“LESSONS FROM A LADY” OR “LIFE LESSONS” FOR EVERY COMMITTED CHRIST FOLLOWER. MARK 14:1-11

Bible study principles to keep in mind.  1. The Bible has only one meaning – the meaning that God the divine Author gave it. The challenge for any serious Bible student then is to give diligent effort to finding that meaning.  2. So part of our digging into the truth of the Bible message is to seek to know something about the human author, his first audience, and the historical and cultural setting in which he wrote. And I might add that knowing something of the original language in which the Bible was written can be helpful but it is not essential.

Understanding the message of Mark’s gospel.  1. His order is more thematic than it is chronological. He wasn’t confused or mistaken about the order of events in his gospel. He was intentional in his writing.  2. Mark often uses a “sandwich” effort in which he begins one story, interrupts it with another story, and then returns to complete the original story.  3. The woman of Luke 7 (“a sinner”) is not the same woman of Mark 14. This is most likely Mary (John 12), the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

What made Mary’s action “a beautiful thing?”  1. It was TIMELY.  She grasped the opportunity before it was too late. Had she waited for “a better time,” she would have missed it altogether.

What made Mary’s action “a beautiful thing?”  2. It was SACRIFICIAL.  Her gift was “very costly.” So much so that her extravagance was misunderstood and thus criticized by many.

What made Mary’s action “a beautiful thing?”  3. It was INSIGHTFUL.  “She has anointed my body for burial.” Mary had been listening carefully to what Jesus was saying (Mark 8:31; 9:31). Most of the other disciples missed it altogether but Mary “got it” and acted on it.

Understanding Mark’s intention in writing (1:1) will help us appreciate all the more the way in which he presented his material.  1. A series of important questions asked by a diverse group of people  1:27 – “What is this new teaching with authority?” (“Who is this guy?”)  2:7 – “Why does this man speak like this... Who can forgive sins but God alone?”  4:41 – “Who then is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?”  6:3 – “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?”  8:4 – “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”

And the surprising answer from a most unlikely source.  15:39 - “Surely this man was the Son of God!”  The question “Who is Jesus Christ?” is the most important question in all of human history. “Who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) And each and everyone of us must answer that question for himself or herself.

Jesus was right.  Of course He’s always right! And 2000 years later this story of Mary’s devotion and dedication is told over and over again wherever the Gospel message has been preached.  “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” TIMELY – SACRIFICAL – INSIGHTFUL

Now what?  Perhaps the Lord is saying to you today: “GIVE ME THE BALL.”  Martin Luther - “I have held many things in my own hands and I have lost them all. But the things I have placed in God’s hands, those are the things I still possess!”