Lately, I have been thinking a lot about a young woman in the Bible named Mary. There are several women named Mary in Scripture, so let me be more specific. Jesus had drawn close to a family of three who lived in Bethlehem. He loved Martha, Lazarus, and Mary. Concerning Mary, Jesus would say, “Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her” (Matthew 26:13).
There are many questions that I have about these three. How old are they? Where are their parents? How did Mary get all that money for the perfume? The Bible does not answer these questions directly, but from the given Scripture and the cultural context, we can get a pretty good idea of what is going on.
We can assume that Martha, Lazarus, and Mary’s parents had passed away. Martha is probably the oldest, and she had assumed responsibility for the family. Mary and Lazarus may be younger, but they would have been close in age. Because Lazarus was the male, the home, money, and family business would have gone to him. Martha and Mary probably would have been left a sizable dowry to establish their families when they were ready to be married. The dowries would help to make sure that they would gain husbands from good families. Because it was almost unheard of for a woman to be unmarried when they came of age, Martha was probably not more than seventeen when she met Jesus. So, Martha, Lazarus, and Mary were probably teenagers.
In Luke 10:38-42, Martha welcomes Jesus and the disciples into her home. Martha shows a lot of maturity as she concerns herself with the hospitality of the situation, but she neglects listening to Jesus. Of course, Mary does not help. Her neglect of duties is probably not her first time. Have you ever known a teenage girl not to help with the housework? Martha is furious, and she brings Jesus into the middle of it. Jesus calms down the situation while siding with Mary, but obviously, He loves Martha.
The difference between the two personalities is something that I have seen throughout my life. My mother-in-law, Mona, was a Martha in every way. If you needed to get something done, she was the one for the job, and she would do it the proper way. Furthermore, you would not have to worry about it being completed ever again. Now my wife is like Mary; she would get the job done, but there would be a lot more fun and drama in the process. Jesus loves Mary.
You can see the sisters’ differences when Lazarus dies, and Jesus comes to visit. Martha responsibly meets Jesus on the road, but Mary must be told to come out of the house to see Him. Both sisters would chastise Jesus for His seeming tardiness in responding to them. Jesus comforts Martha with good theology, but Mary’s emotions bring Him to tears.
We can understand the feelings the sisters expressed. Their lives were just upended by the death of their brother. He would be the one responsible for them. He would find them homes, husbands, and set them up for their families. Now, they had no idea what their life was going to look like. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, and it caused a big uproar in the community, but for Martha and Mary, they found where their faith should lie.
Shortly before His death, Jesus was at the home of Simon the leper in Bethany. Lazarus was there with Him, and Martha was serving everyone, of course. Mary was kind of staying back. Suddenly, she steps forward in front of everyone while holding a jar of very expensive perfume. She had probably spent her entire dowry on this perfume. The disciples, led by Judas, began to argue about wasting all that money. They sound like church boards that we all have been a part of. As the room fills with the fragrance, Jesus quiets everyone and declares that this story would be told in her memory. I am telling it today.
For Mary, it was a total act of submission. She did what the rich young ruler could not. Everything she was, everything she had, and everything she hoped to accomplish were literally placed on the feet of her Savior and wiped with her hair. She is an example for us all.
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Rev. Jon Huebner is pastor of Mt. Airy Baptist Church in Mt. Airy, Georgia. He can be reached at jonmhuebner@gmail.com. To read more of Rev. Huebner’s columns, click here.
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