“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?”  John 12:1-5

There is so much happening in this story about Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  And there are so many questions we can ask: “What was Mary thinking using this expensive perfume?”, and “Is this what discipleship should look like?”  These are questions raised by David Lose on his blog about this text. I have added another question for us to consider: “What is so important about hair?” Doesn’t it seem odd the thing that Mary does with her hair? Why her hair, and why so soon after applying the ointment? Hair up, hair down, a lot of hair, no hair, wacky hair, rainbow hair, who here cares about hair?  Too many people today worry about their hair – but it is a cultural expectation – just like women wearing their hair up in public was a cultural expectation in Mary’s day. But Mary does not care about public expectations in this moment because she cares intimately about Jesus, and so she responds to Jesus with love. This is what we must ponder today.

It really is not about the hair, is it? What Mary does is a spontaneous, outpouring of love and “worship” with Jesus. If she pours oil on his feet, or on his head, and then massages the oil using her hair, what does that matter to us today? What does matter, as far as I am concerned, is what we think about Jesus — and then how we hope to respond to Jesus today – spontaneous, simple, honest response to the love, mercy and Grace of Jesus.

At one time my middle child had hair as long as I had ever seen on one of my sons. He said he had seen the future when he looked at my hair, and so he wanted to grow it as long as possible while he still could. In spite of the comments that he got about looking like a hippie he did not worry about what others thought. If Mary would have worried about what others thought or would have worried that she would be compared to a “prostitute”, we never would have had this marvelous, wonderful outpouring of devotion recorded for us that happened over 2000 years ago.

What can you do today to express your love for Jesus?

Pastor Dave