Sitting at the Feet of Jesus

John 12:1-8; Matthew 26:6-13

Series: In the Steps of the Rabbi

If you had been a first-century Jew, you probably would have heard a saying: "Let your house be a meeting place for the rabbis, and cover yourself in the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily."

I. Sitting at the Feet of the Rabbi.

A. The phrase "sit at his feet" became an idiom for learning from a rabbi.
B. In Acts 22:33 Paul described himself as someone who had learned "at the feet of Gamaliel" (NRSV).
C. When Mary was described as "sitting at Jesus feet," she was being described as a disciple.

II. Covering Yourself in the dust of the Rabbi's feet.

A. This is a reference to sitting on the ground as a way of honoring a rabbi and submitting to his teaching.
B. It, also, refers to how disciples walked closely behind their rabbi, following so closely that they became covered with the dust swirling up from his sandals.

III. The Anointing
"Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume." (John 12:3).

A. Jesus said that Mary was preparing him for the day of his burial (Matt. 26:12).
B. Mary may have been making a statement about who she believed Jesus was, proclaiming him as Messiah.

1. The Hebrew word for Messiah (Mashiach) literally means "the Anointed One."
2. The word "Messiah" alludes to the ceremony used to set apart someone chosen by God, like a priest or a king.
3. Instead of being crowned during a coronation, Hebrew kings were anointed with sacred oil perfumed with extremely expensive spices.

C. Even after a king was anointed, he would perfume his robes with precious oils.

1. Listen to a line from King David, Psalm 45:7-8
"You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.
All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;"

2. Also, from King Solomon (Song of Songs 3:6-7):
"Who is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and incense
made from all the spices of the merchant?
Look! It is Solomon's carriage,
escorted by sixty warriors,
the noblest of Israel,"

D. I Kings 1:38-40
"So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet..., went down and put Solomon on King David's mule and escorted him to Gihon. 39Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, "Long live King Solomon!" 40And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound."

E. In the New Testament, right after Mary anointed him with expensive perfume, as Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, they proclaimed that Jesus was the promised "Son of David," whom God had sent to redeem his people.

F. Everywhere Jesus went during his final days, he had the fragrance of royalty. Jesus smelled like a king.

As Jesus' followers, we spread the fragrance of our anointed Messiah everywhere we go.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life." (2 Cor. 2:14-16).