He was taking dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster bottle of perfume read more. and took her stand behind Him at His feet, continually weeping. Then she began to wet His feet with her tears, but she continued to wipe them off with the hair of her head, and she kept right on kissing His feet with affection and anointing them with the perfume. So when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he said to himself, "If He were really a prophet, He would know who and of what character the woman is who is clinging to Him -- that she is a social outcast." Then Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," said he, "go on and say it." "Two men were in debt to a money-lender. One owed him a hundred dollars, the other ten. Since they could not pay him, he graciously canceled the debts for both of them. Now which one of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled most." Then He said, "You are correct in your judgment." And turning face to face with the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came to your house; you did not give me any water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she, from the moment I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet with affection. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, as many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the one who has little to be forgiven loves me little." And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven!" The men at the table began to say to themselves, "Who is this man, who even forgives sins?" But He said to the woman, "It is your faith that has saved you; go on in peace."
Now as they were journeying on, He came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house. She had a sister named Mary who took her seat at the Lord's feet, and remained listening to His message. read more. But Martha was getting worried about having to wait on them so much, so she came up suddenly and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the housework alone? Then tell her to take hold and help me." The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and vexed about many things. But there is actual need of few things, really of only one thing. For Mary has chosen the good portion which must not be taken away from her."
Now a man was sick; it was Lazarus who lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who poured the perfume upon the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. read more. So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, "Lord, listen! the one you love so well is sick." When Jesus received the message, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death but is to honor God, that the Son of God through it may be honored." Now Jesus held in loving esteem Martha and her sister and Lazarus. But when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed over for two days in the place where He was. After that He said to His disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." The disciples said to Him, "Teacher, the Jews just now were trying to stone you, and are you going back there again?" Jesus answered, "Does not the day have twelve hours? If a man travels in the daytime, he does not stumble, for he can see the light of this world; but if he travels in the nighttime, he does stumble, because he has no light." He said this, and after that He added, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him." The disciples said to Him, "Lord, if he has merely fallen asleep, he will recover." But Jesus had spoken about his death. However, they supposed that He was referring to falling into a natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly: "Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may come to have real faith in me. But let us go to him." Then Thomas the Twin said to his fellow-disciples, "Let us go too, and die with Him." When Jesus reached there, He found that Lazarus had been buried for four days. Now Bethany is only about two miles from Jerusalem, and a goodly number of Jews had come out to see Martha and Mary, to sympathize with them over their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask God for He will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise at the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life myself. Whoever continues to believe in me will live right on even though he dies, and no person who continues to live and believe in me will ever die at all. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." On saying this she went back and called her sister Mary, whispering to her, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you." As soon as she heard it, she jumped up and started to Jesus, for He had not yet come into the village, but He was still at the place where Martha had met Him. So the Jews who were with her in the house sympathizing with her, when they saw Mary jump up and go out, followed her, because they supposed that she was going to the grave to pour out her grief there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she threw herself at His feet, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." So when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping too, He sighed in sympathy and shook with emotion, and asked, "Where have you laid him?" They answered, "Lord, come and see." Jesus burst into tears. So the Jews said, "See how tenderly He loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not this man, who made that blind man see, have kept Lazarus from dying?" Now Jesus sighed again and continued to sigh as He went to the grave. It was a cave with a stone lying over the mouth of it. Jesus said, "Slip the stone aside." The dead man's sister, Martha, said to Him, "Lord, by this time he is offensive, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not promise you that if you would believe in me, you should see the glory of God?" So they slipped the stone aside. And Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you for listening to me; yes, I knew that you always listen to me. But I have said this for the sake of the crowd that is standing by, that they may come to believe that you have sent me." On saying this, He shouted aloud, "Lazarus, come out!" Then out came the dead man, his feet and hands tied with wrappings, and his face tied up with a handkerchief. Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."
Now six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus lived, whom He had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner there in honor of Jesus, and Martha was waiting on them, but Lazarus was one of the guests with Jesus. read more. Then Mary took a pound of expensive perfume, made of the purest oil, and poured it on Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair; and the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was going to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for sixty dollars and the money given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and as the carrier of the purse for the Twelve he was in the habit of taking what was put into it. Then Jesus said, "Let her alone; let her keep it for the day of my funeral, for you always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."