Extravagant love

John 12 : 1 - 11

Mary .....anointed the feet of Jesus

I have always been fascinated by the friendship Jesus had with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Just a few days before his death, Jesus was at their home in Bethany. No more timely an occasion to be with beloved friends.

A couple of months ago, I prayed this passage and was struck and moved by Mary's act of extravagant love. It seemed to me that she was able to lay aside her own grief, her own confusion about what was in store for Jesus (he had alluded to his death earlier on, to his disciples, and we might surmise, to his friends as well). Mary might have heard from Jesus or from his disciples. But whichever the case, she seemed to have humbly accepted what was to happen to him. There was no trying to talk about it, to question him or 'protect' him. She accepted the fact of his coming death and was there simply to comfort him. I imagine the disciples were rather stuck in their confusion, given the times they could not understand Jesus' prediction of his passion. But Mary, a true and loving friend, was drawn out of her own grief, in order to meet him in his time of vulnerability. Mary anointed Jesus with valuable perfume, a sacrificial and extravagant act of love. His memory of this act of love and the fragrance of the ointment would surely have been a comfort to him during his long hours of torture a few days after.

I imagined Jesus' gratitude, as he kindly defended Mary's extravagance. Mary was criticized by Judas, the disciple in bondage to his own selfish agenda. Judas in this scene shows his falseness that was to lead him to his dreadful betrayal a few days later.

Sometimes, in our grief and confusion, we become self-focused and are unable to reach out unselfishly to the loved one who is suffering. We may try to 'do' all sort of things, to fix the situation, but we forget the gentle acts of extravagant love that will be treasured by the one in pain. It is moving to note that Jesus had such a sensitive friend in Mary, and that he received this timely comfort, indeed, "for the day of his burial".