Thoughts of Mary Magdeline
Jul 1, 2011 14:27:33 GMT -5
Post by daffy on Jul 1, 2011 14:27:33 GMT -5
Once he was dining in the house of Simon, a Pharisee, when a
woman “known in the city to be a sinner” approached him. Again , no
words were spoken, but there was plenty to observe. “She brought an
alabaster case of perfumed oil, and, taking a position behind at
[Jesus’] feet, she wept and started to wet his feet with her tears and
she would wipe them of f with the hair of head. Also, she tenderly
kissed his feet and greased them with the perfumed oil .” Jesus
recognized what all of this meant. And even though Simon did not say
anything, Jesus was able to discern that he was saying within
himself: “This man, if he were a prophet, would know who and what
kind of woman it is that is touching him, that is a sinner. ”( Luke 7:36-
48)
How many times have we read the same scripture over and over
and in a miniscule second Holy Spirit can open our eyes and we
see that very same scripture we have been reading for years prior come alive? It is as if a light bulb has exploded in our minds.
I am constantly in awe of our Lord as he gives us new revelation pertaining to His word in REAL and tangible ways.
This happened to me a little while ago..
I still am in awe.
My friends we serve a great and awesome Lord who was, is and
forever will be King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is God Yahweh with a capital G and not one of many small g gods.
There are not many Christians today who have not heard the story of the "supposed prostitute ".
She ,was "The Mary" that washed the feet of our Lord Jesus with her hair.
We will not know exactly how many have been radically changed by her
humility and testimony until we reach heaven.
By the way no where in scripture does it say she was a "prostitute".
Many "assumed" this.
The oil that Mary used was called Spikenard.
For anyone who has ever smelled this, let me tell you it is incredible, you will never forget the aroma.
Some theologians have estimated that the price for the same oil in
this day would be in the thousands of dollars. Probably a years wages.
Mary used a pound [ about 12 ounces] of very costly oil of spikenard,
(a precious oil, rose-red in colour made from dried roots and oily
stems of the spikenard plant, native to northern India, transported then
and now in alabaster boxes to preserve the fragrance).
Now to give you a visual I had always pictured in my mind Mary
leaning over Jesus' feet weeping, and wiping Jesus' sandy dirty feet with her hair, all the while pouring her precious oil over them weeping openly.
By the way don't be offended by the fact that Jesus' feet were dirty.
Every one's were in those days.
Sandals were the Jimmy Choo fashion of the day.
They didn't have nice little highways and Jeeps to ride around in and
keep their tootsies in "Pedi Friendly" immaculate condition.
Camels and donkeys were the luxury mode of transportation.
Not the Lincoln Escalade or the Jeep a La Cart.
So...We know Mary used an alabaster box of the most expensive kind
of perfumed oil.
Back to the visual.
Mary is weeping over the Lords' feet and so grateful for him delivering her from the demons that controlled her.
Her love for him was so overwhelming that tears flowed abundantly,
she was able to "wash" his feet with her tears.
Now Ladies I don't know about you but I have cried buckets in my life
time.
But...I can safely say that even in the most gravest of moments, my
tears were not "enough" to wash the feet of anyone. Not that I didn't
cry...It is just there wasn't physically enough to thoroughly wash any
one's feet .
So...were her tears supernatural? Or was the sheer thankfulness uncontrollable
Let us go back to the custom of the day when Jesus walked the earth.
We know it was customary for the "servant" to wash the guest 's feet
upon entering a nobleman's home. Their feet were dusty and extremely
dirty.
Now it was also a "custom" for many generations of Israelites to "store" the
tears of their ancestors from pain and sorrow in a container or jar and pass it on to the next generation. They actually cried into a jar and kept it.
The psalmist wrote, "Thou hast ... put my tears in thy bottle" (Ps. 56:8,
NASB). God stores our tears in a bottle of remembrance.
This reflects the old Hebrew custom that when a person cried about things such as exhile, persecution or even the loss of a loved one they would store their tears in a bottle or a small jar so others would know how much they had sorrowed for generations.
After many generations had passed some had enough
stored up TEARS that they could literally fill up a container.
The actual container was extremely cherished. It was priceless.
I began to wonder as I read this scripture...(no it does not say this but I began to wonder)
Could it be that Mary "took the tears of her generations of "sorrow and
pain" (do you see any parables here?) and poured them from her generational
container and used it to wash Jesus' feet along with the oil and her
tears? It is a thought to ponder.
Think about this for a moment.
Back in "The day" they didn't have elegant " hair coiffures" on "Straight Street that we have today.
They didn't go and get the "latest hair do" every once in a while.
The Israelite women were known for their thick long and beautiful hair.
I imagine as Mary walked home that evening after being with Jesus "the aroma" that lingered in her thick hair was extremely powerful?
Can you imagine as she slept every time she turned her hair was in her face she "smelled " of her "gift".
Even the next day as she walked "Straight Street" towards the water well picture people probably commenting "what is that glorious aroma?" It was the anointing.
Imagine how long the "aroma" stayed in her hair.
I am willing to go out on a limb and say it was a very very long time.
I also believe that "her gift of love" was told over and over to many
she encountered in the following days, although the Bible does not
refer to this.
Surely hers was a testimony of love and humility.
Almost everything has symbolic meaning in Gods word.
I encourage you to cry out and ASK for eyes to see.
Oh my friends there is so much more if we are hungry and seeking....
His word is ALIVE. HE is alive.
