In a very well-known story in the gospels, Mary anointed the Lord, shortly before He was crucified, by pouring out her flask of precious ointment upon His head. When some of the disciples condemned her for “wasting” the ointment in this way, the Lord rebuked them, declaring,

Truly I say unto you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached in all the world, what this woman has done shall also be told as a memorial of her.
— Matthew 26:13

According to Watchman Nee, the Lord said this because, while the gospel is the story of the Lord’s giving Himself for us, Mary’s offering is the story of us giving ourselves to the Lord, and that is what the Lord is seeking as the proper response to the gospel. Surely, whenever we make such an offering, its fragrance will affect all those around us! (cf. John 12:3).

But, there is a difficulty regarding how the Gospel of John first speaks of this offering. It does this at the beginning of its account of the Lord raising Lazarus from the dead:

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick.
— John 11:1-2

Do you see the problem in these verses? Very simply, at this point in John’s Gospel, Mary had not yet made her offering. And yet, John speaks of it here as though it were an already-accomplished fact.

We may feel he should not mention this offering until later, when it actually happened; or at least, if he mentions it here, he should speak of it as something that would take place in the future. Yet, he instead embeds the story of Mary’s offering within his account of the Lord raising Lazarus, and purposely speaks of it as though it is something that has already happened. That is the problem with this passage.

But of course, in reality, the problem is only on our side. When we come across such difficulties in the Scripture, it should cause us to stop and consider why the Holy Spirit has arranged the narrative in such a way; and when we do, we will often find that these difficulties express something quite meaningful.

And that is certainly the case in this instance, for by speaking of Mary’s offering within the account of Lazarus, John is showing us that these two events are very much related. That is, even at this point, Mary’s offering, as a spiritual reality, was already deep within her, in her pure love for the Lord. But, for that love to be openly manifested, she would need to be broken; only then could this “treasure” in her “earthen vessel” be brought out to become a blessing to others (See 2 Cor. 4:6-12).

And that is what happens in the remainder of John 11, in the experience of Lazarus, her brother, dying and then being raised by the Lord. Yes, this was surely a great sign that testified in a powerful way to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah (John 11:45-46). At the same time, however, there was something else taking place, in a very hidden way, through this sign, for it was this experience that broke Mary within and opened her heart to the Lord. Thus, her offering could then be poured out at the beginning of the following chapter, as the actual fulfillment of what John had spoken of earlier:

Then Mary took a pound of ointment, of very precious, pure spikenard, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the aroma of the ointment.
— John 12:3

Through the centuries, so many believers have passed through such experiences so that they, too, could eventually be brought to the point of offering all for the Lord, to become a fragrance unto Him. Recently I’ve very much appreciated the hymn, “If the Path I Travel,” by M.E. Barber (1866-1930). She was a British missionary to China who surely had this experience, and so her hymn touches the spirit of such offerings; I include it below.

May the Lord gain so many of His children in these days who would allow Him to bring them through such experiences, so that we, too, would offer ourselves fully to Him, for His glory and His satisfaction, so that the fragrance of Christ would come forth from us as well!

If the Path I Travel
by M.E. Barber

Music on Hymnal.net
Full Hymn on Youtube

If the path I travel
Lead me to the cross,
If the way Thou choosest
Lead to pain and loss,
Let the compensation
Daily, hourly, be
Shadowless communion,
Blessed Lord, with Thee.

If there’s less of earth joy,
Give, Lord, more of heaven.
Let the spirit praise Thee,
Though the heart be riven;
If sweet earthly ties, Lord,
Break at Thy decree,
Let the tie that binds us,
Closer, sweeter, be.

Lonely though the pathway,
Cheer it with Thy smile;
Be Thou my companion
Through earth’s little while;
Selfless may I live, Lord,
By Thy grace to be
Just a cleansed channel
For Thy life through me.

Sent to our mailing list on
— 20 May 2026 —