Read Mary of Bethany’s story in Luke 10:38–42; John 11:1–45; 12:1–8.
A woman named Mary, not the mother of Jesus, lived in a village called Bethany about two miles out of Jerusalem. She became known as Mary of Bethany. She lived with her sister, Martha. Their brother, Lazarus, also shared the house with them. The Bible mentions that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were all friends of Jesus, and he visited their home when he traveled through Bethany.
One of Mary of Bethany’s favorite things to do was to sit at Jesus’s feet and listen to his teachings. Spending time with Jesus was one way Mary showed her love and deepened her faith in him.
One time when Jesus was at their home, Mary sat at Jesus’s feet while Martha prepared a meal for the guests. Martha asked Jesus to tell Mary to help her with the work.
Jesus said to Martha, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Listening to Jesus was the better choice for Mary right then.
Another time, Lazarus became ill when Jesus was not there. Mary and Martha sent a messenger to tell Jesus of their brother’s illness. Although Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, he waited two days before he left for Bethany. By then, Lazarus had died. The disciples warned Jesus that it wasn’t safe to go to Bethany because not long before that Jews in that area had tried to stone him. But Jesus and his disciples traveled back to Bethany so Jesus could “wake” Lazarus.
When Mary reached Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t be dead.”
Jesus wasn’t surprised that Lazarus was dead. He knew that he didn’t make it back in time. But Jesus loved Mary and her family, and so he wept with Mary.
Jesus and his disciples followed Mary, Martha, and the other mourners to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone placed across its entrance. “Take away the stone,” Jesus said.
When the disciples took away the stone, Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me.” Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
Lazarus walked out of the tomb with his hands and feet still wrapped with linen and a cloth around his face.
The next time Jesus went to Bethany, he was on his way to Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover. Again, he visited Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Martha prepared a dinner in Jesus’s honor. Mary was a woman of few words, but her actions spoke much about her tender heart and her love for Jesus. Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus’s feet. After she had anointed his feet, Mary dried them with her hair.
Though some grumbled about her extravagant choice, Mary didn’t show concern for what others thought or said. She focused on her Lord Jesus. She used the perfume to anoint Jesus to prepare for his coming death. Mary’s gift of anointing Jesus with perfume showed she’d listened to Jesus and believed him.
Like Mary, focus on Jesus. Spend time in prayer and read and reflect upon Scripture before you take action.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
—John 11:25–26
I will believe what Jesus says and live like I believe him.
Dear Jesus, please forgive me for those times when I don’t show my love for you. I do love you. Thank you for all you are to me and all you do for me. I want to show you how much I love you, please teach me how. Amen.
The house Mary lived in with her sister Martha didn’t have fans or air conditioning. The walls, probably made of mud bricks or stones and sticks, were built thick to keep the house cool in the summer and warm on winter nights.
When the sun sank in the sky there weren’t any light switches to flip at Mary’s house. She and Martha and Lazarus probably visited with Jesus in the light of an oil lamp made of clay or metal.
Nard was a perfume made from oil taken out of the root of a plant mainly grown in India.