Mark 14 - Mary Anoints Jesus' Feet
Welcome and Summerpalooza
Hey, church! Our Summerpalooza kids have been busy learning about how they can follow Jesus here, there, and everywhere. It has been a week filled with so much joy and happiness. It’s been wonderful to see the kids enjoying themselves, singing, and learning about Jesus. They certainly love getting wet during the activities, but my favorite parts are the small groups and the worship. Both are just awesome.
I’ve been spending time with some four and five-year-olds, and that memory verse has sunk in real quick. They’ve been learning that we need to keep looking back to Jesus. He is the one who started this journey of faith, and He is the one who completes this journey of faith.
Hebrews 12:2 (NASB)
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I’m learning a lot from them, too. I’m learning how God doesn’t need us to do crazy things just to earn His love. Whatever you do, He still loves you. Who is always with you? Jesus! Now, I am not responsible for any of the shenanigans Isaac was up to in that video, but I am responsible for welcoming you this morning.
How are we doing today? It is great to have you here, and a special welcome to those watching online. If we haven’t met, my name is Archie Copeland, and I’m one of the Life Group coordinators here at The Well. If you’re a first-time guest, there are welcome cards in the seat back in front of you with a QR code. We’d love to connect with you this week.
I want to give a huge shout-out to our Kids Ministry leaders for the work they did this week. Between our Clovis and FIG campuses, we had about 1,200 kids here for Summerpalooza! We had 600 volunteers giving their time, and over 8,000 hours of behind-the-scenes work to make this happen. On top of that, you all donated 400 backpacks to give local children a fresh start this school year. That is what being the church is all about.
The Lesson of the Chair
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I hope you can smell the tri-tip cooking on your way in. If you’re joining us online, that’s one of the benefits of being here in person—you get to smell the lunch we’re preparing. My name is Mike Sladen, and I’m one of the teaching pastors here. Today, we are in week three of our series on encounters with Jesus.
While I was prepping for this message, I was reminded of a time I was teaching at Hartland Christian Camp. I was trying to illustrate to a room full of high schoolers what it meant to have faith—not just an intellectual understanding, but putting your full trust in something. I decided to bring a student named Aaron up on stage. I had a chair there, and I told him, “Aaron, if you believe what I’m saying, I want you to sit in this chair and put your full weight into it.”
He did it, and the crowd erupted. It was a great moment. But I realized I forgot to tell him how we were going to exit the stage. The band came up, the lights went down, and the music got loud. I whispered, “Aaron, we gotta go,” but he just stayed in that chair. I walked off into the dark, but Aaron stayed right there in the middle of the stage with the band playing around him. In that moment, Aaron just started worshiping. He had no idea every eye in the room was on him. He taught me a lesson that day about what it means to give yourself freely to Jesus without worrying about who is watching. I was on the side in the dark, crying like a baby, watching this kid just pour out his heart.
That is the same lesson we’re going to look at today in the life of a woman named Mary. When you truly encounter Jesus, the only appropriate response is to lavish on Him the fullness of our worship.
The Tension in Jerusalem
We are looking at Mark chapter 14. We’re rewinding the tapes to the last week of Jesus’ life. The tension is mounting. The religious leaders have already made up their minds about who Jesus is, and they’ve crossed a line.
Mark 14:1-2 (NASB)
Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill [Him]; for they were saying, ‘Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.’
Mark gives us a chronological anchor here. The Passover is just days away. This is likely Tuesday or Wednesday of Passion Week. The betrayal, the arrest, and the crucifixion are looming. The religious leaders want Him dead, but they’re afraid of the crowds. They’re looking for a way to do it by stealth.
A Gathering of Friends
While the leaders are plotting murder, the scene shifts to a very intimate setting in Bethany, just a couple of miles from Jerusalem. We find Jesus at the home of a man named Simon the Leper.
Mark 14:3 (NASB)
While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining [at the table], there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; [and] she broke the vial and poured it over His head.
Simon was likely someone Jesus had healed, and now he’s hosting a dinner out of gratitude. John’s Gospel tells us who else was there: the disciples were there, and so was Lazarus—the man Jesus had recently raised from the dead. Martha was there serving, and Mary of Bethany was there as well. These weren’t just bystanders; these were people who had a significant, long-lasting relationship with Jesus. They knew Him. They treasured Him.
They were reclining at the table, sharing a meal, but there was an ominous feeling in the room. Jesus knew what was coming, and it appears Mary did, too. In the middle of the party, Mary stands up. She can’t contain herself. She is overwhelmed with love, gratitude, and perhaps the grief of knowing what is about to happen to her Savior.
A Lavish and Costly Gift
Mary brings an alabaster vial of very costly perfume called pure nard. Alabaster was a beautiful, hand-carved stone imported from Egypt. But the treasure was inside. Nard was a plant grown in Northern India; it was rare and incredibly expensive. We’re told this vial was worth 300 denarii. In that day, a denarius was one day’s wage. This was the financial equivalent of an entire year’s salary contained in one small vessel.
This was likely a family heirloom, the most valuable thing she owned. And she didn’t just drip a little bit out. The text says she broke the vial. She destroyed the vessel so that every single drop would be used for Jesus. She poured it over His head, and as John tells us, she anointed His feet and wiped them with her hair.
John 12:3 (NASB)
Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Think about her posture. To anoint His feet, she had to get on her knees. She used her hair—her glory—to wipe the dust from His feet. Touching feet was considered degrading, a job for the lowest servant. But Mary didn’t care. As that fragrance filled the room, every conversation must have stopped. Every eye was on her. This was a public, planned, sacrificial, and intensely personal act of worship.
Indignation and Rebuke
Whenever someone gives their all to Jesus, there are usually two reactions. First, we see the reaction of the disciples.
Mark 14:4-5 (NASB)
But some were indignantly [remarking] to one another, ’Why has this perfume been wasted? ‘For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and [the money] given to the poor.’ And they were scolding her.
Mark says “some” were indignant, but Matthew tells us it was actually all of them. Judas led the charge, but they all joined in. They used the word “waste.” They saw a year’s wages disappearing into the floorboards and they scolded her. The Greek word for “scolding” here describes the snorting of a horse—it was a visceral, angry response. They tried to hide their coldness behind a facade of concern for the poor.
But look at how Jesus responds. He immediately flips the narrative.
Mark 14:6 (NASB)
But Jesus said, ’Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me.
He tells them, “Let her alone.” He redefines her action not as a waste, but as a “good deed.” He tells all twelve of them to back off.
The Priority of Worship
Jesus then addresses their comment about the poor. He isn’t saying we shouldn’t care for the poor—He spent His whole ministry doing that. But He is saying that there is a hierarchy of importance.
Mark 14:7-8 (NASB)
’For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. ’She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial.
Mary chose the “one thing” that was necessary. We see this all through the Gospels with Mary. While Martha was distracted with serving—which is a good thing—Mary was always found at the feet of Jesus.
Luke 10:38-42 (NASB)
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up [to Him] and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but [only] one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’
Mary understood that she was giving her eulogy before the funeral. She was bringing flowers to Jesus while He could still smell them. She didn’t want to wait until it was too late. She was saying, “Nothing is as valuable as You.”
An Immortalized Act of Love
Jesus honors her in a way He honors almost no one else. He declares that her story will be told wherever the Gospel is preached.
Mark 14:9 (NASB)
‘Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’
We are reading this today because Jesus promised we would. Her worship was countercultural. It broke every social norm. It was awkward and expensive, but it left an aroma. Think about that—Jesus likely still smelled like that nard as He stood before Pilate and as He hung on the cross. That fragrance stayed with Him.
Our worship should be the same. It should leave an aroma. When we live lives that say Jesus is our greatest treasure, people notice. Mary never says a word in this passage, yet her actions speak louder than any sermon.
Conclusion and Closing Prayer
As we conclude, I want to ask: if you were in Mary’s position, would you have the courage to do what she did? Or would you be like the disciples, worrying about the “waste” or what others might think? In a world that tempts us to worship our jobs, our families, or our reputations, Mary reminds us that Jesus is the only one worthy of the full weight of our lives.
Father, thank you for this incredible picture of an otherwise unknown woman whose act is remembered thousands of years later. Thank you that we see who Your Son is through her eyes. Would You cause our hearts to see Jesus as she did—as the most important thing in our lives? Thank you for what Christ has done on our behalf. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Church, we serve a God who is a rescuer and a redeemer. You might not have wealth or power to bring to Him today, but you have your life. If you’ve been struggling to give Him your best, just admit that to Him. He loves you and He gave His best for you.
Just a few reminders before you go: our Summer Equipping classes start this Tuesday at 6:30 PM. We have classes on racial reconciliation, community, and helping those in need. If you need prayer, our prayer team is at the front to my left.
And finally, don’t forget the tri-tip! We have sandwiches for $10 out in the parking lot, and the proceeds go toward scholarships for our students to go to camp. Enjoy your Father’s Day, reflect on the good memories of the men in your life, and remember that you have a Heavenly Father who will never leave you or forsake you. God bless!