Mary Did A Beautiful Thing Pt1

COMBINED GOSPEL READINGS

See also:
MARY DID A BEAUTIFUL THING Pt2

  

Matthew 26.6-13, Mark 14.3-9, John 12.1-8  - Individual Texts New King James Version

Matthew 26.6-13	6And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” 10But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
Mark 14.3-9	3And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 4But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. 6But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
John 12.2-8	1Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,5“Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.” 9Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

Matthew 26.6-13, Mark 14.3-9, John 12.1-8

1.	John 12.1	1Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was £who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.
2.	Matthew 26.6	6And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,
3.	John 12.2-3a	2There they made Him supper in His honour; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who reclined at the table with Him.3Then Mary took
4.	Mark 14.3	an alabaster jar containing
5.	John 12.3	one half a litre of
6.	Mark 14.3	very costly perfume, made of pure spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured the perfume on
7.	John 12.3	Jesus’
8.	Matthew 26.7	head
9.	John 12.3	and feet
10.	Matthew 26.7	as He reclined at the table
11.	John 12.3	and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
12.	Matthew 26.8	. 8But when His disciples saw it,
13.	John 12.4	along with Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him
14.	Matthew 26.8	they
15.	Mark 14.4	said among themselves, “Why was this fragrant perfume wasted?5For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply.
16.	John 12.5	Judas said this, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
17.	Matthew 26.10	10But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them,
18.	Mark 14.6	“Leave her alone. Why do you trouble
19.	Matthew 26.10	this woman?
20.	Mark 14.6-8	She has done a beautiful thing to Me. 7For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8She did what she could.
21.	Matthew 26.12	12For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body.
22.	John 12.7	She has kept this for the day of My burial and
23.	Mark 14.8,9	came beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

Combined Text     Matthew 26.6-13, Mark 14.3-9, John 12.1-8

John 12.1 Matthew 26.6 John 12.2-3a  Mark 14.3 John 12.3, Mark 14.3 John 12.3 Matthew 26.7 John 12.3 Matthew 26.7 John12.3 Matthew 26.8 John 12.4 Matthew 26.8 Mark 14.4, John 12.5 Matthew 26.10 Mark 14.6 Matthew 26.10 Mark 14.6-8 Matthew 26.12 John 12.7, Mark 14.8,9

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, who was dead, whom Jesus raised from the dead. And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, they made supper in His honour; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who reclined at the table with Him. Then Mary took an alabaster jar containing one half a litre of very costly perfume, made of pure spikenard. She broke the flask and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head and feet as He reclined at the table and then wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But when His disciples saw it, along with Judas Iscariot (who was later to betray him), they said among themselves, “Why was this fragrant perfume wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. Judas said this, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, had the money box; and used to take what was put in it. But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She did what she could. For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body. She has kept this for the day of My burial and came beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

SEE ALSO:

MARY DID A BEAUTIFUL THING PT2

Mary Did A Beautiful Thing Pt2

MARY DID A BEAUTIFUL THING PT2

Matthew 26.6-13, Mark 14.3-9, John 12.1-8  

SEE ALSO COMBINED AND MERGED TEXT
MARY DID A BEAUTIFUL THING PT1

This story of Mary (not the mother of Jesus) from Matthew, Mark and John reveals this fantastic story. Jesus was so impressed with this incident that He said this storey of Mary was to be told wherever this Gospel was to be preached. A monument for ever.

The Lord Jesus’ life was drawing close towards the night of His soul, the last chapter in His life was about to unfold, the very last days of our Lord were drawing near. As He sat in the loneliness of His situation, a lonely and hurt soul who only had one way to look and that was to His Heavenly Father. Today was the night before the start of the great six day roller coaster of His life in which He could not get off, because in love for the world He put His trust in His Heavenly Father, in love He saw the myriads of humans and committed His life to God the Father as a sacrifice for the whole worlds sins.

A lonely man- Jesus' own home town had rejected Him and wanted to throw Him off a cliff, Lonely- His loyal band of 72 disciples upped and left and rejected Him after misunderstanding Him, His teachings and even His motives, Hurt- synagogues kicked Him out, Lonely- as the chief priests and elders accused Him, abused Him, misunderstood Him, took His every action as evil when they were done with a pure heart, Lonely- as the Jews, the very people who should have understood the message and actions of the Messiah, misunderstood Him, maligned Him, insulted Him, persecuted Him and eventually were to crucify Him on the cross. Lonely as His disciples at times did not believe and they certainly did not understand a lot of His teachings. His closest companions through His journey to the cross were going to turn against Him. He sees the the winter was drawing near for His ministry. Lonely as His own family began to reject Him, Lonely as the accusations, the malicious gossip was heightened with the shout from the crowds for blood for the man who raised Lazarus from the dead, and shouts for heads to roll from His own, from the very Jews who should have known better. Lonely as He was about to have one of His loved disciples, one that was close to Him for three years of ministry slowly turn and twist the knife into Jesus’ soul and we see even more jabbing and twisting and turning of the knife in the back of Jesus as His ministry draws to a close and he attacks His very ministry, authority, anointing, His motives and character called into question.

Imagine it, if you can, I scarce can take it in, lonely, dark, gloomy, darkening and growing more horrible as the days go by with every dagger of jealousy, every axe of betrayal, every machine gun of cruel words of gossip and hate, every missile of actions against Him speaking louder to His soul as He sees the depths of people’s rejection, as only He can, every wave after wave of bombardment against His very fabric and makeup in His soul. And its taking its toll on our Lord Jesus as He and only He can feel as He feels with His clean and spotless heart, only He can see as He sees with His pure eyes. From the unfathomable depths of His heart He reaches out in love to those who reject Him and give Him a good kick in the guts when He was down. Full of anguish in His soul. See Him there! Begin to imagine the horrors He is going through, as only He knows about His cruel death on the Roman cross that is looming across His mind like a shadow of cruelty and fear.

Heavy minded, hardly able to comprehend the unrelenting nature of these cruel blows from the bloodhounds, Jesus was invited to a meal in Simon the Leper’s house in His honour with Mary and Martha there in the house. Jesus has received very little encouragement along the way from anyone, let alone His disciples in the last few weeks of His life. And into the house He goes. At least He was now among friends, Martha is doing what she does best, namely serving. Picture it there is Jesus’ reclining at the table with the others, in a black moment of His life and out of the blue Mary does something which is absolutely extraordinary, like a light to His soul, a warm bright and shining light in the blackness of His ministry on earth. It brought comfort to His broken heart.