Leftovers [John 12:1-8]

So this has been rolling around in my head the last few days… Remember the story from John in chapter 12 where Jesus is chilling with his close friends the week before his final Passover? By the calendar, it would have happened a couple of weeks ago (Passover began last weekend). He’s with Martha, Mary, Lazarus (in my best Carman voice: “Come forth!”), and some other family members, I’m sure. And there’s at least one of his disciples there (Judas is the only one mentioned by name). Read the passage, and then I’ll share my thought.

{SIDENOTE: I dig reading from The Complete Jewish Bible. But just wanted to warn you that it throws in a little Hebraic here and there, so I just stuck the English translations in parentheses.}

John 12:1-8 . . .
1. Six days before Pesach (Passover), Yeshua (Jesus) came to Beit-Anyah (Bethany), where El`azar (Lazarus) lived, the man Yeshua had raised from the dead;
2. so they gave a dinner there in his honor. Marta (Martha) served the meal, and El`azar was among those at the table with him.
3. Miryam (Mary) took a whole pint of pure oil of spikenard, which is very expensive, poured it on Yeshua’s feet and wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4. But one of the talmidim (disciples), Y’hudah (Judas) from K’riot (Iscariot), the one who was about to betray him, said,
5. “This perfume is worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?”
6. Now he said this not out of concern for the poor, but because he was a thief — he was in charge of the common purse and used to steal from it.
7. Yeshua said, “Leave her alone! She kept this for the day of my burial.
8. You always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Here’s what stands out to me in this passage… It’s not just the dramatic tension building between Judas and his fate. It’s not just the simplicity of Jesus enjoying what will be one of his last dinners with friends. It’s not just ‘the moral of the story’ that tells us that Jesus is special and deserves our sweetest offerings.

What jumped out at me is in verse 3:

…wiped his feet with her hair, so that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

When Mary cracked open this pricey oil, it smelled nice. Very nice. She poured it on the feet of Jesus, and the scent probably got a little stronger. And then she wiped it off. Did his feet smell nice, too? Yes. For a while. But at some point that night, he slipped on his dusty sandals and walked home. Probably right about the time he kicked off his sandals again, the scent was probably gone. No biggie.

But back at Mary’s house, however, the scent lingered. She had wiped this stuff off with her hair. THAT scent wasn’t going away anytime soon. Unless she washed her hair right away, it may have stuck around for days!

To me, as I read through this passage this time around, what I see is that when we pour out our finest offering to Jesus…when we pour out our energy or resources to help the poor, or when we go out of our way to show kindness to someone who has hurt us…when we live simply to allow for more margin in our lives for generosity, something big happens.

ANYTIME we consider honoring Jesus a higher priority than making ourselves comfortable, respectable, or recognizable, we are pouring out our finest for Him. That smells nice. But the after effect is very important, too. And that effect is the evidence that God leaves in our lives that He has been with us. It’s proof to the next person who crosses our paths that Christ has left an impression.

What scent is lingering on YOU today? Is it the scent of self-indulgence? The scent of impatience? The scent of sweat from going going going to impress God with your busy-ness? Or is it the scent of blessing Jesus by taking his words seriously and doing what you can to value he values?