Mary was not afraid to be
unconventional. "What will other people think?" was not a motivating
influence in her life. We first meet Mary in Luke 10:38-42. The Lord Jesus had
come to Martha’s house in Bethany as a guest. Martha’s sister, Mary, "sat
at Jesus’ feet." This expression is a technical term meaning, "to be
a disciple of" (Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 4). In the Greek it
is identical to the expression, "at the feet of Gamaliel" in Acts
22:3. This was not the usual place of women, but when Martha wanted the Lord to
tell Mary to help serve the food, the Lord Jesus encouraged Mary in her
discipleship. Martha was probably the older sister (it was her house, verse 38)
and Mary perhaps knew what Martha expected of her, but she could not let pass
an opportunity to hear and learn from this One of whom she had, no doubt, heard
much.

Mary and Martha both grieved for
their brother Lazarus in John 11, and we see the family reunited in John 12.
This time Mary received rebuke from some of the Lord Jesus’ disciples (Matt.
26:8; Mark 14:4), Judas Iscariot perhaps being the most vocal one. It was not
just the cost of the ointment that startled them (although 300 pence was a
year’s wages for the average worker—Matt. 20:2), but the loosening of her hair
in public, considered scandalous in Jewish society (Anchor Bible Dictionary,
Vol. 4), and performing a task—anointing a guest’s feet—usually assigned to
slaves. Again the Lord Jesus defended her. Certainly He was not unconcerned
with the poor, but the Lord Jesus’ death and resurrection and our response to
these events and to Him personally are more important eternally than social
service. In both this passage and the passage in Luke, Mary demonstrates a
single-minded devotion to the Lord Jesus and a whole-personed surrender of
herself, her resources, and her reputation to Christ. She was unconcerned about
social conventions or the opinions of others. All that mattered to her was the
Lord Jesus Christ. Her reward was the Lord’s commendation of her devotion.

Mary’s devotion would seem to be
an example of Rom. 12:1:"Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." The Greek word latreia
used here for "service" is always used in the New Testament in
connection with service rendered to God; its verb form is sometimes translated
"worship" in both KJV and JND (Phil. 3:3; Heb. 10:2) and in KJV
though not JND (Acts 7:42; 24:14). Martha’s service (Greek word diakonia;
Luke 10:40; John 12:2) was people-oriented and this Greek word is never
translated "worship." But Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet, resulting
from what she had learned at His feet, surely was an act of worship.

Let us—brothers and sisters
alike—be less concerned about what other people think of us (good or bad) and
more self-abandoned in our devotion, service, and worship of our heavenly
Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.