The subject that we now enter upon is rather controversial, but I just put forward the ideas that I have gained from reading, and from the Holy Scriptures. Let me point out here, that I have no desire to soil the character of Mary of Bethany, (the sister of Martha and Lazarus), in saying what I do in this paper. We all admire this dear sister of ours, and her love for Christ, moves our hearts, and often makes us to feel ashamed at our poor love for Him. Might I say here, that if the reading of what follows, causes any of us to humble ourselves in shame as we realise how poor and weak our love for Christ is. And if it moves any of us to determine to love Him more, and to serve Him better hereafter, then the paper has served its purpose.

It seems from reading the word, that there were two occasions when the feet of the Lord Jesus were washed with the tears of a weeping woman, wiped with her hair, and then anointed with ointment. (Except that on the second occasion the woman’s tears are not mentioned). Once was in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and once in the house of Simon the Leper. We are told in Mark’s gospel that the house of Simon the Leper was in Bethany. (Mark 14:3) However that Simon would have been a cleansed Leper, (or else the feast could not have been held in his house). In the first case, neither the village nor the woman is named, except that the woman in that case was known for her sinful ways. Mark does not name the woman in the house of Simon the Leper either. There are many commentators who think that there were two different women, however when in Muar, (Malaysia), on one occasion when staying in the home of a missionary, (Miss Daphne King), I read a book of John Bunyan’s sermons. I found it to be most interesting. John Bunyan’s name is known the world over for his writings, and his interpretation of scripture is generally accepted without question. In that book there was a sermon on Mary of Bethany. And I will set forth some of the ideas that he presented. Of course what he wrote was not scripture, and it should not be given the same authority as scripture in any of our minds.

He believed that Martha, Mary and Lazarus were orphans. The house where they lived is called Martha’s house, (Luke 10:38), and it would seem that she was the oldest in the family, and in the absence of her deceased mother and father, she acted as the senior person in the house, taking up many of her late mother’s responsibilities. Martha was a very caring person, and watched over her younger siblings with a motherly care. She too was the most pious, or perhaps the more spiritually inclined of the family, and it was her that first met the Lord Jesus and invited Him and His disciples to her house.

Bunyan depicted Mary as a rather wayward character, who rejected the warnings of her older sister, and in spite of those warnings, plunged deeply into moral sin. Luke describes her as a "Woman of (or in), the city, which was a sinner" (Luke 7:37). Bunyan was of the opinion that she came home late from her wild escapades one night, and Martha was waiting up for her. She expected the usual tongue banging, but instead Martha told her that she had met a most handsome young man earlier that day, when she was attending the Temple. Martha had the desire that Mary might meet this young man also. The fire of lust was awakened in Mary, and she rose to the bait. If He was as handsome as Martha had described, then she would try to ‘get’ Him also, as she had ‘got’ many other young men. Martha told her that He would be speaking the next morning, at the Temple, so Mary dressed in her finest clothes, applied her most enticing perfumes, and took the two mile journey to the Temple early that morning. However it did not turn out quite as she had expected. When the Lord Jesus appeared and began to speak, instead of her ‘getting’ Him, He ‘got’ her. He was just the embodiment of purity and of holiness, and just to look at Him made her to feel dirty and unclean. His words struck home to her very heart in piercing power. When she left the Temple, she did not go to ply her wicked trade, but went home weeping tears of shame.

She heard that Jesus and His disciples were dining in the house of Simon the Pharisee in their very village the following day. So, though it was the last place on earth that she wished to go to, yet so deep was her misery, and so sincere her repentance, she felt that she had to get into His presence, and to express it to Him. So it was that she gatecrashed the party, and entered the Pharisee’s house un-invited. When she entered that guestroom, she braved the withering gaze of the Pharisee, and took her place at Jesus’ feet, behind Him weeping. There she shed bitter tears of repentance, as she thought back over her life and ways. So copious were her tears that as they fell on those blessed feet, (feet that were soon to be nailed to Golgotha’s cruel cross), they washed them, but also refreshed the heart of the Redeemer. Then she took what little remained of her glory, (her long hair), and with it she wiped those beautiful feet, she first kissed them all over, and then anointed them with very costly perfumed ointment.

While all this was taking place, the self-righteous Pharisee was fuming. "How dared this wretch of a woman to enter my house? If this Man were a prophet He would have known who and what manner of woman that toucheth Him, for she is a sinner?" Such rumblings were taking place within his wretched soul! But the Lord Jesus knew all about the woman, and He knew all about Simon also, so He told Him a story that depicted his life and that of the poor penitent who had wept at his feet. It is also a picture of your life and of mine.

Here (in the story that Jesus told), we have a picture of God, and of His wondrous grace that treats all the same. We have all sinned against Him; we are all indebted to Him. Our life, our breath, our food, our clothing all comes from Him. Yet we find it to be an embarrassment even to be seen by others giving thanks to Him for the meals that He provides for us several times a day! The story exactly tells the position that you and I were in. In this story the Creditor only had two debtors; and in its application to you and me, we are those two debtors. All have sinned we are told, the difference is only in degree, some have sinned more than others.

It did not matter whether they owed five hundred pence, or fifty, they were both bankrupt, and could not pay, this is just the position that guilty lost sinners find themselves in. In this story we have a picture of both the poor fallen woman, and the self-righteous Pharisee. He did not think that he owed much, but the woman felt that she owed a great debt. However we also see into the future, because the time would come when the Pharisee would realise that he too owed a great debt to God, and he too would humble himself, and be forgiven. But the poor woman had the assurance from the very lips of the Lord Jesus that she was forgiven now.

This proves the assumption that we have just made, that the time would come when the Pharisee would also experience the forgiveness of God. But first he must humble himself, he must realise the truth of his position, and come in repentance to those same blessed feet. The Lord Jesus then drew the attention of the Pharisee to what the woman had done, and what he had not done, (the Pharisee had not even extended to the Son of God the common courtesies of the day), and He asked the question previously, as to which of the forgiven debtors would love the Creditor most, and Simon had answered, "I suppose he to whom He forgave the most". She had such a deep sense of the wondrous mercy of God. She heard from the lips of the Lord Jesus (right there), those precious words, "Thy sins are forgiven". It was sometime later that Simon was to hear those words.

Then from those lovely lips came the words, "Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace". She had been forgiven much, and so she loved much. It is important to notice that it was not her tears, nor the many kisses that she bestowed on those feet, that saved her, neither the expensive ointment that she poured on His beautiful feet. It was her simple faith, the faith that trusted Him for forgiveness, that secured for her the realisation of forgiveness and salvation.. Here we must admit that the scripture does not state in so many words that the woman was Mary of Bethany. But we do know, beyond doubt, that Mary loved much, and every time we read of her she is at those blessed feet. We are not told either that Simon’s house was in Bethany, but we are told that the person in the story was "a woman of the city", it was in the great metropolis that she plied her evil trade. There she could conceal her wicked deeds, but her character was known in the whole village of Bethany.

Further all that John tells us to identify Mary is in the past tense, and the second anointing had not yet taken place, it was still in the future as far as the narrative is concerned. (John 11:1 & 2) But as we have stated earlier, no one can deny the fact, that Mary of Bethany loved the Lord Jesus MUCH.

Each time we read of Mary she is seen at the feet of the Lord Jesus. If it was Mary of Bethany in the passage that we have just considered, she was at His feet in repentance. It is so moving to see her take her place behind Him weeping, tears of repentance in the house of the Pharisee. But we next read of her in her sister’s house, and there she is again sitting at the feet of Him whom she loved so much. As she sat there this time she was listening to his word. (Luke 10:39-42) We should notice that Luke does not tell us the name of the village in this passage either, but simply refers to it as "a certain village". However we do know that the house of Martha was in Bethany. We cannot doubt that Martha loved the Lord Jesus also, but hers was a different kind of love. She wanted to express her love for Christ, by doing things for Him. She loved to serve, and thus to minister to His needs, and to His heart also. Her service for the Lord became a burden to her; she was "Encumbered with much serving".

Mary on the other hand, deeply loved the One that had forgiven her sins, and had set her free from the degrading life that she had lived. The words of the Lord Jesus were sweeter than honey to her, so we find her sitting at His feet as a learner, and she listened to His every word. As Jesus taught the word, she looked up into His lovely face, and she drank in every word. Mary the mother of Jesus had earlier said of God, "He filleth the hungry with good things". Our Mary revealed the great hunger of her soul, as she gazed into His lovely face, and listened to His word.

Martha was concerned to minister to the Lord and His disciples, and that too was a noble desire. However there was something better. Martha complained about her sister’s inactivity, and she even charged the blessed Lord with not caring that her sister had left her to serve alone. Perhaps she thought that her sister was being lazy, and that the Lord Jesus was encouraging that laziness

However the Lord gently rebuked her concern. He addressed her with such tenderness. Just listen to His words, "Martha, Martha", He appreciated so much what she was doing for Him, but just at this time, there was something more important. Service for Christ is a grand, a noble thing, but to sit at His feet and listen to His word is grander. To do so was the need of the moment, the "One thing" that was needed. He did not discourage Martha in her desire to serve Him, neither would He discourage any today, who have a desire to serve Him. But Martha’s serving had become a burden to her, an object in itself. Where service for Christ becomes an object in itself, and where it leads us to complain about our brothers or sisters, then it is wrong., in fact it can become an idol, if we are not careful.

Dear Mary has set the example for us, without having any desire to do so. Let us then follow her example. Let us also choose the good part. Let us not neglect our service for Christ, but let us take time to sit at His blessed feet and listen to His word. Such a choice will never be taken from us. The time may come when we are not able any longer to serve the Lord, but the time will never come, when we can no longer sit at His feet and listen to His holy word. That good part will never be taken away from us. Let us then love the Lord Jesus for what He is. Let us treasure those moments that we can spend in His presence.

John now gives us an insight into the life of Mary of Bethany that the other Gospel writers missed. In (John 11:1-45), he tells the moving story of Lazarus’ Death. Burial, and Resurrection. The little family at Bethany were no strangers to sorrow, as it would seem that both their mother and father had died before we are introduced to them. But Lazarus their only brother fell sick, and his illness was so grave that he died. However, when he became sick the sisters sent off a messenger to the Lord Jesus, with the following message, "He whom Thou lovest is sick". In verse one John tells us that it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. This statement seems to lend weight to Bunyan’s argument that the woman that washed the Lord’s feet with her tears etc in the house of Simon the Pharisee, was Mary of Bethany. Because in point of fact, (as far as the narrative goes), the second anointing had not yet taken place. John also draws our attention to the deep love that the Lord Jesus had for Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The Lord Jesus has the same love for you and me. Let us rejoice in this fact, and let us enjoy, and respond to that love. The sisters of Lazarus sought to use Christ’s love for Lazarus as a lever; they used it to try to get an immediate response from the Blessed Lord. However though the Lord Jesus did love Lazarus deeply, yet He did not respond immediately to their appeal for Him to come.

Though the Lord Jesus felt very keenly the sorrow, the anxiety, and the distress that His delay in responding to their call caused them, yet He remained where He was for another two days. He was working to a plan, and though those involved did not realise it just then, they did in time, as His plan materialised. Often in similar circumstances we react in the same way. We become not a little impatient, and we try to hurry the Lord up. We begin to wonder why He delays, not knowing that He is considering for God’s glory, and our blessing, and the enrichment and blessing of the sick person involved. Satan will intrude in such circumstances, and will very mockingly insinuate that the delay is a proof that the Lord Jesus does not love us as we claim, he wants to cause us to doubt the love that Christ has for us.

Christ indicated to His disciples that the case was not as serious as they presumed, and that though Lazarus would die, yet death was not the end; because God was to get glory from the outcome. The disciples were distressed at the prospect of their returning to Judea, as they were worried about their own security, their own safety. However the decision to return brought out the intense loyalty of Thomas, who at that point declared his willingness to die with the Lord Jesus.

The Lord Jesus also took this opportunity to teach His disciples that physical death was only temporary, for those that are His. He said to His disciples, "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth" What was considered by his sisters to be the most dreadful tragedy, was really only a passing phase in the plan of God. Nevertheless it occasioned them great grief, as the narrative clearly reveals. To my sorrowing friends I must extend my deepest sympathy, as you have lost your dear loved one. Your grief is very real, and possibly very deep, but please comfort yourself with this realisation that the sorrow through which you are passing, is intended to be for the glory of the Son of God, and to bring glory to God. This is hard for us to accept at the time, but the realisation of it will surely assuage your grief. It is to be noted that we are not told not to sorrow, but we are told not to sorrow as those that have no hope.

It is possible that Lazarus had an early entrance to Paradise, and had a foretaste of what later he would enjoy, that is the fullness of the joy that fills that place. When finally Lazarus did enter Paradise the Lord Jesus had died and risen again. In that great event He "Led captivity captive," (Ephesians 4:8-10). However it was the present grief of his sisters that so touched the heart of the Lord Jesus. As He was about to enter the village of Bethany, Martha went out to meet Him. Her first words to Him were almost a complaint, Her words, "Lord if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died". These words were almost a complaint, complaining that the Lord had delayed His coming. However she recognised that all was not lost, because she knew that whatever the Lord Jesus asked of His Father He would give it to Him. Little did she realise just what the Lord Jesus was going to do. The Lord Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again". She professed to know that this would happen, but that was far, far away, in the "Last day". Little did she realise the greatness of the One in whose presence she was. From His lovely lips she heard that wonderful proclamation, (which she did not understand), "I am the resurrection and the life". He then challenged her with the words, which drew forth such a wonderful confession of her faith in Christ. "I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God". There may have been many things that she did not understand, but this she was certain of, that Jesus Christ, was the Son of God, and He was her Lord and Master. Little did she know what a display of His mighty power, His power over death she was to witness.

Poor Mary was broken hearted. In the past she had been no stranger to grief, both of her parents were dead and buried, and now her only brother was also dead and buried. Sympathetic, grieving people surrounded her. The Jews of that village and perhaps some from Jerusalem had resorted to Bethany to share the sorrow of the grieving sisters. She continued to sit in the house, when the touching message was whispered into her ear. "The Master has come, and calleth for thee". On hearing this she rose up quickly, and went to the One who meant so much to her. When she came to Him, she took her customary place; she fell at His feet, this time as a mourner. From her broken heart, and through those lips that had profusely kissed the blessed feet where she had fallen, poured out the same complaint, "Lord if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died". The sight of that poor woman weeping, and the Jews that had come with her weeping, caused the Lord Jesus to be deeply troubled in His spirit. So much so, that He emitted a loud groan. My dear sorrowing friends the dear Lord Jesus is just the same today. As He sees the tears of your grief, and witnesses the effect that death, the punishment of sin, has had in your life, and in your family circle, it still troubles His loving spirit.

Such was the love of His great heart He must visit the actual site of the tomb of the one that He loved. When He reached that place, as He saw the tears of those that He loved flowing freely, then the tears came running from His eyes too, giving rise to the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept". The Jews that had come misunderstood those tears, and they said, "Behold how He loved him". The Lord Jesus did love Lazarus more than any could tell, but He was not weeping for him, but for his broken hearted sisters.

What thoughts must have passed through the mind of the Lord Jesus as He stood by that tomb? Within a comparatively few days His own body would lie in such a tomb. The body of Lazarus had lain there for four days, and had begun to decompose. Whereas the Lord Jesus knew that his body would only lie in such a place for three days, and it would not see corruption. It is because of His death, burial, resurrection and ascension that you and I can be saved. It is because of this also that the sting has been removed from death, and the victory taken from the grave.

When the Lord Jesus uttered this command, Martha was horrified; to her this was the final humiliation, it would reveal the fact that her brother was not only dead, but his human body had begun to decay. The Lord Jesus knew what He was about to do. He was about to transform this scene of utter hopelessness and defeat, into a scene of complete victory, and at the same time He would reveal His own personal power and glory. He gently rebuked the unbelief of Martha, telling her that this hopeless situation was the opportunity for God to manifest His glory.

The Lord Jesus first spoke to His Father, and asked that He might manifest His power, to confuse the unbelievers present, and to demonstrate the glorious fact that Jesus was indeed His Son, and that He had sent Him to do these things. This was one of the few public demonstrations of the intimate relationship that existed between the Father and the Son. Jesus then stood back, and uttered that selective command, calling out "Lazarus come forth". I have often heard it said by others that if He had not said "Lazarus" come forth, then all of the dead would have come out of their graves. It was the mighty voice of the Son of God that boomed out on that occasion, and it was probably a surprise to all present. Perhaps they were all wondering what was going to happen. Those on the edge of the crowd would be craning their necks, waiting to see what was happening. But the miracle took place before their very eyes, because "he that was dead came forth, bound feet and hands with grave clothes". Then another command, "Loose him and let him go". Thus the victory was complete. This display of the power of the Son of God had a dual effect. Many of the Jews that had come with Mary, believed, their last doubts had now been banished. But others who had seen this obvious display of the Lord’s power, and the revelation of who He really was, (the Son of God), went away to the Pharisees and told what Jesus had done. From that moment the Jewish council laid their plans to pout the Lord Jesus to death.

A much greater resurrection awaits those that have now fallen asleep in Jesus. The same blessed person is soon to descend from heaven with shout of mighty victory. At the sound of His mighty voice all those who through the ages have died in Christ, have fallen asleep in Jesus, their bodies will not only be raised from the dead, but they will also be changed, and those that belong to Christ who are alive on the earth at that moment, their bodies also will be changed. Each one will receive a body fashioned like the glorious body of their ascended Lord and Master. What a glorious moment that will be! Lazarus must have died again, as he does not seem to be around these days, but those that share in the first resurrection will die no more, but they will share in the deathless condition of their triumphant Saviour. However not all will die, as the scriptures say. (1Corinthians 15:51)

The next time we read of Mary of Bethany is in John chapter 12. A casual reading of this passage would make us to think that the supper was held in the house of Martha. However Mark tells us that it was held in the house of Simon the Leper. The question immediately arises, who was this Simon the Leper, was it one and the same person as Simon the Pharisee? I believe that it could have been. At the beginning of this paper we noticed that according to the story that the Lord Jesus told, in the house of Simon the Pharisee, both people in the story were forgiven, and it is plain that the five hundred pence debtor was the woman, and the fifty pence debtor was the Pharisee. Now it is clear that though the host was Simon the Leper, then he must have been a cleansed Leper, or else the feast could never had been held in his house. What then had happened? It seems to be possible that sometime after the dinner engagement Simon the Pharisee was discovered to have the incurable disease of leprosy. In spite of all his self-righteousness, he was just a filthy leper, and was going to die a lonely and a miserable death. His only hope was in the One who was his guest, and he must have come to those same beautiful feet, and pleaded for mercy in his great need. He then realised that he was a bankrupt, and vile leprous sinner, whose only hope was in the mercy of God, that was being dispensed through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he shows his deep gratitude to the One that had met his great need, by making Him a supper. Gone was the religious pride that made him to criticise the Lord Jesus, and condemn as a sinner the woman who dared to come uninvited to his house.

The scene that is portrayed here is beautiful indeed. Martha is no longer cumbered with much service. Gone now are her previous complaints about her sister. She had been through the "Valley of the shadow of death". She had learned her lesson, and here she serves to the delight of her heart, serves the One who had called her beloved brother back from both death and corruption.

Lazarus was there also, he who had been into death, and yet had been recalled from that place by the mighty power of the word of the Son of God. We are not told of one thing that Lazarus said or did; just his presence was such a moving testimony. Perhaps we could learn from this, that it is not what we say or do for Christ, that really matters, but what He has done in our lives, what He has made us, that in itself speaks louder than anything that we can say. It seems strange that nothing is said about the host, all the past pride, the place seeking seems to have gone now. Simon is content that the blessed Son of God should have the first place.

It is against this beautiful background that Mary now comes forward. It seems that she had greater light than any of the other disciples. She knew that the one who had forgiven her sins, and brought peace into her soul, was about to go into death Himself, and to go there on her behalf. He, who had raised her brother from the dead, was to soon be buried in a similar cave, and it was in view of His burial that she had treasured up this costly, this very precious gift. For a last time she wiped those beautiful feet with her long hair. There were no tears mentioned now, tears of repentance were appropriate as she wept her way to those feet, that day in the house of Simon the Pharisee. But now here was One who was greater than her sin. The ointment that she poured on His head and which covered Him down to His feet was what she had treasured up against this moment. It represented her love, which now she lavished on Him.

The spirit of criticism intruded once more to mar the occasion. It was not from the host this time, but from the very disciples of Jesus. Judas was motivated by selfishness, but for the moment he also influenced the other disciples, and we hear them say, "Why was this waste?" Poor Mary was the but of their criticism, but once again her blessed Saviour intervened in her defence. He had stood between her and the withering scorn of the self-righteous Pharisee, to shelter the penitent woman on that occasion, but here He intervenes to protect her from the criticism of his misled disciples. He took the occasion to commend her for what she had done to Him, "Let her alone, why trouble ye the woman." He also affirmed that wherever the Gospel was preached, what she had done would be spoken of in commendation of her, saying that she had done what she could. What a lovely commendation this was! If only He could say it of you and me on every occasion. She did not have to await His judgement seat, to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant". "She has wrought a good work upon Me" were the words that came from His lips.

He also revealed the fact that there would never be any lack of objects for our kindness. "You have the poor with you always". Let us pour out our lives for Him, who gave His life for us! Whatever is done for Him is never wasted.

Thus the scene closes on Mary of Bethany. It surely can be said of her that she "Loved Much". Let us follow her example