The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1901-01-03
LESSON ANALYSIS.

The Amounting of Jesus. - While
Jesus was at supper in the house of
Simon, Mary came to Jesus to do an
act of loving homage. This Mary was
the sister of Mart ha and Lazarus. Her
act was to anoint the head, and. ac-
cording to John. also the feet. of
Jesus, with oil. 1t was not uncom-
mon for rabbis to be so honored. and
Mary chose this method of honoring
her Master Amounting the feet was
not so usual as amounting the head,
and Mary's act showed extreme hui
mility as well as affection. Another
point brought out was the costliness
of the ointment. To Mary nothing
within her power to secure was too
costly to give to Jesus.
The Criticism of the Disciples 1T
was the costliness of the spikenard
that furnished the basis of the criti.
cism of the disciples. They were in.
dignant and asked: "To what pur.
pose is this waste?" It is interesting
to note that. while all Tor at the least
most( of the disciples shared the feel.
ing. it was Judas Iscariot who put
this question to Jesus. This fact we
learn from Johns record (John 12:
4-5). Judas had no love in his heart,
and could not therefore sympathize
with Mary's loving act. Judas. too,
was the treasurer of this little com.
pany of disciples. He asks why the
ointment had not been sold, and the
proceeds given to his bag. He gains
the sympathy of the other disciples
by suggesting that it ought to have
been given to the poor.
Mary's Act Commended.-,Juda ar
gument was plausible, to most people
it would be convincing. The weak point
in it was that the emphasis is laid on
the gift, not upon the spirit which
prompted the gift. Jesus improved
every occasion to emphasize the spirit
behind the act. A gift to the poor is
commendable. if love prompts the gift
it is better by tenfold. Mary's deed was
an act of love, therefore commenda BILE
in itself. But another reason for COM
mending the deed was the fact that
Jesus in the physical man could not al
ways be with them. The indefinite
poor the world would always have. An
other point to be noticed is the fact
that the standard of judgment has
much to do with whether such an act
would be waste. 1t would undoubtedly
have been waste had it not been the
spontaneous out tburst of loving heart.
Following the natural impulse was in.
tinitely better for Mary; to another
Jesus would undoubtedly have taken a
gift to the poor as sign of homage to
Himself. for at another time He said: !:
"lnasmuch as We did il unto one of
these, my brethren, even these least. We
did it unto me-"
A Striking Contrast.-The last three
verses of the lesson present a striking
contrast TO the loving act commended
by Jesus. Judas. who had been the
leader of the criticism against Mary at
this time bargained to deliver Jesus in.
to the hands of His enemies. This deed
was undoubtedly provoked by the i'm.
piled rebuke of Jesus, for Jesus com.
mendation of Mary was surely a re.
buke to Judas. Another suggestion is
that Judas had aspired to be treasurer
of the kingdom Jesus was to establish
He saw his hope was not well-founded
for Jesus here spoke of His burial
and on other occasions had foretold
His death. Disappointed Judas sold his
Master. and for sum that was equal
to only two-fifths of the value of the
| spikenard.