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People in the Gospels: Mary of Bethany

It is helpful to note that the Gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – did not always write in chronological order. One example of that is found in the story of Mary of Bethany who anointed Jesus’ body (Matthew 26 and Mark 14 mention Jesus’ head, whilst John 12 mentions His feet). In Mark’s Gospel, it looks as though this occurred on the Wednesday before Jesus’ crucifixion, but in fact, John tells us that it occurred “six days before the Passover” (John 12:1) that is, on the Saturday evening. It seems fairly obvious that Mark included the story where he did in order to contrast the devotion of the ‘outsider’, Mary (whom he doesn’t name) with the treachery of the ‘insider’, Judas.

Mary was the sibling of Martha and Lazarus. We first meet her as she sat at the feet of the Lord Jesus, listening to His teaching (Luke 10:38-41). Later, when Lazarus died, Mary almost accuses Jesus of not being there for Lazarus (John 11:32). Yet, at the same time, she truly trusted in Him.

What is remarkable about Mary is the way in which her devotion to the Lord comes spilling out. In Mark 14:3, she came whilst Jesus was enjoying the hospitality of Simon the leper (presumably a man that Jesus had healed of leprosy, and possibly a relative of Mary’s) and she broke “an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly” (Mark 14:3), pouring the contents over Jesus’ head. Some people suggest that this costly perfume was a family heirloom, and even part of her ‘nest egg’ for the future.

We wonder why such a woman would do such a costly, and in many ways, embarrassing thing. Especially, knowing that it would be so public. For Mary’s part, this was a deliberate act. It took planning and prayer to do what she did. We can imagine her waiting for the right opportunity, before going to fetch the perfume from its safe place, wherever she had kept it, and carefully carrying the valuable perfume to the home of Simon. Surely, she was praying earnestly the whole time.

It is clear that those at table with Jesus felt uneasy about her. With a critical spirit, they attacked her: “Why was the ointment wasted like that? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor” (Mark 14:4-5). In their eyes, she was quite wrong, so they scolded her.

But it was their response that raised the ire of the Lord Jesus. He will have none of it, and rebuking them, including some of the disciples, He said: “Leave her alone… She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6). We later read that it was this act – and Jesus’ response – that drove Judas to betray Jesus (see Mark 14:10-11). He could not stand Mary’s action, or Jesus’ rebuke.

Jesus went on to say that whatever Mary knew or didn’t know, what she did was significant: “this perfume is to prepare Me for My burial” (see Mark 14:8). In the plan of God, hers was not merely an act of devotion, but spoke of His coming death. She may not have known it at that time, but her actions cast a shadow all the way to the cross.

Isn’t it wonderful that today we are fulfilling the words of Jesus when He said about her: “Truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her” (Mark 14:9). He is saying, “Here is a woman of devotion that we must not forget.” And, believer, do not our hearts burn within us for the same faith and devotion as Mary had!

Yet, as wonderful as her gift was, the greater gift was coming soon, in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross for sinners. 

People in the Gospels: Judas Iscariot

There are few people in the Bible who leave us with such a sense of unease as Judas Iscariot does. Why did he betray Jesus? When did this darkness enter his mind? How could he have been so close to our Saviour and then turn against Him?

Perhaps, even more mystifying, is the way in which John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus “knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him” (John 6:64). Jesus even said to His disciples: “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil” (John 6:70).

If Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, then why did He choose Him as a disciple in the first place? Or why didn’t He unmask his treachery earlier?

I don’t know that we will receive the answers to these questions this side of heaven. Yet, what we do know is that God is sovereign, even over sin, and at the same time, Judas is accountable for his actions before God.

Reading the Gospels, we learn a little about who Judas was. We know that he was the keeper of the moneybag for the disciples (John 12:6). His name, Judas Iscariot, probably means that he came from a town called Kerioth, in Judea.

Judas was there when the Lord Jesus gave the Twelve authority over unclean spirits and to heal disease and affliction (Matt. 10:1). He heard the preaching of Jesus about the kingdom (Matt. 5:1), and he was there when Jesus appointed them to preach (Mark 3:14). He was there when Jesus privately told the disciples that in Jerusalem He would be crucified, but then raised on the third day (Matt. 20:17-19).  Judas was amongst those whose feet Jesus washed as a servant (John 13:5). Then, later, he would betray our Lord with a kiss (Mark 14:44).

Right from the earliest mentions of Judas in the Gospels, he is referred to as the betrayer (from the word “to give over,” see Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:19). It is the blot for which he will forever be known. It is fascinating to think that though Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, the other disciples seemed to have no inkling of the treachery that lay in Judas’ heart (Matt. 26:21-22).

From an earthly perspective, Mark hints that the vital moment of Judas’ betrayal came in response to the incident when Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus with the precious nard (Mark 14:3-8). The disciples scolded her, Judas being most critical of her (John 12:4). What a waste! Mark’s Gospel then tells us that after Jesus defended Mary’s actions, Judas “went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them” (Mark 14:10). He couldn’t stand Mary’s action, nor Jesus’ rebuke. Resentment is a bitter poison.

Why do the Gospels include the story of a man such as Judas Iscariot? In part, he stands as a warning to us. Satan was able to poison Judas’ mind. Heed Richard Baxter’s words: “All the longer your delay, the more your sin gets strength and rooting. If you cannot bend a twig, how will you be able to bend it when it is a tree?” And yet, even though we all sin, there is a real sense in which it is not our sin that keeps us from God, but our failure to repent. May God give us the grace of repentance. Turn back to Him and confess your sin.

Yet the tragic life of Judas also shows the depths of God’s ability to bring good out of another person’s evil. His betrayal led to the cross, which led to the resurrection and our salvation.

People in the Gospels: Simon Peter

Out of all the people that we meet in the Gospels, there are none that we get to know quite as well as Peter. He was a fisherman from Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee (John 1:44). Wherever Jesus went, Peter was with Him, in the thick of things.

It was Peter who, when others had turned their backs on Jesus and walked away, said to Him: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

So too, Peter had been the first of the disciples to confess that Jesus was the Christ. When the people were guessing at the identity of Jesus – maybe John the Baptist, or Elijah, or another prophet – Peter confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).

Yet, Peter also felt Jesus’ rebuke on more than one occasion. Perhaps nothing stung him quite like Jesus’ words: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matt. 16:23).

On the night that Jesus was arrested, Peter had boldly claimed: “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away… Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” (Matt. 26:33-35) Later that night, by the firelight, Peter denied Jesus three times.

We are never so weak as when we think that we are strong. Sometimes we can be so sure of ourselves that we lose all sense of how weak we are.

In fact, however we may want to scold Peter, or think him foolish for making such a claim that he didn’t keep, surely, every Christian knows the deep sense of shame that comes from denying our Lord. Luke says that at the moment of Peter’s third denial, Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). We can only imagine the look of compassion in our Lord’s eyes as they locked with Peter’s. Finally, Peter broke. He went outside and wept bitterly.

In the joy of the resurrection that followed, three days later, Peter still felt a sense of unease. There was unfinished business between him and the Lord Jesus: the issue of his denials had to be dealt with. Is my failure final? Has He forgiven me?

The moment of reconciliation came soon after. In John 21, the risen Lord Jesus prepares breakfast on the beach for His disciples, including another “charcoal fire” (John 21:9). By this fire, Jesus gave Peter the opportunity to confess Him three times. He asks him: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (John 21:16) Three times Peter, though grieved, confesses: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you” (John 21:16).

In forgiving Peter, Jesus entrusted His most treasured possession to him – His people. He said, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). He was saying: “Peter, your denial of Me was wrong. But I forgive you, and more than that, I am giving you a position of responsibility in my church. I am entrusting my sheep, whom I died for, to you. Feed them.”

If there are any lessons for you and me, surely it is that our Lord will do the same for us. May you confess your love for Him! May He forgive and restore, just as He has shown that He will.

People in the Gospels: Pontius Pilate

Have you ever thought about what it must have been like for Pontius Pilate to be put in a position where he had to choose between doing what the crowd wanted him to do, and doing what he knew to be right? Power can be a fearful thing! Few leaders can resist the crowd.

The sad truth was that Pilate was put into this position because of envy. Mark 15:10 says that Pilate “perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered” Jesus up to him. Envy can play on our minds, subtly telling us that we are not getting what we think we deserve. Envy is the irrational sin of an ungrateful heart, and just as oil and water cannot mix, so too, the person filled with envy cannot love God, nor trust in Him. Envy keeps true faith at bay and strangles the true spiritual life.

The first mention in the Gospels of Pontius Pilate’s actions is in Luke 13. Pilate, as Roman governor of the province of Judea, had at some unknown time, mixed the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1). In other words, Pilate had brutally killed some people as they came to worship God. His mission was to maintain stability in the Empire, even if that meant ensuring peace by the sword.

At the trial of the Lord Jesus, Pilate was bewildered at Jesus’ silence (John 19:10). So too, he must have been bewildered, even frightened, when as he sat in judgment, his wife sent him a message: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream” (Matt. 27:19). Whatever her understanding of the situation, God revealed to her that Pilate should side with Jesus and not with the crowd.

Several times Pilate tried to persuade the crowd to let him realise Jesus. Yet, as the crowd grew more and more insistent that Jesus die – Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Pilate must have thought: “What have I got to do with this Jewish dispute? How did I ever end up in this situation?”

In an earthly sense, Pilate is the person who has the final word about Jesus’ fate. He was afraid of the situation getting out of control. In order to appease the crowd, he sacrificed justice. Amongst Pilate’s final words to Jesus, he said, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)

And so, Pilate’s story moves from envy, to mob pressure, to the uneasy knowledge that what he was doing was wrong, to finally trying to escape guilt. In front of the crowd, he washed his hands, saying: “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves” (Matt. 27:24). We know that that could never do.

History is silent as to Pilate’s life after this, except that he was recalled to Rome a few years later. But we do know what happened to Jesus – and so we confess in the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit

And born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.

On the third day He rose again…

Pilate’s question of the crowd, is the same question asked of us today: “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matt. 27:22)” May we confess Him as our Saviour and submit to Him as our Lord.

People in the Gospels: Mary Magdalene

Gratitude never stands alone, for it radiates joy and grace. Gratitude is a response to the kindness of another.

Mary Magdalene came from the town of Magdala, on the North-West side of the Sea of Galilee. In Aramaic (Migdal Nunya), this means “Fish Tower” (possibly it is the region called “Magdan” in Matt. 15:39, and “Dalmanutha” in Mark 8:10).

The first time that we meet Mary is in Luke 8:2. As Jesus was going through cities and villages, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God, one of those with Him was Mary, “from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2). In other words, Mary heard His voice.That will become important later.She was amongst several women who followed Him, along with the disciples.  

We are not told about Mary’s life prior to this, but we do know that this poor woman had been overcome by demons. Exactly how demon possession manifested itself in her life, whether in illness or some other way, we don’t know, but I think that we can imagine the kind of misery it meant for her. We must always remember that there is grief behind every door.

The Lord Jesus Christ freed Mary by His power and out of His kindness for her. What gratitude now filled her heart towards Jesus!

Mary’s journey in following Jesus led her to Jerusalem, to the cross, and to the tomb. She saw our Lord’s lifeless body placed in the tomb (Luke 23:55). Then, three days later, she meets Him risen – although at first she did not know it was Him! Thinking that He was the gardener, it was only when He spoke her name that she realised that it was Jesus (John 20:15). One word was all that it took: “Mary” (John 20:16). She heard, again, His voice! In that moment, all fear and sorrow was swept away! He was risen, never to die again.

Sometimes when we get a shock, we go silent, or even turn away. But Mary calls to Him – Rabboni! – and clings to Him (John 20:16-17). Any thought about the spices that they had brought to the tomb now vanished from her mind!

See Mary weeping: ‘Where is He laid?

As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;

Hears a voice speaking, calling her name:

It’s the Master, the Lord raised to life again!

The voice that spans the years,

Speaking life, stirring hope,

Bringing peace to us,

Will sound till He appears,

For He lives, Christ is risen from the dead!

– Stuart Townend & Keith Getty

In a way, Mary is living proof of what Jesus had earlier said about Himself – the Good Shepherd: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice… And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice” (John 10:3-4; 16).

Do you remember when you first heard His voice? For some people, it may have been many, many years ago, but for others it may have been more recent. For some, it was sudden, but for others, it took time to hear Him. Whatever the case, every Christian can say: “Jesus, my Shepherd, calls me by name. I know His voice – I hear it in His Word. And though I be a weak sheep, I rejoice that He knows me, and I Him.”

– Graham Barnes