Then [Martha] returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him. - John 11:28-29

Some Background Information
Here’s what we know about Mary. There are three stories in the Bible that are very similar, but each a little different. In Mark 14, Luke 7 and John 12, Jesus is eating in the home of someone (a sinful but cured Leper named Simon, a Pharisee named Simon, and Lazarus, brother of Mary, rose from the dead, namesake of this series). In each story, a version of this happens: A woman pours expensive perfume on Jesus. In each story, someone is upset that this has happened - in the first text it is several people in the room, in the second text, it is Simon the leper Pharisee (apparently), and in the third story it is Judas Iscariot that speaks out against what’s happened.

In the first story, people are outraged that she’s wasted such an expensive jar of perfume, which could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus replies:

“Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

In the second story, “the woman knelt behind Jesus at his feet and she was weeping. Her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.” Simon the Pharisee, the host of the meal, doubts Jesus is a prophet, because he’s allowing a sinful woman to touch him. This of course becomes more interesting if the Simon here is the same Simon from the first story, the one who Jesus healed of leprosy. Anyway, Jesus replies:

“Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.

Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”

“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The plot thickens.

In the third story, after they are finished eating in the house of Lazarus (where Martha once again served dinner, which we’ll get to in a second), Mary pours a jar of perfume on Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair. Judas (the apostle who betrayed Jesus) gets angry that she wasted an expensive jar (remind you of another story?). Jesus replied:

“Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

I did some digging, and it seems as though scholars agree that this is the same woman in each story, our Mary. Remember also that Mary, in the book of Luke, sits at Jesus’ feet while Martha works and cooks. Jesus says that Mary has found the only thing worth being concerned about.

So what do we know about Mary? She’s a sinner whose been forgiven a multitude of sins. She displays a ton of emotion and passion. She’s dramatic. She understands Jesus to be her Lord and Savior, and she’s let that sink deep down into her soul. This is good to think about as we return to the Lazarus story.

Mary and Jesus

Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. - John 11:30-34

Now, Mary chose not to go with Martha the first time, and I assume she knew where Martha was going. Martha has to come back and basically order her to go see Jesus. She’s been weeping, she’s torn up. Again Jesus makes her come to him.

What was that walk like? This is the other side of the same coin that is the Martha/Mary relationship. Where Martha tells Jesus she’s disappointed and then immediately qualifies that she still thinks his will is good, Mary doesn’t add the qualifier.

The crowd follows Mary, who left in a hurry, but they didn’t follow Martha. Given what we know about the two of them, this isn’t that surprising, as Mary would almost certainly be showing more emotion - her highs almost necessarily reveal her lows. And I feel like she lets Jesus have it. She, too, isn't fuzzy on what Jesus is capable of.

(Brief aside: You have no idea how badly I want to compare this to Connie-Michael scene in the Godfather after Michael’s had her husband killed. This is nothing like that, which I can't stress enough, but I imagine Mary feels a bit like Connie did. So if you know the reference, take what’s worthwhile there and throw the rest of the comparison away)

And Jesus responds to her in a much different way than Martha. With Martha, he gave her a chance to work through some stuff in her head. But Mary collapses and weeps, and the rest of the crowd starts to wail, and Jesus responds with a deep anger, which I’ve always understood as his response to the agony and grief caused by the fall, sin and death.

The Mary Side of Healing
When it comes to healing and relying on Jesus, there’s a Martha side to me and a Mary side to me. The Mary side of me understands that Jesus is so severely beautiful, that I can’t fathom why he doesn’t answer every prayer for healing that gets sent his way. There’s grieving and getting mad at God. When God doesn’t come through the way I wanted Him to, there’s a sense of betrayal. Like Mary falling at his feet, I experience this emotion blend with a sense of reverance. That’s a tough place to be. And I imagine that most Christians feel this at one point or another, although I bet almost none of us would admit to it, for fear of sounding doubtful of God’s goodness.

But as I read through the Bible, especially the Psalms, I recognize that God isn’t afraid of the hard questions. He seems willing to work in those questions some miraculous answers. He only asks that you ask those questions in front of Him.

I watch Jesus respond to that feeling by being angry and troubled, and it gives me hope that in our darkest moments, sometimes Jesus will say “Where have you put him?” and begin a story of redemption where before there was only pain.

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