The Fragrance of Worship

John 12:1–11 ESV

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Some time ago, a college student was riding the train back to his apartment after attending worship that evening.

A woman sat down next to him, but he had his earbuds in so he wasn’t really paying her any attention. But then she tapped him to get his attention.

She said, “Son, you smell like church. You smell like church.”

The woman started to cry and then she said, “Thank you. I haven’t been to church in a long time.”

Adapted, from The Reverend Kimberly Jackson, Sermon: "The Smell of Christ", August 27, 2014.

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What is the smell of … church?

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I know, I know. Some churches do smell. Some churches smell old, musty, maybe a little moldy. Other churches have a very pleasant smell.

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But let us ask a deeper question - what is the smell, the fragrance, of worship?

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John 11 is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. That chapter ends with Jesus retreating to a small town in wilderness area some distance from Jerusalem.

As John 12 begins, we find Jesus returning to Bethany six days before the Passover, less than a week before Jesus would be crucified. John 11 ends saying that chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where Jesus was, they should let the authorities know so that Jesus could be arrested.

Jesus, therefore, was coming into a hornet’s nest, if you will. His life was in great danger. But while Jesus had avoided conflict in the past, the time was now come to fulfill His Father’s will.

The Jews celebrate their Sabbath from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday. Most likely, Jesus arrived in Bethany right before the Sabbath began on Friday. Then, after the Sabbath concluded the next day, this dinner of celebration and welcome was held in Jesus’ honor.

The next morning, of course, would be that great day in which Jesus would enter Jerusalem riding a donkey, fulfilling scripture, and be proclaimed king by the festive crowds.

The parallel accounts of Matthew and Mark add a few details to our story of this meal. This dinner was held in the house of Simon the leper, apparently another man Jesus had healed. Most likely, this dinner was a public event.

Some have explained how it was customary for such a dinner to be open to the public to observe. In the center of the room, reclining on low couches at the table would be the host and his guests. Meanwhile, on the edges of the room, the public could come and observe the festivities.

Martha was serving. This detail, of course, reminds us of that other notorious dinner Jesus spent with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.

On the previous occasion, Martha was frazzled and frustrated, trying to make sure everything went off perfectly, while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet enraptured by the Master.

On this occasion, Martha apparently had taken Jesus’ lesson to heart. She served faithfully in the background.

In that previous meal, Lazarus apparently was the host. In this meal in John 12, however, Lazarus was an honored guest, as his resurrection was still the talk of the town and the surrounding area. Lazarus’ life was a quiet, yet bold, testimony of Jesus’ power and love.

Truly, Mary and her act of love is the focus of John’s story. Yet I believe we should not overlook how Martha and Lazarus also displayed their love and devotion to Jesus. Martha served faithfully. Lazarus lived boldly.

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And Mary gave passionately, sacrificially.

John 12:3 ESV

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

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A certain person in our family, who shall remain anonymous, is a huge fan of body sprays, such as Axe and other brands. This person, in an attempt to make sure he smells the best wherever he is going, has been known to spray large amounts of this body perfume … wherever he is, not just in the bedroom, but maybe in the car with the rest of the family.

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The scent of that cologne, quite frankly, can be quite overpowering!

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Can you imagine the overpowering smell of the ointment as Mary broke the lid and poured it on Jesus?

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John 12:3 says she took a pound, but there is a little marking next to that word. The Greek word was litra, for a Roman pound, which was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces according to our measurements today.

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Still… this was a lot, and it was potent!

Nard was a rare and precious spice imported from northern India. The Latin writer Pliny gives us a full description of it in his Natural History. Nard is a shrub whose leaves and “shoots” were harvested and taken by caravan to the west. Sometimes it was mixed with its own root to increase its weight. Note that Mary’s gift is called “pure” nard, meaning it had no additives. Nard smelled like gladiolus (gladiola) perfume (Pliny: “a sweet scent”) and had a red color. It could be used in a variety of ways: in medicinal recipes, as an aromatic wine, as a breath scent, and as a perfume (for clothes and body).

A pound of the spice would have been huge and lavish. Its value of three hundred denarii represents one year’s wage for a day-laborer (Matt. 20:1–16). Some cheaper nard cost one hundred denarii per pound (depending on its origin: Gaul, Crete, or Syria), but our story shows that Mary has purchased the very best. Such a gift invites us to speculate how Mary can acquire this perfume. Are they a wealthy family? Is this from some family heirloom? At least we know that the average Jewish family would not be able to do such a thing.

Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 338). Zondervan Publishing House.

Some have suggested that perfume in that culture and time was often saved and passed down as a family heirloom. It may have been used as a dowry.

From time to time, for very special events, a bit of the perfume may have been used. But no one would have expected Mary to pour it all out on Jesus like she did!

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Consider the amount of wealth this perfume represented - three hundred denarii. With one denarii being the typical daily wage for the daily laborer, this was a year’s worth of wages.

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Imagine holding in your hands a jar of perfume that cost your yearly salary… and pouring it out on Jesus!

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John 12:3 ESV

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Compare this verse to the parallel account from Matthew 26:7

Matthew 26:7 ESV

a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

Mark’s account also says that Mary poured the ointment on Jesus’ head.

Apparently, Mary poured this ointment all over Jesus - his head and his feet. Then, Mary got down to wash Jesus’ feet with the ointment.

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Of course, everything about this act of love and worship was shocking. But maybe this element of the anointing was most shocking. The job of washing a person’s feet belonged to slaves, of course. So, the fact that Mary would wash Jesus’ feet was humbling, in and of itself.

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But notice how Mary washed his feet.

John 12:3 ESV

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

That she uses her hair to dry his feet is peculiar; in a similar story in Luke 7:38, such behavior inspires sharp criticism from the dinner host. Women did not let down their hair in public, and the only one who saw a woman’s hair was her husband. Mary is acting with abandon, extravagant abandon, hoping that the close circle of friends will understand.

Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 339). Zondervan Publishing House.

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In the eyes of everyone around her, what Mary was doing by washing Jesus’ feet with her hair was extremely inappropriate, and may have verged on being immoral!

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Please note that there was nothing immoral or untoward in her actions, yet this display of love demonstrated a devotion that was unsettling, both to the people of that time… and even us today.

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Judas Iscariot, especially, was quite upset. Actually, however, Matthew tells us that Judas Iscariot was not alone.

Matthew 26:8–9 ESV

And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.”

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Apparently, all of Jesus’ disciples could not see the great love and devotion Mary was trying to demonstrate to the Master. All they could see was the money, money, MONEY!

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“Look at how much money is dripping off Jesus’ head, his hair, his shoulders, and his feet! Think of all the good things that could have been done in God’s name with that money!”

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While all of the disciples protested this waste of resources, Judas Iscariot’s voice appears to have been the loudest and most strident. John, as he looked back many years when he wrote this Gospel - around 70 years later, reflected:

John 12:6 ESV

He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.

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This observation should be a huge check to us all, especially in regards to ministry. When we do ministry, especially when we are receiving some benefit from ministry, is our heart right?

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Do we have the right motivation? Are we trying to gain fame or fortune through the good deeds that we do for others?

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Mary’s concern was not what she would get out of this display of love. While it did cause a stir among the people, we can safely say she didn’t do it for the publicity, even.

Mary didn’t write a book titled, “How I Washed the Feet of the King”, or start a podcast, “Perfume for the Potentate.”

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Instead, Mary simply gave, largely, sacrificially, humbly… why?

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She wanted to demonstrate her love and devotion for Jesus, her Lord and Savior.

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John 12:7–8 ESV

Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

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Jesus is NOT saying here that we should ignore the plight of the poor. It would be a mistake for us to ignore the needy with the excuse that we are going to focus our attention on worshiping Christ.

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No, often, the best expression of our worship is to care for those in desperate need.

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What Jesus was saying is that the opportunity the disciples had to show their love for him before he died was short. Mary seemingly recognized this.

So she barged into the dinner proceedings and poured out what must have been like the family’s savings onto Jesus as an act of love and worship.

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John 12:7 ESV

Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

Commentators note that this expression is difficult to translate.

Jesus’ defense of Mary (12:7–8) is difficult to translate. What is Mary “to save”? The perfume is all gone (cf. Mark 14) and it cannot be kept till later. Some believe that the memory of this deed will be kept. Ancient scribes often edited the text at this point to clear up the point. The niv gives a paraphrase that extends the Greek but likely gives the best interpretation (“It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial”). The idea is no doubt that she had kept this perfume for some later use, but now (unknowingly) has kept it for Jesus’ embalming. Like Caiaphas in 11:50–51, her deed (like his words) bears a meaning far beyond what is intended. Jesus has now been prepared for burial (figuratively) as he heads toward the day of his death and glorification.

Burge, G. M. (2000). John (p. 339). Zondervan Publishing House.

Think about it for a moment!

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Not very long before, Mary’s own brother, Lazarus, had died. Martha and Mary prepared the body for burial, but Mary did not use the perfume in this jar for her brother. She saved it!

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Mary also did not use this perfume, obviously, for when Jesus was actually buried. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to anoint his body with perfume on Easter morning.

One commentator notes that Mary of Bethany is not recorded to have been at the foot of the Cross. She was not at the empty tomb. Why?

This commentator suggests Mary somehow understood what none of the other disciples did.

She alone understood there was no need to save the ointment for Jesus’ burial—because He wasn’t going to stay buried. There was no need to go with the other Marys to the Cross—because that wouldn’t be the end of the story.

Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 538). Thomas Nelson.

Indeed, someone else has suggested that the perfume Mary poured out on Jesus was so pungent that the smell may have remained on his body the whole week before He suffered and died.

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Yes, this is supposition, but the point is this:

Big Idea: Our passionate devotion to Jesus is a beautiful fragrance.

As powerful and aromatic the fragrance was that Mary poured out on Jesus, her act of love and devotion was, to him, more fragrant.

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In my devotional reading recently, I’ve been going through Exodus and Leviticus where it talks about offering various sacrifices to God. Repeatedly, it says that these sacrifces will be a pleasing aroma to God.

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As I’ve tried to picture these sacrifices in my mind, I imagine sometimes the smell was like a good barbeque. On the other hand, some of the smells might not have been so good as everything was burned up.

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Have you ever burned food on the stove?

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It doesn’t necessarily leave a pleasing scent… to our nostrils!

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Yet, God said that as the people offered these sacrifices to him as a recognition of their sin and as a way to demonstrate their love to him, the smell was pleasing to him.

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Jesus became flesh, suffered and died in our place because the blood of bulls and goats do not take away sin permanently. Rather, by his one-time sacrifice, he paid the penalty for us all.

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While we have no need to offer sacrifices for sin, God still calls us to make a sacrifice. Indeed, because of Jesus’ costly love for us, we are called to count the cost and to offer our lives in sacrice to him.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

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What does this mean, then, for us?

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Mary’s fragrant offering of love and devotion call us to examine our own offerings. We should consider the offering of our worship - our worship here in our church services. But more than that, we should consider the offering of our lives as sacrifices to God.

Mary’s offering suggests three questions we should ask:

1. Do you give your best? (with abandon)

When you come to worship at church, do you give your best? Is our time of worship the “leftovers” of your week? Is worship crammed in a busy schedule of everything else you want and need to get done?

When you worship, especially if you take some part of leadership in worship - singing, praying, etc - do you give your best? Or, do you just put something out there?

But let us also consider worship as it truly is - the offering of our lives in service to God.

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Throughout the week, do you give God your best? Do you live, first and foremost, for God’s glory? Or, again, is God an afterthought?

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2. Do you give yourself? (with humility)

Mary got down on her knees. She loosened her hair. Then, she wiped the perfume from Jesus’ feet with her hair.

When we worship, do we come before God proudly, mostly self-sufficient?

“We’ve been saved. We are holy. We are doing well in life.”

Or do we come before God, broken, humbly, desperate for his love and grace? Do we truly bow before the King of kings?

Do we live before God in humility and service?

Is worship for us a triumph of our spirituality, or is it a recognition of our deep dependence on God for life, for faith, for wisdom, for healing?

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3. Do you give to Jesus? (with integrity)

Mary poured out the perfume, thinking about how she could honor her Lord, this one who had changed her life, who had brought her brother back from the dead. Judas Iscariot was thinking about the money.

Do we worship with integrity? Do we come together to honor Jesus, who loved us so much he gave himself on the Cross in our place? Or, do we come, thinking about this plan and that plan to get ahead in life, to make money, to have fun, etc.?

Is the focus of our worship Christ or Self?

Is the focus of our life - Christ or Self?

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Big Idea: Our passionate devotion to Jesus is a beautiful fragrance.

Churches have smells. Just the other day, during the week, I was walking here in the church and I was arrested again by the beautiful, somewhat subtle, odor of our church that you can always smell in this building.

It’s a pleasing smell!

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But the real fragrance of worship is not some smell you get from a building, whether good or bad.

The fragrance of worship is a life passionately devoted to Jesus Christ.

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When people rub shoulders with you, do they smell “church”?

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Does your life ooze the fragrance of worship committed to give God the best of oneself, solely for the glory of Jesus?