Mary of Bethany- Breaking Through Barriers

Lyn Peterson • April 4, 2019

Mary of Bethany was a disciple and close friend of the Lord’s- and she was praised by Jesus for her love and devotion. So, what can we learn from this woman who lived 2,000 years ago in a very different society from ours?


Mary of Bethany depicted at the feet of Jesus

There are two huge positives in Mary’s life of faith:

First of all, Mary was not going to let a prejudiced society keep her away from Jesus! She defied social convention and sat at his feet, adopting the typical posture of a male disciple- and she did this with the Lord’s approval. Jesus had a radically different approach to women from the other rabbis of his era- he offered them love, respect and healing and refused to treat them as inferior to men. Mary was one of the first women to enjoy this new egalitarian approach to faith.

Jesus spoke to women in public, taught them the scriptures and allowed them to travel with him at a time when many spiritual teachers wanted to confine women to the home. With support from her radical rabbi , Mary was willing to risk the disapproval of men in her community (and possibly some of the women too) in pursuit of truth and a relationship with God.

We too can decide that nothing will stand between us and our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ. We can refuse to let any type of prejudice and judgement hold us back in our personal lives and embrace our true identities as royal children of the Living God, knowing that we are defined by God’s word alone. The key scripture here is Galatians 3:28 which states: “In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal” . ( Scripture quoted from THE MESSAGE Bible)


Mary will always be remembered- God's decree

Secondly, Mary listened intently to the teachings of Jesus and didn’t miss a thing . While most of the disciples failed to see the crucifixion coming because they were living in denial of the truth, Mary had taken note of Jesus’s warnings and so she knew what she needed to do; she anointed his feet with massively expensive nard, a type of exotic perfume which cost a fortune (a whole year’s wages) to comfort and honour him before his terrible death on the cross. Because Mary was listening carefully with an open and receptive heart, she responded with thankful, sacrificial giving.

Mary also proved she had been listening to Jesus when she came under fire for being extravagant in using such a costly perfume. She followed the Lord’s teachings and turned the other cheek; she didn’t try to defend herself and the choice she had made.

However, Jesus stepped in and spoke up on her behalf. He said that she’d done the right thing and promised that wherever the gospel was preached, her story would be remembered as an act of love and devotion. It’s obvious to me that Mary was a disciple who reflected and meditated upon everything that Jesus said.


Spending time every day with Jesus

Mary’s example inspires me to put aside the time I need to communicate with Jesus every day. I have to be very careful that I don’t get distracted from this goal. I find the best solution is to keep to a routine and pray before I start my work every day. This usually works unless my routine is disrupted, when I occasionally come unstuck.

What works best for you? Maybe you’d like to make a comment or possibly reflect on how your devotional life is going.

A final thought- isn’t it amazing that Jesus treats us as friends, not as servants? And he really is the very best friend we can ever have, because he knows us inside out and loves us just as we are. We can’t find any better love than that. 


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