“Mary of Bethany was not at the tomb.” This footnote in my grandmother’s well-worn Bible sat on the page like an invitation. Grandma had been dead many years and her Bibles with their notes and underlined verses had often been a source of inspiration for me. “Think about this,” the footnote prodded, “and ask yourself why.”
Mary of Bethany was not at the tomb. This observation had never occurred to me. The scene where this woman anoints Jesus is deeply moving and has all the elements of feminine devotion. At the same time, it was an action inarguably courageous for its day: a woman boldly enters a room full of men, but not for the purpose of serving at table. She is there to perform an act of worship and mourning that seemed to those present incautious and wasteful.
In Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus provided refreshment and spiritual fellowship. It is no wonder that Jesus would sometimes withdraw from the demands of travel and ministry to rest in the gracious welcome of this small family. It was a place where human love and divine power were wonderfully blended.
We see the dramas of family life: the duties of hospitality, interfamily irritation, dashed hopes, illness, and death. And Jesus performed for them a miracle, the resurrection of Lazarus, which would ignite a final hatred of Him leading directly to the Cross.
It is, however, Mary’s actions in the house of Simon the Leper which illuminate a trait that we, as women, can find instructive. Mary paid attention.
When her sister was worried and distracted with her responsibilities as hostess, Mary refused to be drawn from the presence of Her savior. One might argue that the noise and bustle of preparation were necessary for what appears to have been an unexpected guest. Jesus, however, made it clear that His followers are to discern between the necessary and the expedient. “Mary has chosen,” indicates her deep desire to hear Jesus’ words, and His affirmation of her choice. He will not raise His voice above the clatter of everyday living. It is up to us to come aside and sit awhile with Him. And pay attention.
Standing beside Jesus at the tomb of her brother, they wept together. Her instincts would have been sharpened as the words she had heard at His feet now echoed in her mind. Death, burial, resurrection. There was something superior at work here. What was it? After the celebration of a brother resurrected, she would ponder the deeper significance of the miracle.
Sometime between the restoration of Lazarus and the scene at Simon’s house, revelation seems to have dawned in Mary’s mind. The minds of Jesus’ disciples were uncomprehending as He repeatedly spoke of His death. He did not discuss this in an oblique way. He told them clearly: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and He must be killed an on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22 NKJV). Yet it was Mary who, having fiercely claimed her time with Him, heard, understood, and believed.
I thought about how brave, yet broken, she was in approaching Jesus that evening. Simon might well be offended by the unorthodox interruption in his home by a woman. Jesus’ disciples certainly were, and “they rebuked her harshly.” But Jesus’ defense of Mary is pointed: “Leave her alone. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial” (Mark 14:6,7). Jesus knew that Mary had connected the spiritual dots and come to an undeniable conclusion. That conclusion had impelled her to Simon’s house to mourn and to worship.
Mary had, I began to see, also comprehended much more. She knew the depths of grief and loss when a beloved one dies. She also knew the profound joy of having that one miraculously returned to life. When Jesus said He would be raised from the dead, Mary believed. And she chose not to visit a tomb she knew would be empty.
We are all well aware that women have huge demands on their time. And social media is competing for more and more of it. Yes, we can read the Bible on our iPhones while waiting to pick the kids up at school, and yes, we can pray on our way to the next appointment. But love and devotion require both quality and quantity time. The extravagant devotion displayed toward her Lord by Mary of Bethany requires some individual measure of daily, undivided attention. Today, we as Christian women and followers of Christ must understand the vital importance of making that possible.
SEVERAL THINGS ARE CLEAR...
1. Mary chose.
Our lives are the results of a series of choices. We all have 24 hour days. We can pray for daily wisdom as to how to live them.
2. Mary focused.
Studies show an alarming decline in attention spans. Focusing our attention in prayer and the Word takes conscious effort. We all get to choose how much effort.
3. Mary acted.
God takes that love and devotion and time and attention and sends us out into our lives and the greater world with power and effectiveness. There are no shortcuts.
Mary of Bethany was not at the tomb. Perhaps she was in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost, one of “the women” sitting with the others, waiting expectantly for whatever her Lord had planned. I like to think of Mary in that familiar posture, sitting, as it were, at the feet of her Lord now resurrected, on the brink of a glorious supernatural visitation. He will do wonderful things in our lives when we choose to pay attention.
