wend their way into the quiet village of Bethany. 1. The Communion of Friends. Bethany! -How significant and sug- gestive is a single word! What a flood of thought sweeps in, when memory is stirred by the. utterance of one word. Sinai suggests the awfulness of God's holiness; the terrors of the Lord and His Law. Calvary sends the tide rushing the other way and we are all . overwehlmed with the thought of the love of God and sacrifice of Christ. Bethany starts another train, bringing to mind sweet pictures of peace; of the lovely Christian home and the loving Christians in the home; the hospitality, the fellowship, the-service and devo- . tion to the person of Christ. How beautiful to think of Simon, once leper, opening his home to the Lord, for this last feast of the com- panionship of those dear friends, the resurrected Lazarus, the devoted Mary and Martha! J How tender and' touch- ing is the scene, how sweet and sacred the vision, as the Scripture throws open the door and permits us to gaze upon that little company! "How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to- gether in Unity." Ps. 123:1. ' It is blessed to have Christ in the home, to hava Him the center of all the plans, His glory the motive of all the pur- poses, to recognize Him, always as the distinguished friend and at the same time the delightful friend. l.Cor. 6:20. 2. The Costly Sacrifice. " The box of ointment,-very precious. "There came a woman." There was one woman whose spiritual intuition was sufficiently clear to enable her to appear upon the scene; the woman who had taken the lowly place at His feet, whose whole nature had opened to the sublime truth of His divinity and of His coming sacrifice—who had chosen that good part which could not be taken away. S.he came to demon- strate the nower of the doctrine learned of Him.. Luke x:42, Jno. xi:28-32. The pound of precious ointment was costly, valued from $50 to $300, a large sum for those days. Mark 14:3 says it was put upon His head; Matt. 26:12 says upon His body, -Tno. 12-3, upon His feet; so we get the fact that He
was anointed from head to foot, His whole person. This was an -.act of devotion upon the part of Mary, the beloved. She, alone, among the gathered throng, seemed oblivious of all else save Him- self. She loved Him, honored Him, worshipped Him. Her whole being went out in adoration: the veil was rent from her spiritual eyes, and she saw His coming sacrifice. Mary, of Bethany, did not accompany the wo- men to the sepulchre, j She counted not the cost, but the privilege of giving to Him. Her love gave her intuition, ab- sorbing, independent, unrestrained. Love finds a way; it leaps all barriers, abandons itself in its ardor and gives itself expression in the most sublime acts. This most beautiful deed of Mary's was symbolical. The ointment is a type of tne Holy Spirit. It was precious and iragrant, but it was not until the box was broken that the oint- ment flowed out and gave forth its fragrance. So, .Jesus Christ, the precious vessel, must first be broken on the Cross, before the Holy Spirit could be noured forth unon the church. The odcr of Mary's sacrifice filled the house, and has left a sweet perfunie " T o what purpose is this waste?" The silence of the saered service is broken by the sound of selfish criticism. There are often those who would mar the serenity of these solemn scenes. In Eden it was the devil; in the life of our Lord, it was usually the Scribes and Pharisees; now it is -Tudas. He held the bag and his affections were centered th-re. The lavish love of Mary was, to him. only a sentimental waste. In this scene we get a revelation of his heart, and it is in strange contrast with that or Mary's. It is the cold, calculating, h»,rd. harsh spirit of fault-finding which has cursed the Church in all ages. It has cast its cold chill upon fervent ardor and /-rushed many sensitive, saints. Sacrifice crsts something; crit- icism is cheap. Judas cared nothing for the poor, but he would pose as a benefactor. He cared nothing for Mary's devoted Ibve; he cared nothing for Christ Himself. Every cruel critic in the church should be warned by this upon all the centuries since. 3. The Criticising Disciple.
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