John 12:3 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.
Nard is a very precious and valuable fragrant oil derived from the root and spike (hair stem) of the nard plant which grows in the Himalayan mountains of northern India and Nepal. The perfume jar was very expensive as it was very rare and exquisite. It must have been the most precious possession of Mary and could have even been her dowry. In modern conversation it must have been worth thousands of dollars. Jesus commended Mary for her profound sacrifice, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6b). Surrendering what is “most precious” to us is an act of worship that will infuse the fragrance of Christ into the world.
Our most precious, prized and priceless possession could be our children, career or chattels. “The fragrance of Christ” is concealed in what is most valuable to us. This act of Mary symbolically represents that the scent of the Saviour can be profusely permeated into the world, only when He becomes our precious possession in the place of our family, finance or fame.
Our worship must be pure, pious and unpretentious fragrance:
1. Unadulterated: Mary took an expensive jar of pure nard. This means that there were duplicate nards available in the black market. A small drop of nard would normally last at least 2 days, so half a litre of nard that Mary emptied on Jesus would have lasted for weeks, even until He was crucified and buried. Our worship will be weighed by how long it lasts – Does it last for a few minutes, hours or throughout the day? If our worship is as pure nard, unadulterated, uncontaminated and unpolluted, it will drown the stench of the day to day disappointments, discouragements and disdain and overflow as a fragrance of Christ. Pure worship will be a scent on us 24/7 whereas duplicates fade away as we walk out of our prayer closet.
2. Unassuming: Mary worshipped the Lord with an unassuming, meek and modest heart. She was not looking for recognition, position or appreciation. The gratitude in her heart broke out as fragrance in the room. Mary was not expecting ‘value for money’. She was not expecting Jesus to appoint her as the head of the worship team or to even commend her. However, we can still smell the scent of her humble, unpretentious and inconspicuous worship in these scriptures even today.
3. Unlimited: Mary was not aware of who was in the room as she was engrossed in worship when she broke the perfume jar and let her hair down to wipe the feet of Jesus. Jewish women do not undo their hair before men who are not their kin. True worship has no limitations, restrictions or inhibitions. As much as order, protocol and procedure is important, worship that taps into the divine connection and sucks the celestial scent of Heaven has no boundaries.
Our posture of worship could be hands raised high, knees bent or face flat on the floor, but the perfume of Heaven will be infused only when we worship surrendering our precious possessions and making Him our only possession.
John 12:3b The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, help me to learn the truth about authentic worship from a surrendered heart with no reservation, conditions or stipulations that sprays and spreads your fragrance into the world. Amen
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