The St. Louis Republic., 1903-07-27
LESSONS FROM MARY'S
DEVOTION TO JESUS.
influence of the Token of the wom-
ans Love Has Made the Whole
World Better.

The Reverend George w. King. assistant
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church,
preached there yesterday morning on THE
Gift of Love" His text was from Matthew
XVI. 4. He said. in part:
The aureole round the head of Mary of
Bethany is that of her devotion to Jesus
Christ. Her name will ever be held in low
ing remembrance by the Christian church,
because Of her unselhsh, loving ministra-
uons to the need of its Lord and Master,
the Christ of Galilee. The text recalls one
OF those Gospel scenes wherein all the pow
er and sweetness of human love. linked to
a divine ana soul-compelling ideal, are
brought out into clearest outlines.
The circumstances surrounding this incl
dent are these: Jesus is in Bethany. having
come to Judea for the last time in his life
He and his disciples are being entertained
at the home of one Simon. who had been
leper. There they made him supper and
Martha served while Lazarus. her brother,
who. because of his restoration to life, was
almost of as much interest to the company
as was the Master, was among the guests
at the table with Christ According to
Oriental custom, all the village had proba-
bly, gathered at Simon's house to do the
Master honor. Mary of Bethany has plan
of her own for hOnoring the Master and
wnen the opportunity presents itself she
acts She comes into the midst of the as
sembly and, breaking the seal OF cruise of
ointment of great value, she pours it upon
not stop there, she proceeded to anoint his
feet also, and to wipe them with her hair.
And the house was filled with the odor of
the ointment This was d woman's gift of
love From her act, the censure II pro-
voked and the commendation 1t won. we
would draw some lessons for our mornings s
thought.
Notice the various estimates that were
made of MaryS irlpulsive act Marys own
thought about it was, if We interpret Alright
this generous act that even this expensive
cruise of perfume was entirely inadequate
to express her devotion to the Master Had
she had another treasure of even greater
value, and her Lord had need of it, she
would gladly have given it to him. Love
does not calculate the value of its gift: or
If 1t does, ii is not true love. That cruise of
ointment represented Mary's heart. 1t was
the product of sacrifice. every drop of
which came from the heart. Her heart was
burning to reveal the great devotion with
which 1t was charged and to express which
nothing could have been too great.
But Judas looked at the deed in quite a
different light. This deed of faith and love,
/ casts the features of Judas in gigantic, dark
outlines against the scene. He was auda-
cfous enough to express feeling of dissat-
lsfacton. Judas's mind at once reverts to
the value of the gift. Why was not this
ointment sold for 800 pence and given to the
poor? he asks. There was specific CO leu
lation abou. his question. which shows that
he was in the habit of estimating the COM
mercial value of things. This is his first
: thought. and then he disguises it under the
mask of concern for the poor But his con-
cern was later found to be only a pretense
when 1t was discovered that Judas was a