Mary washing the feet of Jesus

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Question: What is the meaning behind Mary washing the feet of Jesus before his crucifixion?

Answer:  Let us look at the scripture in question, verse by verse, to see what we can glean from it. The following is from the New King James Version Bible Translation, the 12th chapter of John, verses 1 to 8.

"Then, six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead"

As a detailed timeline of the last days of Jesus shows, he came to Bethany near sunset on a Wednesday. The actual dated was March 29th, 30 A.D. He will be betrayed and arrested after sunset on the coming Tuesday, which is April 4th. His crucifixion will occur the next day, April 5th.

"There they made Him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him"

Martha was always busy and active. She would throw herself so totally into serving that she sometimes missed that something still more important needed her attention (Luke 10:38-42).

"Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."

Spikenard is a precious, rose-red colored oil made from the highly aromatic dried roots and oily stems of the spikenard plant. This plant grows in India.

"But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him said, 'Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?'"

Three hundred denarii is equivalent to roughly $50 U.S., which at this time was the average wages of a worker for almost an entire year. Judas was not concerned about helping the poor. Since he was a thief, he wanted the oil turned into cash so that he could steal it.

"This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. But Jesus said, 'Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.' "

Notice that Martha served or "ministered" to Christ's physical needs on this first of three recorded meals that He attended during the same week. Her serving was honorable and commendable.

What was the significance about Mary washing the feet of Jesus with her hair? She was more "spiritually perceptive" than her sister, Martha. Mary was more interested in what Jesus had to say and made it her practice to sit at His feet so she could hear every word He spoke in her presence (see Luke 10:38-42).

By acquiring expensive spikenard, anointing His feet, and wiping them with her hair, Mary displayed a devoted and affectionate humility to one she loved deeply and sincerely. Her actions are intentionally in the Bible to memorialize, for all ages, what she did. Interestingly, Jesus, in less than a week, would wrap a towel around his waist and wash the feet of his disciples on Passover night. This including washing the feet of Judas, the one who would betray him, in the same spirit of humility that Mary displayed. Our Heavenly Father places a high premium on humility and love, which are both critical in the character of a true Christian.