Cross Points 2.26.21

It gets hot in the southern Jordan Valley.  When visiting the country of Jordan in 2018 we went down to the Jordan River one day to visit the site where John the Baptist was located and where Jesus was baptized, at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is just across from the ancient city of Jericho.  Jericho is on the edge of the mountains that rise-up from the valley to the west, a few miles from the river. Down at the river is barren country, desert-like and very hot, as the river is near the Dead Sea in this spot, which is the lowest place on earth.  Starting in this area and walking to Jerusalem is all uphill.

Beginning in the hot river valley and going to Jerusalem is about a 3,000-foot rise in elevation.  It is a hard walk, wearing on your legs, dangerous due to narrow parts along the hillsides (think Jesus's story about the good Samaritan, which occurred there).  As Jesus and his disciples come to Bethany to visit Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, a short distance from Jerusalem, they traveled this path, sweaty and dirty when they arrived.  But as they draw near, they can smell the meal Martha and Mary have been preparing for them.  Ah, the sweet smell of nourishment!  The chance to set down and rest weary legs and feet.

Both Martha and Mary have worked preparing for their guests prior to them arriving, but now that they are in the house, Mary is enthralled by what Jesus has to say, and forgetting her chores she sets at the feet of Jesus, listening.  You remember the story: Martha needs Mary's help and says something about it. Jesus responds with “Martha, Martha” and tells her Mary's interest in his teaching is the priority.

There was a saying in the first century among Jews, that went, “Let your house be a meeting place for the rabbis, cover yourself in the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily.”  Martha and Mary (along with Lazarus) did the first thing, but in this situation, we only find Mary at Jesus' feet, drinking in his words thirstily.  Jesus' disciples do need food to live another day, no doubt, but they needed his teaching even more, to live for eternity!

This wasn't the only time we see Mary doing something others thought odd, yet in-line with what was needed at that moment.  On another occasion, just before Passover the week of Jesus death, we find her with Martha and Lazarus again in Bethany, Jesus and his disciples as guests.  True to form, as “Martha served”, Mary took a pound of expensive ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping his feet with her hair (John 12).  Despite objections, Jesus says she is preparing him for burial.  Here's another thought...

By anointing Jesus, Mary may have been making a statement about who she thought he was, since Kings were anointed; and that he was indeed the Messiah, which means “the anointed one.”  In the middle east Kings were known by their aroma, having been anointed with expensive ointments and precious oils.  David once wrote, “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore, God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.  All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia” (Psalm 45:7-8).  During royal processions the crowd knew a king was passing partly because of the fragrance of oils they could smell.
 

Jesus will make his triumphant entrance into Jerusalem from Bethany, the crowds crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king of Israel.”  As this spiritual, eternal king rides a donkey into the city, just as Solomon had done years before, they smell the aroma of a king!  Our job?  To follow in the shadow of Jesus, to set at his feet, to listen, enthralled and willing to go where he says.  Listen to Paul, who wrote, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphant precession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.  For we are to God the aroma of Christ (the anointed one) among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life (2 Cor. 2:14-16).