12. LOVE NEVER FAILS (Mark 14:1-9)
Background: At the beginning of the session the leader of the group summarises the contents of Luke 10:38-42, John 11 and John 12:1-11. The woman in our text is Mary of Bethany. The parents of Martha, Mary and Lazarus were apparently dead. They had possibly left their daughter some money for her prospective marriage or for the staff of her old age. The last week of Jesus life on earth is starting.
1. What kind of present would you like to give to your best friend if you knew that he / she was dying?
2. Spikenard was worth a worker’s annual wages and it was usually used only by drops. What would the price of a bottle of spikenard be in euros (if a man earned about 2000 euros a month)?
How much time would it take to earn such a sum?
What did Mary think of the money meant for her marriage or old age when she spent her inheritance on the expensive spikenard bottle?
3. Why did Mary pour the whole bottle on Jesus’ head - wouldn’t a lesser amount have been enough?
The words ”Messiah” and ”Christ” mean ”anointed” in English. Jewish kings were anointed when they became kings - why was Jesus anointed only before his burial?
4. Mary had spent her savings on a spikenard bottle. What was the thing in the rebukes of those present that she possibly felt to be the worst (4-5)?
5. What do you think delighted Mary most in Jesus’ words with which he defended her (6-9)?
Can you think of anything that you could in future do for Jesus?
6. How do Mary’s pouring the ointment on Jesus’ head and Jesus’ dying on the Cross (i.e. the Gospel) resemble each other (9)?
Which one do you think is bigger ”waste”: Mary’s pouring of the spikenard for Jesus’ sake or Jesus’ shedding of his blood for Mary’s sake?
7. What was so special in what Mary did that it will be remembered for ever and ever (9)?
What kind of memory would you like to leave after you (9)?
8. What do you think Mary years later thought about the money she had ”wasted” on Jesus that day?
How had Mary learned to love Jesus so much?
How could we learn to love Jesus like Mary did?
GLAD TIDINGS: Mary had learned to know Jesus’ love while listening to him. That’s why she could also serve Jesus when the time came. First Mary believed in the Gospel, and the faith in it made her willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus’ sake. And thanks to Mary, Jesus smelt of spikenard during his last days wherever he was, even on the Cross.
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