At The Feet of Jesus

I am currently in a bible study that is going through the Gospel of John and this past week we read the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. There was one part of that story that really stuck out to me this time and it was after Lazarus’ death before Jesus raised him from the dead. It is when Mary of Bethany runs to Jesus and falls to his feet. 

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

John 11:32

I have read this verse before, but this time reading it I remembered all the other times we hear about Mary of Bethany; each time we find her at the feet of Jesus. It made me wonder why this was her usual posture around Jesus and if there was a deeper meaning to it all. So I decided to re-read all of the passages that we hear of Mary of Bethany, starting with Luke chapter 10 when Jesus was at the home of Martha and Mary.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42

In this passage, Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to simply listen to him. Meanwhile her sister Martha is busy serving the Lord and the company they were hosting in their home. Martha is seemingly bitter about all she is doing while Mary does nothing, which shows us that Martha is not serving in love. If we serve in love we will not compare our work to the works of others. We will simply do it because we love and that will be enough. 

When Martha complains to Jesus, he tells her that Mary has chosen what is better. So what was Mary doing that was so much better than what Martha was doing? Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Mary humbled herself and was taking the time to listen to Jesus, to learn from him, understanding that this was more important than serving in that moment. We sit at the feet of Jesus when we pray. Our time of prayer is a time when we can listen to the Lord. It is the best thing we can do with our time. If we aren’t making time to pray, we have no business serving. For all service should be done in love, not in obligation or vanity, not in our need to control or feed our egos. Service is never about us, but is always about love of God and love of neighbor. It is an expression of that love, which can only be firmly rooted in us when we are praying and learning how to love like Christ.

Prayer is a posture of humility. It places our soul at the feet of Jesus, just like Mary of Bethany physically sat at Christ’s feet. When we go to the Lord in prayer, without needing to control God or get what we want from him; when we listen to him, open ourselves up to being transformed by his love, then we will learn to love like God loves. God will perfect our desires. Prayer does not change God, but it changes us. Jesus told Martha that Mary chose the better part because Mary was willing to be changed by the Lord. Mary desired to learn from Jesus, so that she could love like him.

The next time we hear of Mary of Bethany is when Lazarus dies. In this passage from the Gospel of John, we see all that leads up to the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which includes the immense sorrow of Martha and Mary at the loss of their brother. In this particular passage we hear about Mary’s encounter with Jesus after Lazarus dies.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.

John 11:32-35

After Lazarus’ death, Mary goes to Jesus in her distress and she falls down at his feet. Mary again places herself in this humble position when she is in the presence of Jesus. Mary is feeling distraught. She goes to the Lord and is completely honest with him. Even though she is so sad over the death of her brother, Mary takes all her cares to the Lord.  Although she knew and believed that Jesus could heal Lazarus so that he wouldn’t have to die, the reality was that Jesus still allowed Lazarus to die. Mary must have felt disappointed at Jesus for not saving her brother from death, but she still goes to him and falls to his feet.  

Mary’s honesty in that moment teaches us so much about being in relationship with Jesus. Mary holds nothing back, she doesn’t try to compose herself before meeting up with Jesus. She runs to him and falls to his feet. Mary chose to humble herself by going to the one person she needed most, but whom she was probably most afraid of approaching. Mary was brutally honest with the Lord and allowed him to see her in the rawness of her pain and sorrow. The reason Mary was able to do this is because she knew that Jesus loved her. All the time she spent listening to Jesus had changed her heart. She understood well the love of God and she trusted in it despite the tragedy that she was experiencing. This love of God that Mary experienced is what gave her the courage to take the harder road. It is what allowed her to bring her heartache to the Lord and to trust him in all things. 

If you notice in this passage, Jesus doesn’t respond to Mary directly with any comforting word or deed, but immediately after asking where they laid the body, Jesus stops and weeps. He stays right there with Mary in her pain and unites his own sorrow over the death of Lazarus with hers. Jesus teaches us in this moment that although we may not feel or see his active presence to us in our pain and suffering, Jesus is indeed weeping with us. By Jesus entering into this experience of sorrow with Mary of Bethany in that moment, he not only shares in her sorrow, but as a result he is also able to share in the sorrow of all of humanity. 

Finally, in the Gospel of John chapter 12 we hear about Mary of Bethany pouring the costly perfume on the feet of Jesus and wiping his feet with her hair.

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him,objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

John 12:1-8

Here we see Mary of Bethany again at the feet of Jesus, but this time she goes even further than simply sitting or falling at his feet, she anointed his feet and wipes them with her hair. This was an act of true worship and adoration. It shows us that Mary would give all she had to show her love for the Lord. At this point in her life, Jesus had spoken the words of eternal life to her and she listened and learned to love through his teaching. She also went to him in her sorrow at the loss of her brother and Jesus demonstrates his compassion and love for her and Lazarus, eventually redeeming the entire situation by raising Lazarus from the dead. By Mary choosing the most expensive perfume to wash Jesus’ feet, she was demonstrating her deep devotion to Jesus. It was a complete denial of earthly goods and a total surrender to the Glory of God above all things of this world. 

We can see from this passage that Mary’s love of God has grown and matured over time. She was to the point where this great love that she was experiencing in her heart was inspiring her to use the finest things of God’s creation to demonstrate her magnanimous love and gratitude to God. The love Mary demonstrated here was not her own, but it was God’s love that had filled her heart and transformed it. The specific act of love that we choose to do is not what matters most, but what does matter is the authenticity behind our acts of love.

“God places more value on good will in all we do than on the works themselves.”

From a sermon by St Lawrence Justinian, bishop

In these three passages about Mary of Bethany we learn so much from her simply by exploring the posture she places herself in when in the presence of the Lord. Mary is humble, she looks up to Jesus, and she never tries to be more than she was in relation to Jesus. Mary’s great humility reveals to us her great love for God. Her physical posture of being at the feet of Christ was a sign of her interior disposition and understanding of her relation to Jesus. 

It is important to note that Mary was never forced to be at the feet of Jesus, but she lowered herself to that place. She chose to take this position of humility and surrender because of the great love she experienced. Mary trusted Jesus to the point of being able to go to him in her distress and be honest with him about what she was feeling. She spoke to Jesus openly and honestly from his feet. With pride out of the way, Mary looked to Jesus for answers and what she received was an increase in faith, hope and love. Mary’s heart contained more love of God than sorrow over the loss of her brother. It is only love that is powerful enough to conquer evil. Mary’s final great act of worship by pouring the costly perfume on the feet of Jesus and wiping his feet with her hair reveals to us the magnitude of her love of God. This love dispelled all darkness, doubt, fear, pride, vanity and sensibility in Mary’s heart. She was so moved by love that she performed this great act of gratitude, even though it put her at risk of being humiliated.

Mary loved. She loved Jesus. She loved her sister and her brother. She learned to love as God loves. It is this love of God that guided her in her life. It determined all of her actions. This love came forth from within her heart as a beautiful flower which blooms at the sun’s rising. There was no stopping Mary’s love from being displayed. Mary of Bethany serves as a model to us all of humility, surrender, and gratitude, which should all spring forth from us through love. 

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