Bethany Devotional
by Katy Thompson
Six days before the most difficult part of Jesus‘s ministry, he goes to a place where he could be loved and cared for, where he could rest, and where he could receive strength for the coming trials. He goes to a place called Bethany, where he is surrounded by his friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, each one bringing their own gifts to him.
“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 Jesusʼ 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 Jesusʼ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”John 12:1-3 NIV
Martha is serving a dinner in honor of Jesus. This isn’t the first time Martha has prepared a meal for Jesus, but I imagine her serving this time with a different heart, a different motivation. She’s doing what she does well in a posture of joy and gladness, not bitterness and resentment. At this meal, Jesus is at the center and she has set her distractions aside. And when she keeps Jesus as her focus, preparing and serving a meal become the gift she brings. I imagine her time with Jesus helped her in taking her eyes off of herself, no longer doing things out of duty and obligation and with grumbling, but instead being able to see others as she did the same things, doing them now out of a posture of serving and loving and giving freely. Because she knows she’s seen by Jesus, she can take her eyes off of herself and put them on others. She is the same Martha, and yet she is changed. Her relationship with Jesus has changed her heart. She gives of herself to Jesus.
Lazarus’s very presence is a reminder to Jesus that death is not the end. Here’s someone who knows death, and yet lives! As Jesus faces his own death, the presence of Lazarus is a reflection of Jesus’s very words, spoken when he brought Lazarus back to life “I am the resurrection and the life!” When Jesus needs it most, he surrounds himself with one who can point back and say: Death is not the end! Death will come, but then something greater will come! Lazarus’s gift is his very life, a life that experienced the miraculous power of God and is a living testimony of the resurrection that Jesus too will experience.
And then there is Mary. Mary, who has always carried her heart on her sleeve. Mary who does not hold back her attention, admiration, and love for Jesus, no matter what others think or say. Each time Mary sits at Jesus’s feet, someone criticizes her. But each time, Jesus defends her actions, affirms her choices, and admonishes those who criticize her, because she gets it right, every time. And this time, when Jesus is heavy with the knowledge of what is about to happen to him, knowing he will be beaten, his body torn apart, and that he will be humiliated in front of the world, Mary does something so intimate, so loving, something that, in a way, humiliates herself, showing her devotion, naked before all, touching Jesus’s body in a way that is so opposite to that which is coming. Jesus will be stripped of everything he owns and given a criminal’s death, but Mary pours her most expensive possession over his feet. Jesus will be hung naked for all to see, but Mary covers his feet with her own hair. The world will turn dark and all will know that Jesus breathed his last breath, but Mary‘s perfume fills each person‘s breath in that room with her devotion. People will hurl insults at Jesus, mocking him and tearing him down, but in one quiet, humble act, Mary lifts Jesus up and worships him.
This is Bethany. A place where people gather whose lives have been changed by Jesus. A place to be loved and cared for and reminded of God’s power. A place to come to be strengthened in times of trial and suffering. A place of community and safety and understanding. Bethany is a house of welcome. • How am I like Martha? Am I grateful for the way God has made me? Am I able to love and serve with a joyful heart, using my gifts to honor others, or am I bitter and doing so with a hard heart? Where do I need to take my eyes off of myself and put them on someone else? • How am I like Lazarus? Where has God done miraculous things in my life? How can I encourage others through those experiences to not give up and to have faith? How can my presence be supportive to someone struggling today?
Questions for Reflection
• How am I like Mary? Am I giving all I have to worship Jesus? Am I free and expressive in my adoration of Jesus or do I let others hold me back? Is the fragrance of my devotion evident to others?
• Where is my Bethany? How can I create a Bethany environment for others?
Prayer of Mother Theresa of Calcutta: “Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and no longer see me, but only Jesus. Amen”
