When Jesus came to Bethany six days before Passover, he walked into the mundane swirl of Mary’s world—the roads her calloused and tired feet knew by memory, the place she fetched water, the floors she swept. And it was in this very familiar and ordinary place that something extraordinary happened. An extraordinary waste.
As Jesus dined with his friends, Mary poured perfume on his feet and then wiped them dry with her hair. Though others were scandalized and quick to criticize her actions, Jesus dignified her with his words. The Son of God was grateful for what this woman did. He even said that she would be known and highly regarded for her wasteful extravagance. Hers was the story he came to tell that night.
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” And it’s true. More than 2,000 years later, we know Mary not because of the food she may have served earlier in the day, the elderly relative she may have cared for, or even the prayers she may have offered. We know her because of her reckless, loving extravagance for God. And yet this very public display of affection was also a very hidden one. Hidden not because no one else was watching, but because no one else really mattered.
Sara Hagerty is the author of the forthcoming book Unseen: The Gift of Being Hidden in a World That Loves to Be Noticed as well as Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet. Learn more at SaraHagerty.net, on Twitter at @SaraHagerty, and Instragram at @SaraHagertyWrites. Adapted from Unseen by Sara Hagerty. Copyright © 2017 by Sara Hagerty. Used by permission of Zondervan. www.zondervan.com. All rights reserved.
