John 11:2
(Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.)
Mary
The name "Mary" is derived from the Hebrew "Miryam," which can mean "bitterness" or "beloved." In the New Testament, Mary of Bethany is a significant figure, known for her devotion to Jesus. Her actions in this verse foreshadow her later act of anointing Jesus, highlighting her deep faith and love for Him. Historically, Mary is often seen as a model of discipleship, demonstrating the importance of personal devotion and worship.

whose brother Lazarus was sick
The mention of Lazarus, whose name means "God has helped," sets the stage for the miraculous event of his resurrection. This phrase emphasizes the familial relationship, underscoring the personal nature of the impending miracle. Lazarus's sickness serves as a catalyst for revealing Jesus' power over life and death, reinforcing His divine authority.

was to anoint the Lord with perfume
The act of anointing with perfume is rich in cultural and religious significance. In ancient Jewish tradition, anointing was a sign of honor and consecration. The Greek word for "anoint" is "aleipho," which implies a ceremonial act. This anticipates Mary’s future act of anointing Jesus, symbolizing her recognition of His messianic role and foreshadowing His burial.

and wipe His feet with her hair
This phrase illustrates an act of profound humility and devotion. In the cultural context of the time, a woman's hair was considered her glory, and using it to wipe Jesus' feet signifies Mary's total surrender and reverence. The Greek word "ekmasso" for "wipe" suggests a thorough and intimate action, reflecting the depth of her love and worship.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Mary
A devoted follower of Jesus, known for her act of worship and humility in anointing Jesus with perfume. She is the sister of Lazarus and Martha.

2. Lazarus
The brother of Mary and Martha, who was sick and later raised from the dead by Jesus, demonstrating His power over life and death.

3. Anointing of Jesus
This event, though mentioned here in anticipation, is a significant act of devotion and foreshadows Jesus' burial. It highlights Mary's deep love and reverence for Jesus.

4. Bethany
The village where Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived, located near Jerusalem. It serves as the setting for several key events in Jesus' ministry.

5. Jesus
The central figure of the Gospel, whose divine authority and compassion are revealed through His interactions with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Teaching Points
Devotion and Worship
Mary's act of anointing Jesus with perfume is a profound expression of love and worship. Believers are encouraged to demonstrate their devotion to Christ through acts of service and worship.

Humility and Sacrifice
Mary's willingness to use expensive perfume and wipe Jesus' feet with her hair reflects humility and sacrifice. Christians are called to humble themselves and offer their best to God.

Foreshadowing of Christ's Sacrifice
The anointing prefigures Jesus' death and burial, reminding believers of the importance of His sacrifice and the need to prepare their hearts for His return.

The Power of Testimony
The mention of Mary's act in this verse serves as a lasting testimony of her faith. Believers are encouraged to live lives that bear witness to their faith in Christ.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Mary's act of anointing Jesus challenge our understanding of worship and devotion today?

2. In what ways can we demonstrate humility and sacrifice in our daily walk with Christ, similar to Mary's example?

3. How does the anticipation of Jesus' burial in this passage deepen our appreciation for His sacrifice on the cross?

4. What can we learn from the relationship between Mary, Martha, and Lazarus about the importance of community and support in our faith journey?

5. How can we ensure that our lives serve as a testimony to others, as Mary's act of anointing Jesus has done throughout history?
Connections to Other Scriptures
John 12:3
This verse provides the full account of Mary anointing Jesus, emphasizing her act of worship and the fragrance filling the house, symbolizing the spreading of the Gospel.

Luke 10:38-42
This passage describes another encounter with Mary and Martha, highlighting Mary's choice to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to His teaching, illustrating her devotion.

Mark 14:3-9
This account parallels the anointing of Jesus, underscoring the significance of Mary's act as a preparation for His burial and a testament to her faith.
AfflictionS. S. TimesJohn 11:1-6
Affliction Makes FruitfulJ. Arrowsmith.John 11:1-6
Affliction, not DestructionPower of IllustrationJohn 11:1-6
Afflictions Make Us Long for HomeC. H. Spurgeon.John 11:1-6
Afflictions Prevent Worse DangersJohn 11:1-6
Afflictions PurifyingG. Whitefield.John 11:1-6
Beloved and Yet AfflictedC. H. Spurgeon.John 11:1-6
BethanyJ. Culross, D. D.John 11:1-6
Christ's Love the Comfort in SicknessR. Besser, D. D.John 11:1-6
Christ's Special FriendsJ. Trapp.John 11:1-6
Family DisharmoniesG. S. Bowes, B. A.John 11:1-6
God's Love to His Own People in a Afflicting ThemDr. Todd.John 11:1-6
LazarusS. S. TimesJohn 11:1-6
Love of FriendshipS. S. TimesJohn 11:1-6
Sickness a Little DeathBishop Hall.John 11:1-6
The Apparent Neglect of Self-Denying LoveA. J. Morris.John 11:1-6
The Appeal and the AnswerJ. Haldane Stewart, M. A.John 11:1-6
The Appeal to Christ's AffectionF. D. Maurice, M. A.John 11:1-6
The Benefit of Severe AfflictionJ. A. James.John 11:1-6
The Benefit of SorrowBeecher Stowe.John 11:1-6
The Benefits of SicknessH. Kollock, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Delays of JesusJ. Culross, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Delays of LoveA. Maclaren, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Everlasting FriendJohn 11:1-6
The Family At BethanyA. J. Morris.John 11:1-6
The Friendship of JesusJ. Eadie, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Sickness of LazarusD. Thomas, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Sisters' Message and the Lord's ResponseBp. Ryle.John 11:1-6
The Test of DiscipleshipW. M. Taylor, D. D.John 11:1-6
The Uses of AfflictionS. Charnock.John 11:1-6
The Uses of SicknessE. Mellor, D. D.John 11:1-6
Trial a Small Matter in Comparison with the Benefit it ConfersC. H. Spurgeon.John 11:1-6
Trial and ProgressT. De Witt Talmage, D. D.John 11:1-6
Trouble in the FamilyA. Roberts, M. A.John 11:1-6
People
Caiaphas, Didymus, Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Thomas
Places
Bethany, Ephraim, Jerusalem, Judea
Topics
Ailing, Anoint, Anointed, Brother, Dry, Hair, Ill, Lay, Lazarus, Laz'arus, Mary, Oil, Ointment, Perfume, Perfumed, Poured, Sick, Wipe, Wiped
Dictionary of Bible Themes
John 11:2

     5155   hair

John 11:1-3

     5737   sisters

John 11:1-6

     4925   delay, divine
     5426   news
     8027   faith, testing of

John 11:1-7

     2048   Christ, love of

John 11:1-44

     5285   cures
     9165   restoration

Library
March 28 Evening
Our friend sleepeth.--JOHN 11:11. I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. But now is Christ risen from the
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 6 Morning
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.--COL. 3:4. I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.--God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 11 Evening
Jesus wept.--JOHN 11:35. A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.--We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.--It became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.--Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 22 Evening
Behold how he loved.--JOHN 11:36. He died for all.--Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He . . . liveth to make intercession for them.--I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also.--Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.--Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. We love him, because he first loved loved us.--The
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 30 Evening
Thou hearest me always.--JOHN 11:42. Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.--Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.--Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.--Not my will, but thine, be done. As he is, so are we in this world.--This is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Christ's Question to Each
For the Young '... Believest then this? She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord.'--JOHN xi. 26, 27. As each of these annual sermons which I have preached for so long comes round, I feel more solemnly the growing probability that it may be the last. Like a man nearing the end of his day's work, I want to make the most of the remaining moments. Whether this is the last sermon of the sort that I shall preach or not, it is certainly the last of the kind that some of you will hear from me, or possibly from any
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Open Grave at Bethany
'Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met Him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Seventh Miracle in John's Gospel --The Raising of Lazarus
'And when Jesus thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Come forth. 44. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin.'--JOHN xi. 43, 44. The series of our Lord's miracles before the Passion, as recorded in this Gospel, is fitly closed with the raising of Lazarus. It crowns the whole, whether we regard the greatness of the fact, the manner of our Lord's working, the minuteness and richness of the accompanying details,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Caiaphas
'And one of them, named Caiaphas being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.'--JOHN xi. 49,50. The resurrection of Lazarus had raised a wave of popular excitement. Any stir amongst the people was dangerous, especially at the Passover time, which was nigh at hand, when Jerusalem would be filled with crowds of men, ready to take fire from any spark
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Delays of Love
'Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.'--JOHN xi. 5, 6. We learn from a later verse of this chapter that Lazarus had been dead four days when Christ reached Bethany. The distance from that village to the probable place of Christ's abode, when He received the message, was about a day's journey. If, therefore, to the two days on which He abode still after the receipt of the news, we
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? and how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?"--Numbers xiv. 11. Nothing, I suppose, is more surprising to us at first reading, than the history of God's chosen people; nay, on second and third reading, and on every reading, till we learn to view it as God views it. It seems strange, indeed, to most persons, that the Israelites should have acted as they did, age after age, in
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

A Mystery! Saints Sorrowing and Jesus Glad!
Jesus is talking of the death of His friend, let us listen to His words; perhaps we may find the key to His actions in the words of His lips. How surprising! He does not say, "I regret that I have tarried so long." He does not say, "I ought to have hastened, but even now it is not too late." Hear, and marvel! Wonder of wonders, He says, "I am glad that I was not there." Glad! the word is out of place? Lazarus, by this time, stinketh in his tomb,and here is the Saviour glad! Martha and Mary are weeping
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864

Beloved, and yet Afflicted
We need not be astonished that the man whom the Lord loves is sick, for he is only a man. The love of Jesus does not separate us from the common necessities and infirmities of human life. Men of God are still men. The covenant of grace is not a charter of exemption from consumption, or rheumatism, or asthma. The bodily ills, which come upon us because of our flesh, will attend us to the tomb, for Paul saith, "we that are in this body do groan." Those whom the Lord loves are the more likely to be
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880

Though He were Dead
Martha, you see, in this case, when the Lord Jesus Christ told her that her brother would rise again, replied, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." She was a type, I say, of certain anxious believers, for she set a practical bound to the Saviour's words. "Of course there will be a resurrection, and then my brother will rise with the rest." She concluded that the Saviour could not mean anything beyond that. The first meaning and the commonest meaning that suggests
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 30: 1884

Even Now
"Even now."--John 11:22 I HOPE that there are a great many persons here who are interested in the souls of those around them. We shall certainly never exercise faith concerning those for whose salvation we have no care. I trust, also, that we are diligent in looking after individuals, especially those who are amongst our own family and friends. This is what Martha did; her whole care was for her brother. It is often easier to have faith that Christ can save sinners in general, than to believe that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

Oh, How He Loves!
"Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!"--John 11:36. IT WAS AT THE GRAVE OF LAZARUS that Jesus wept, and his grief was so manifest to the onlookers that they said, "Behold how he loved him!" Most of us here, I trust, are not mere onlookers, but we have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love, not in his tears, but in the precious blood that he so freely shed for us; so we ought to marvel even more than those Jews did at the love of Jesus, and to see further into
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 56: 1910

The Welcome visitor
IT seems that Martha had heard of Christ's coming, and Mary had not. Hence Martha rose up hastily and went to meet the Master, while Mary sat still in the house. From this we gather that genuine believers may, through some unexplained cause, be at the same time in very different states of mind. Martha may have heard of the Lord and seen the Lord; and Mary, an equally loving heart, not having known of his presence, may, therefore, have missed the privilege of fellowship with him. Who shall say that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Displeasure of Jesus.
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.--John xi. 33. Grimm, in his lexicon to the New Testament, after giving as the equivalent of the word [Greek: embrimaomai] in pagan use, 'I am moved with anger,' 'I roar or growl,' 'I snort at,' 'I am vehemently angry or indignant with some one,' tells us that in Mark i. 43, and Matthew ix. 30, it has a meaning different from that of the pagans, namely, 'I command with
George MacDonald—Unspoken Sermons

The Disciple, -- Master, what is the Real Meaning of Service? is it that We...
The Disciple,--Master, what is the real meaning of service? Is it that we serve the Creator and then His creatures for His sake? Is the help of man, who is after all but a mere worm, of any value to God in caring for His great family, or does God stand in need of the help of man in protecting or preserving any of His creatures? The Master,--1. Service means the activity of the spiritual life and is the natural offering prompted by love. God, who is Love, is ever active in the care of His creation,
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

How to Make Use of Christ as the Life, when the Believer is So Sitten-Up in the Ways of God, that He Can do Nothing.
Sometimes the believer is under such a distemper of weakness and deadness, that there is almost no commanded duty that he can go about; his heart and all is so dead, that he cannot so much as groan under that deadness. Yea, he may be under such a decay, that little or no difference will be observed betwixt him and others that are yet in nature; and be not only unable to go actively and lively about commanded duties, yea, or to wrestle from under that deadness; but also be so dead, that he shall scarce
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Of the Intimate Love of Jesus
When Jesus is present all is well and nothing seemeth hard, but when Jesus is not present everything is hard. When Jesus speaketh not within, our comfort is nothing worth, but if Jesus speaketh but a single word great is the comfort we experience. Did not Mary Magdalene rise up quickly from the place where she wept when Martha said to her, The Master is come and calleth for thee?(1) Happy hour when Jesus calleth thee from tears to the joy of the spirit! How dry and hard art thou without Jesus!
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Peræa to Bethany. Raising of Lazarus.
^D John XI. 1-46. ^d 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [For Bethany and the sisters, see p. 478.] 2 And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair [John xii. 3 ], whose brother Lazarus was sick. [The anointing had not yet taken place, as John himself shows. For a similar anticipation see Matt. x. 4. There are five prominent Marys in the New Testament: those of Nazareth, Magdala and Bethany; the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Retiring Before the Sanhedrin's Decree.
(Jerusalem and Ephraim in Judæa.) ^D John XI. 47-54. ^d 47 The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council [called a meeting of the Sanhedrin], and said, What do we? [Thus they reproach one another for having done nothing in a present and urgent crisis. As two of their number (Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathæa) were afterwards in communications with Christians, it was easy for the disciples to find out what occurred on this notable occasion.] for this man doeth many signs.
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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