Of all the disciples of Christ who
pass before us in the Gospels, perhaps none are more marked by single-hearted
devotedness to Christ than Mary of Bethany. She makes nothing of self but
everything of Christ; hence, on the three occasions that she comes before us,
she is found at the feet of Jesus. We see her first at His feet as a learner
(Luke 10), then as a mourner (John 11), and finally as a worshiper
(John 12). May we, as we read her story, profit by her lowly and devoted life.

                  
At His Feet as a Learner

                       
(Luke 10:38-42)

As sinners saved by grace, we have
been at the feet of the Saviour discovering that, in spite of all our sins, He
loves us and has died for us. If we are to make spiritual progress, the
"one thing needful" as believers is to take our place at His feet and
hear His Word.

This plain but important truth is
brought before us in the scene described at the end of Luke 10. Journeying on
His way to Jerusalem, the Lord came to "a certain village" and a
"woman

named Martha received Him into her house." She gladly
opened her home to the Lord, and at once set herself to minister to His bodily
needs. This indeed was right and beautiful in its place; and yet the story
clearly shows that there was much of self in Martha’s service. She did not like
to have all the burden of this service, and felt grieved that she was left to
serve alone. There was one thing lacking in her service.

The one thing needful—the one
thing that Martha missed—was to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His word. She
loved the Lord, and with all her energy she zealously set herself to serve the
Lord; but her zeal was not according to knowledge. She set herself to work
without having first been in the company of the Lord and without being
instructed in the mind of the Lord. As a result she "was cumbered about
much serving" and "careful and troubled about many things,"
complaining about her sister, and even entertaining the thought that the Lord
was indifferent to her labors.

Alas! do we not, at times, act
like Martha? We may take up service according to our own thoughts, or under the
direction of others. From morning to night we may busy ourselves in a continual
round of activity, and yet neglect the one thing needful—to be alone with the
Lord, and in communion with Him hear His Word and learn His mind. Little wonder
that we get distracted and "troubled about many things" and complain
of others. It is easier to spend whole days in a round of busy service than a
half hour alone with Jesus.        

 

In Mary we see a believer who
chose the "good part." Clearly she had a keener perception of the
desires of the heart of Christ than her sister. One has said, "Martha’s
eye saw His weariness, and would give to Him; Mary’s faith apprehended His
fullness, and would draw from Him."

Martha thought of the Lord only as
One who was requiring something from us; Mary discerned that, beyond all the
service of which He is so worthy, the desire of His heart, and the great
purpose of His coming into this world, was to communicate something to us.
"Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," and at the end of His path He
could say, "I have given unto them the words that Thou gavest Me"
(John 17:8). By the Word of God salvation is brought to us (Acts 13:26), we are
born again (1 Pet. 1:23), we are cleansed from defilement (John 15:3), we are
sanctified (John 17:17), and we are instructed in all the truth of God "that
the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Tim.
3:16,17).

Martha set herself to do good
works without having been thoroughly furnished by the Word of God. In Mary we
learn that communion with Christ, and instruction in the Word of Christ, must
precede all service that is acceptable to Christ. He delights that, in His own
time and way, we should minister to Him; but, above all, He delights to have us
in His company that He may minister to us.

Of old Moses could say of the
LORD, "Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy hand; and they
sat down at Thy feet; every one shall receive of Thy words" (Deut. 33:3).
This presents a lovely picture of the true position of God’s people—held in the
hand of the Lord, sitting at the feet of the Lord, and listening to the words
of the Lord. May we, then, choose this good part, and in due course do the good
work.

                  
At His Feet as a Mourner

                        
(John 11:32)

In John 11 we again read of the
two sisters, Martha and Mary. Sickness had ended in death casting its shadow
over the home. Their brother had been taken from them.

In their trouble they rightly
turned to the Lord as their unfailing resource, and very blessedly they pleaded
His love for their brother, saying, "He whom Thou lovest is sick." It
was indeed true that the Lord loved Lazarus, but we are also told that
"Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." As the story
proceeds we are permitted to see the way love takes in order to declare both the
glory of the Son of God and the compassions of the heart of Jesus.

Again we see the difference
between these two devoted women. Martha who, on the former occasion, had been
cumbered with her service when the Lord of life and glory had visited her house,
was now restless and distracted when death came into the home. Mary who, in the
former day, had listened to His word, could now quietly wait for Him to speak
and act. Thus we read, "Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was
coming, went to meet Him, but Mary sat still in the house." However, when
Mary received the word, "The Master is come and calls for you,… she
arose quickly and came unto Him."

 

"Then when Mary was come
where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet." For the second time
this devoted woman is found in the lowly place at the feet of Jesus. The Jews,
mistaking her action, said, "She goes unto the grave to weep there."
She was doing what is far better, what faith alone can do; she was going to the
feet of Jesus to weep there. Even the world can weep at the grave of a
loved one, but it brings no comfort to the sorrowing heart. But to weep at the
feet of Jesus is to find the comfort of His love, for we weep at the feet of
One who, in His own time, can raise our dead and, in the meantime, can comfort
our hearts.

In this touching scene there is no
record of any word spoken by the Lord to Mary. We only learn that, in the
presence of her great sorrow, "Jesus wept."

The Jews wrongly interpreted these
tears as being a token of the Lord’s love for Lazarus. He did indeed love
Lazarus, but there was no need to weep for one whom He was about to raise from
the dead. It was the sorrow of the living that drew forth the tears of Jesus.
"When Jesus saw her weeping … He grieved in spirit and was
troubled," and His trouble found vent in tears, for "Jesus
wept."

When our loved ones are taken from
us, we still learn that our only real and lasting comfort is found in bowing at
His feet and pouring out our sorrow in the presence of the One who once wept
with these broken-hearted women.

                 
At His Feet as a Worshiper

                          
(John 12)

The beautiful scene that passes
before us in the beginning of John 12 took place just six days before the
Cross. The Lord’s devoted life, in which self was ever set aside to serve
others in love, was drawing to a close. At every step of His path He had been
dispensing blessing—spreading a feast, as it were, for all the world. Now, at
last, a few of His loved ones "made Him a supper."

Christ was in this needy world as
a Giver, but it was not often that anyone gave to Him. Once, in the beginning
of His way, a few wise men "presented unto Him gifts" and had fallen
down and "worshiped Him." Now, at the end of His path, they made a
supper for Him and again one was found at His feet with her gifts as a
worshiper.

There also had been a time when
Levi had made Him "a great feast in his own house" (Luke 5:29). There
the Lord had sat down with "a great company of publicans and of
others" in order to dispense blessing to sinners. Now He was in company
with a few of His own in order to receive the homage of saints.

Christ is the One for whom they
made the supper—the Center of the feast and the Object before every heart.
Lazarus and others were present but they "sat at the table with Him."
The blessedness of the occasion was that He, the Son of God, was present.

 

Again, the two sisters, Martha and
Mary, were present. Martha served, but no longer was she cumbered with her
service or complaining of others. She thought only of the One for whom they had
made the supper. For the third time Mary is found at the feet of the Lord, but
no longer to receive His words and His sympathy, but to give to Him the worship
of a heart that loved Him. Mary’s gifts, Mary’s acts, and Mary’s attitude all
breathe the spirit of worship.

Drawn by attachment of heart to
Christ she had sat at His feet, listened to His words, and learned something of
His mind. We see here that affection for Christ is the secret of all true
service. Moved by this love for Christ, she did the right thing at the right
moment. She might have left the ointment in the alabaster box and presented it
to Christ, but this would not have put the same honor upon Him. She poured it
out upon His feet. She did the right act. She might, at some earlier
moment in the Lord’s life, have anointed His feet with the ointment, but she
waited until the hour of His going to the Cross and the grave had arrived.
Moved by the instincts of love she did the right act at the right moment,
for the Lord said, "Against the day of my burying has she kept this."
Christ was everything to Mary. Christ was her life, and all that she had was
devoted to Him. The costly ointment and the hair of her head—the glory of a
woman—were used to put honor upon Christ. She was not even praising Him for all
that He had done or was about to do, but she bowed at His feet as a worshipper
because of all that He is.

Acting in this way she put honor
upon the One whom that world had rejected and was about to nail to a cross. She
forgot herself and her blessings and thought only of Christ. How blessed if,
when we make Him a supper, in a like spirit of worship we could each one pass
out of sight of ourselves and our blessings, and see no man any more save Jesus
only and His glory.

Thus acting we may, like Mary in
her day, be misunderstood by the world, and even by many true disciples; but at
the same time we will have the approval of the Lord as Mary did. In the eyes of
the world her act was mere waste. In Christianity today the one great aim is to
benefit man; all else is waste. Though the world may condemn, the Lord
approved, saying, "Let her alone" (John 12:7) and "She has
wrought a good work upon Me" (Matt. 26:10). Indeed, so highly did the Lord
appreciate Mary’s act that He added, "Wheresoever this gospel is preached
in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman has done, be told
for a memorial of her" (Matt. 26:13).

 

Moreover, the Lord said, "Me
you have not always." It will be our privilege and our joy to worship Him
in glory, but it was Mary’s privilege, and it is still ours, to worship Him in
the world where He is rejected, and in the face of the scorn and reproach of
men. Mary seized the occasion to render to Him this precious service. As one has
said, "She could not have done this service in eternity…. Love will find
new ways of expressing itself to Him then. But it will not be what He looks for
from us now. There will be no self to be denied, no cross to be borne, no world
to be surrendered, no reproach to be encountered then."

How blessed, too, was the effect
of her act of devotion to Christ, for we read, "The house was filled with
the odor of the ointment." Lazarus may hold sweet communion with Christ,
and Martha may serve Christ, but Mary’s act of worship that was so precious to
the heart of Christ was also a joy to all who were in the house. That which
gives honor to Christ will bring blessing to others.

We may rightly commune with Christ
about many things, we may rightly serve Him in many ways, but the worship that
makes everything of Christ will surpass all else in the day when we make Him a
supper. So will it be in that great day when all the redeemed are gathered
home. The new song will be sung that renders praise to the Lord for all that He
has done. Heaven and earth will join to celebrate His glory. Above all, we read
of those who "fell down and worshiped Him." Beyond all the mighty
work that He has done, and beyond all the glory that He has acquired, He
will be worshiped because of all that He is. Then we shall be able to say:

 

The heart is satisfied; can ask

no more;

All thought of self is now for-

ever o’er;

Christ, its unmingled Object,

fills the heart

In blest adoring love—its endless

part.

 

She came not to hear a sermon,
although the greatest of teachers was there.

To sit at His feet and hear His
words (Luke 10:39) was not her purpose now, blessed as that was in its proper
place.

She came not to make her requests
known to Him (John 11:3).

There was a time when, in deepest
submission to His will, she had fallen at His feet, saying, "Lord, if Thou
hadst been here, my broth­er had not died" (John 11:32); but to pour out
her supplications to Him as her only resource was not now her thought, for her
brother was seated at the table.

She came not to meet the saints,
though precious saints were there (Matt. 26:8). Fellowship with them was
blessed likewise, and doubtless of frequent occurrence; but fellowship was not
her object now.

She came not after the weariness
and toil of a week’s battling with the world to be refreshed from Him, though,
surely, she like every saint had learned the trials of the wilderness; and none
more than she, probably, knew the blessed springs of refreshment that were in
Him.

But she came—when the world was
about to express its deepest hatred of Him (John 12:1)—to pour out what she
long had treasured up (verse 7), and of much value (verse 5), upon the person
of Him whose love had made her heart captive, and absorbed her affections.

It was not Simon the leper, not
the disciples, not her brother and sister in the flesh, but her Lord who
engaged her attention now. Jesus filled her soul—her heart and her eye
were on Him, and her hands and feet were subservient to her eye and to
her heart as she "anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her
hair."

Adoration, homage, worship,
blessing was her one thought; and that in honor of the One who was "all in
all" to her. How refreshing was such worship to Him!

The ungodly (verse 4) and the
unspiritual (Matt. 26:6-9) might murmur, but He upheld her cause, and showed
how He could appreciate and value the grateful tribute of a heart that knew His
worth and preciousness and could not be silent about it. A lasting record is
preserved of what worship really is by the One who accepted it and of the one
who rendered it.

Be it ours now, dear reader, from
hearts filled with the Holy Spirit, to break upon Him our spiritual box of
ointment in worship, praise, and thanksgiving.

(From Help and Food, Vol.
15.)

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.