Mary, Mary, not contrary,
I see how your love flows:
with oil spilled and hair unbound
and a heart that the Savior knows.

Often compared and contrasted with her sister Martha, there is an act of the maid Mary that is “stand alone.” From it we can glean nuggets of truth-gold and fashion them into jewels for our own lives.

The account of Mary anointing Jesus is depicted in three of the four Gospels (John 12:1-8; Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9). Read the passages to refresh your memory of the details. In brief, it looks like this:

• Jesus, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the disciples, and a slew of other people are gathered together in a home. We’ve seen a similar scene before.
• Mary comes to Jesus’ feet. Again, she’s been in that position before.  But what she does next is surprising and somewhat strange.
• Mary breaks a jar filled with expensive, fragrant oil and dumps it on Jesus’ feet. And she’s not done yet!
• Mary unbinds her hair and uses it to wipe Jesus’ feet! Read More→