Mary of Bethany is the sister of Martha and Lazarus.  I have read that there is some confusion that she is the same person as Mary of Magdala, however, the hometown indicates she is not.  And, Mary is not a prostitute.  

Bethany is a small village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about 2 miles from Jerusalem and a favorite place for rest and refuge for Jesus (Mark 11:11; Luke 22:39)

I decided to do a little further digging into the culture of the times of Mary’s life.  This site has some fantastic explanations of the changes from the Old Testament to the New Testament.  In Old Testament times, women were not limited to private roles, but somehow by the time of the New Testament, the role of women had drastically changed and for the worse.  Jesus radically changed this tradition by offering his teachings freely to anyone who would listen—women or men!  We see Him talking directly to women on several occasions.  The following are the three times we see scriptural evidence of Jesus with Mary of Bethany.

1. Luke 10:38-42)  Here, Mary’s silence indicates a lack of concern for herself, especially for defending herself.  When we focus on Christ, He becomes our greatest passion and our tendency to self-absorption dims and fades.

2. (John 11:38-44)  Jesus calls for Mary and she immediately leaves and rushes to meet Jesus.  So great is her love for Him and her desire to please and obey Him, that she leaves those who had come to comfort her to place herself in the arms of the greatest comforter.

3. (John 12:1–8)  The third and final time we see Mary of Bethany is just days before Christ’s crucifixion.  A meal had been prepared, the resurrected Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus and the disciples. At some point, Mary poured a jar of very expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. Despite criticism from Judas Iscariot about the waste of the costly substance, Mary said nothing. Mary again remained silent.  Jesus defends her, which He does, saying that she has kept this perfume for His burial and has done a beautiful act of service to Him.

We see two amazing things about Mary here from which we should pay attention.   First, she seems to know that the time of Jesus’ death on the cross was at hand, a fact that had escaped the disciples despite Jesus’ declaration three times of this truth. Mary was content with listening to her Lord and meditating on His words, while the disciples bickered about who would be greatest among them in the kingdom. By doing so, they missed the important truths Jesus was teaching them about His upcoming death and resurrection (Mark 9:30-35). How often do we miss spiritual truths because we are self-focused and overly concerned for our rewards, our status and our reputation among peers?

Second, we see in Mary a grounded conviction and confidence in her Lord, so much so that she is not compelled to defend herself in the face of criticism. How often are we quick to jump at the chance to justify ourselves in the eyes of others who criticize and mock us, particularly where our faith is concerned? But if we, like Mary, make sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him our priority, we will have her depth of understanding, her passion for Christ, and her complete faith in His plan for our lives. We may not have Jesus sitting in our homes in person, but we have His Word, and from it we have all the knowledge and understanding we need to live a life of secure and confident faith like Mary of Bethany.

I find it rather interesting too that Mary’s name means ‘bitterness’.  Bitterness seems to be something our culture is dealing with a lot lately.  I know in my lifetime, I have witnessed women grow more bitter towards their roles as women.  We are now struggling with gender and women are desiring to become men.  Women will always be uniquely women and no amount of theorizing can change the fact that God created a male and a female equally in His image, equal in personhood, yet different in function.  God created us to complete each other, not compete with each other.  

Something we all need to remember is that culture and traditions are fallible and scripture is divine and infallible.  Jesus revealed the character of God to us and we learn what God thinks of us!

• God made us women

• God accepts us as women

• God understands women

• God loves women

• God made women influential.  We influence our husbands, children, friends, co-workers and our community. 

Because God has wired us like this, He gives us a responsibility that only we can do.  Only women can model godly womanhood.  We have such a great example here in Mary of Bethany.  Three times we see Mary at the feet of Jesus - listening, expressing her faith and loving Him.  Jesus wants us to spend more time listening to Him than working.  He also desires that despite difficult circumstances, we remain faithful to Him.  And we aren’t afraid to express our deep love for Him.

Blessing,

Lisa