ACT OF WORSHIP

John 12:1-11
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

1 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

9 When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 10 Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too, 11 for it was because of him that many of the people had deserted them and believed in Jesus.


Martha is serving the meal. Lazarus is sharing the meal. Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with oil, an act of preparation (she probably had done something similar a few days earlier when Lazarus died and had to be prepared for burial). With Jesus it was an act of worship.

Two thousand years after the fact, Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) can read this passage and use it to support claims of a relationship between Jesus and Mary that was never spoken of in the Scriptures. Not even Judas Iscariot, the betrayer and witness to the act, went where Brown did. Judas’ mind was only clouded by dollar signs.

We live in a time and society clouded by perversion, harassment and inappropriate relationships. In this environment, one can look at an act of worship and misinterpret it as something intimate or even dirty. God forbid that we make something out of Scripture that God never intended.