There is something drawing me to Mary recently. In fact quite often through my walk with God, I am drawn back to this lady. There have been so many books written about her and the example she gave. There is something about her and how she so openly and unashamedly worshipped Jesus. There was never any reservedness in her. She had met a man, who forgave her of her sins, healed her from shame,and who loved her despite her failings.
She followed Jesus and turns up in scriptures as a devout servant of his. She was there at the cross where he died, she was at the tomb, where his body lay, she wept for him and felt grief stricken when he died. She wore her heart on her sleeve when it came to loving Jesus. She was also the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection. She didn't recognize him, until he spoke her name. 'Mary'
I don't know about you, but I am compelled to live a life of love for my saviour, just like she did. She risked a lot, pouring oil on him so publicly and openly. People within that same room disputed her actions and questioned her actions. Jesus, on the other hand saw her heart, her deep love for him. He understood her heart and what moved her to act this way.
In reflection on this story and studying the life of Mary, I feel moved. All to often we can say 'I love you' with our words, but our actions don't quite match up. Are we willing to be vulnerable, transparent and daring in our expression and adoration of our saviour? Or are we afraid of the 'voices' that will whisper things like, 'Is this really necessary?'
A lot can be said of Mary. She loved a lot. Jesus said, ' Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little, loves little."
I want to be like Mary, I want to live a life of love, in love with my saviour, who has forgiven me so much.
He has shown me great compassion, comfort & care. He has walked with me through my times of grief,
times of fear, times of rejection & times of sadness. He has held my hand as a child, a teenager, becoming a woman, a wife, a mother. He has taught me to be a friend. I can't thank him enough. For although I am frail and full of weakness, when I am with him, everything falls into perspective. I simply look into his eyes and it all feels o.k. I know I am safe wen I am around him. For this reason, I don't want to stray far from him. Like Mary, I want to be sat at his feet, listening to his voice & staying close to his side.
She had truly grasped the first commandment of Love.
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Below is a passage written on Mary
MARY OF BETHANY & SPIKENARD OIL:
One of Scripture’s most poignant, bittersweet scenes [Mat. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:3-5] memorializes Mary of Bethany: A woman with an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume (pure spikenard oil worth an average laborer’s annual wage) approaches Jesus, breaks the jar, and begins pouring the precious oil over His head and feet. As the house fills with the oil’s pungent fragrance, the Lord says to those nearby: “She has done a beautiful thing for me…She poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial…I tell you that throughout the whole world…what she has done will be told in her memory.” Obviously, our Lord was deeply touched by Mary’s unselfish, thoughtful, heartfelt, sacrificial expression of devotion and profound love. Some Bible commentators deem Mary’s faithful act as the utmost example of what God desires in believers.
Further reading
(Other scripture involving Mary and Jesus:)
Luke 81-3
He continued according to plan, traveled to town after town, village after village, preaching God's kingdom, spreading the Message. The Twelve were with him. There were also some women in their company who had been healed of various evil afflictions and illnesses: Mary, the one called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's manager; and Susanna—along with many others who used their considerable means to provide for the company.9-11[After rising from the dead, Jesus appeared early on Sunday morning to Mary Magdalene, whom he had delivered from seven demons. She went to his former companions, now weeping and carrying on, and told them. When they heard her report that she had seen him alive and well, they didn't believe her.
The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
28 And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
At the Home of Martha and Mary
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Mary came in with a jar of Jesus said, "Let her alone. She's anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me." very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.
Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, "Why wasn't this oil sold and the money given to the poor?
John 19:25
While the soldiers were looking after themselves, Jesus' mother, his aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross.
John 20
Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, "They took the Master from the tomb. We don't know where they've put him.'
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13-They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16-Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17-Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18-Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
