“She Has Done What She Could.” (Mark 14:8)
Chapter 7
“She Has Done What She Could.” (Mark 14:8)
In Mark 14:1-9 we read: Two days after was the passover and the days of unleavened bread; and the princes of the priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, that they might kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. And he being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, sitting at the table, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and breaking the alabaster, she poured it over his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarius and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. But Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She has wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whenever ye will, ye may do them good; but me ye have not always. She has done what she could, for she has anticipated anointing my body for the burial. Verily I say unto you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
In John’s gospel it says, Jesus, therefore, six days before the passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those that sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. Then said one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who should betray him, Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarius and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and would take from what was put therein. Therefore Jesus said, Let her alone; against the day of my burying she has kept this; for the poor ye always have with you, but ye shall not always have me (John 12:1-8).
This is the last time we have a glimpse of the family of Mary and Martha at Bethany. It was Christ’s last week there, and here we have the last recorded discussion between Christ and that lovely family.
Speaking of Martha and Mary, someone has said, “They were both dear to Jesus, and they both loved Him − but they were different. The eye of one saw His weariness and gave to Him. The faith of the other held on to His fullness and gained from Him. Martha’s service was acceptable to the Lord and was acknowledged by Him, but He wouldn’t allow it to disturb Mary’s fellowship with Him. Mary knew His mind. She had deeper fellowship with Him. Her heart clung to Him.”
I want to call your attention especially to one clause from the fourteenth chapter of Mark. She has done what she could (Mark 14:8). If someone had reported in Jerusalem that something was going to happen at Bethany on that memorable day that would outhve the Roman Empire and all the monarchs that ever existed or would exist, great excitement would have filled the city. People would have gone down to Bethany that day to see the thing about to happen – the miracle that was to live on for so long. Little did Mary think she was going to initiate a testimonial which would outhve empires and kingdoms. She never thought of herself. Love doesn’t think of itself. What did Christ say? Wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her (Mark 14:9).
This one biblical account has already been put into 350 different languages, and it is now in circulation in every nation under heaven. Day by day this story is being printed and published. One society in London alone runs their presses every working hour of the day printing five hundred copies of this act of love that took place at Bethany. It is being spread to all the corners of the earth and will be told as long as the church of God exists. Matthew speaks of it and so do John and Mark.
Men seek to erect some memorial that will live on after they are dead and gone. This woman never thought about that. She simply wanted to lavish her love on Christ. But the act has lived on and will continue to live on while the church is on earth. It is even fresher today than it was a hundred years ago. In fact, there’s never been a time when it’s been as well known as today.
Although Mary was unknown outside of Bethany when she performed this act, now what she did is known all over the world. Kings have come and gone and empires have risen and crumbled. Egypt, with its ancient glories, has passed away. Greece, with its wise men, its mighty philosophers, and its warriors has been almost forgotten. The great Roman Empire has passed away. We don’t know the names of those buried in the Pyramids, or those embalmed in Egypt with so much care and trouble, but the record of this humble life continues to be an inspiration to others.
Here is a woman whose memory has outhved Caesar, Alexander, Cyrus, and all the great warriors of the ancient world. We don’t know if she was wealthy or beautiful or gifted or great in the eyes of the world. What we do know is that she loved the Savior. She took this box of precious ointment and broke it over the body of Christ. Someone has said it was the only thing He ever received that He didn’t give away. It was a small thing in the sight of the world. If there had been daily newspapers in those days, and some Jerusalem reporter had been looking for interesting news to report to the people living there, he probably wouldn’t have thought it newsworthy. Yet it has outhved all that happened in that century, except, of course, for the sayings and the other events connected with the life of Christ. Mary had Christ in her heart as well as in her faith. She loved Him and she showed her love in acts.
Thank God, every one of us can love Christ, and we can all do something for Him. It can be a small thing, but whatever it is, it will be lasting. It will outhve all the monuments on earth. The iron and the granite will rust and crumble and fade away, but anything done for Christ will never fade. It will be more lasting than time itself. Christ said, The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Luke 21:33).
Look again at that widow in the temple. Christ stood there as people passed by and threw their offerings into the treasury. The widow only had two mites and she threw it all in. The Lord saw her heart was in it, and so He commended her. If some nobleman had cast in a thousand dollars, Christ probably wouldn’t have noticed it, unless his heart had gone with it. Gold is of little value in heaven. It is so plentiful there that they use it to pave the streets, and it is transparent gold, much better gold than we have in this world. It is when the heart goes with the offering that it is accepted by Christ. Accordingly, Jesus said, I say unto you that this poor widow has cast in more than they all (Luke 21:3). She had done all she could.
I think this is the lesson we are to learn from these Scripture accounts. The Lord expects us to do what we can. We can all do something. In one of our Southern cities, a few Christian people gathered together at the beginning of the war to see what could be done to build a church in a part of the city where the poor were very much neglected. After they discussed the matter, they wanted to see how much could be raised from the congregation.
One by one, the people agreed to give a certain amount, but they only got about half the amount needed. They thought they would have to abandon the project, but a washerwoman who sat way back in the meeting rose and said her little boy had died a week before. All he had was a gold dollar. She said, “It is all I have, but I will give the dollar to the cause.” Her words touched the hearts of many. Rich men were ashamed at what they had given, and within a very short time, the whole amount was raised. I have spoken in that church, and today it is a center of influence in one of our great cities. This poor woman did what she could. Perhaps she gave more in proportion than anyone in the city.
When we were in London eight years ago, we wanted the city to be canvassed. We called for volunteers to go and visit people in their homes and invite them to come to the meetings. Among those who came forward was an old woman, eighty-five years of age. She said she wanted to do a little more for the Master before she went home. She took a district and went from house to house, delivering the invitation and tracts to the people. I suppose she has now gone to her reward, but I will never forget her. She wanted to do what she could. If every Christian man and woman will do what Mary did, multitudes will be reached and blessed.
Years ago, when Illinois was just a young state, only a few settlers lived scattered here and there throughout a large portion of the state. One of these was a man who used to spend his Sundays hunting and fishing. He was an irreverent and notoriously wicked man. His little girl went to Sunday school in a log schoolhouse. There she was taught the way into the kingdom of God. When she was converted, the teacher tried to tell her how she might be used of God in doing good to others, and she thought she would begin with her father.
Others had tried to reach him and failed, but his own child had more influence with him. It is written, a child shall shepherd them (Isaiah 11:6). She got him to promise to go to the meeting. He came to the door, but wouldn’t go in at first. He had gone to the school when he was young, but one day the boys laughed at him because he had a little speech impediment. After that, he’d decided never to go back, and as a result, he never learned to read.
However, he was now persuaded to go to the Sunday school. Once inside, he heard about Christ and was converted to God. His little child helped him, and others helped him. Soon he learned to read. This man has since died and been called to his reward, but about two years ago, when I saw him last, that man had established between eleven hundred and twelve hundred Sunday schools on the Western prairies. In addition to all these schoolhouses scattered across the country, churches have sprung up. Hundreds of flourishing churches have now grown out of these little mission schools he planted. He used to have a Sunday school horse, a “Robert Raikes” horse he called him, on which he traveled up and down the country going into outlying districts where nothing was being done for Christ. He used to gather parents into the log schoolhouses and tell how his little girl led him to Christ. I have heard a great many orators, but I never heard any who could move an audience like he could. He had no impediment in his speech when he began to speak for Christ. Instead, he had all the eloquence and fire of heaven. That little girl did what she could. She did a good day’s work when she led her father to the Savior.
Every one of us can do something. If we are just willing to do what we can, the Lord will consent to use us, and it will be a great thing to be an instrument in His hand so He can do with us what He will.
I remember reading in the papers that when the theater in Vienna, Austria was on fire a few years ago, a man in one of the corridors was hurrying out. Many of the people tried to find their way out to escape from the fire, but it was dark. This man had a single match in his pocket. He struck it, and by doing so, he was able to save twenty lives. He did what he could.
You think you can’t do much? If you are the channel of saving one soul, you can be instrumental in saving a hundred more. When we were in England ten years ago, a woman in the city where we labored got stirred up for the Lord. It was this verse that moved her: She has done what she could. As a nominal Christian for many years, she didn’t think she had any particular purpose in the world. I’m afraid that’s the condition of many professed Christian men and women. Now she looked around her to see what she could do. She decided to try and do something for her fallen sisters in that town, and went out and began to talk kindly to those she met on the street. She rented a house and invited them to come and meet her there.
When we went back to that city about a year or so ago, she had rescued over three hundred of these fallen young women living on the streets and restored them to their parents and homes. She now corresponds with many of them. Think of more than three hundred of these sisters reclaimed from sin and death, through the efforts of one woman. She did what she could. What a grand harvest there will be, and how she will rejoice when she hears the Master say, Well done, thou good and faithful slave (Matthew 25:21).
I heard about a man in one of the hospitals who received a bouquet of flowers from the Flower Mission. He looked at the beautiful bouquet and said, “Well, if I’d known a bunch of flowers could do a person so much good, I would have sent flowers to the sick myself when I was well.” If people only knew how they could cheer a lonely heart and lift up a sagging spirit, or speak some word that offers lasting effects forever, they would be out doing it. If the gospel is ever to be carried into the streets and alleys, up to the attics and down into the cellars, we must all be doing the work. As I have said, if each of us will do what we can, a great multitude will be gathered into the kingdom of God.
In illustrating the blessedness of cultivating a generous spirit, Reverend Dr. Willets, of Philadelphia, uses this beautiful illustration:
“See that little spring issuing water from the earth just in view on the distant mountain, shining like a thread of silver through the thick grove, and sparkling like a diamond in its healthy activity. It is hurrying on with tinkling feet to bear its tribute to the river. See, it passes a stagnant pool, and the pool hails it. ‘Where are you going, master rivulet?’
“‘I am going to the river to carry this cup of water God has given me.’
“‘Ah, you are very foolish for that. You’ll need it before the summer’s over. Spring’s weather has been going the wrong way and we will have a hot summer to make up for it. You will dry up then.’
“‘Well,’ said the rivulet, ‘if I am to die so soon, I had better work while the day lasts. If I’m likely to lose this treasure from the heat, I’d better do good with it while I have it.’ So, on it went, blessing and rejoicing in its course. The pool smiled complacently at its own superior foresight, and managed all its resources, not letting a drop steal away.
“Soon the midsummer heat came and fell upon the little stream, but the trees crowded to its brink and threw out their sheltering branches over it in the day of adversity, because it brought refreshment and life to them. The sun peeped through the branches and smiled complacently on its dimpled face as if to say, ‘It’s not in my heart to harm you,’ and the birds sipped the silver tide and sung its praises.
“The flowers breathed their perfume on its heart and the farmer’s eye sparkled with joy, as he looked at the streak of verdant beauty which marked its course through his fields and meadows, and so on it went blessing and blessed all.
“And where was the prudent stagnant pool? Sadly, in its glorious inactivity it grew sickly and produced infectious vapors. The beasts of the field put their lips to it, but turned away without drinking. The breeze stopped and kissed it by mistake, but shrunk away chilled. It caught malaria in the contact, and carried the sickness through the region. The inhabitants caught it and had to move away. In the end, even the frogs pitched their venom on the pool and deserted it. In mercy to man, heaven struck it with a hotter breath and dried it up.
“But the little stream didn’t exhaust itself? Oh no. God saw to that. It emptied its full cup into the river and the river bore it on to the sea. The sea welcomed it, and the sun smiled on the sea. The sea sent up its spray to greet the sun, and the clouds caught it, and the winds, like waiting steeds, caught the chariots of the clouds and carried them away − away to the very mountain that gave the little fountain birth. There they tipped the brimming cup, and poured the grateful baptism down, and God saw to it that the little stream, though it gave so fully and so freely, never ran dry. And if God so blessed the stream, won’t He bless you, if you have freely received, and so also freely give? Be assured He will.”
A young lady belonging to a wealthy family was sent to a fashionable boarding school. In the school, Christ had a true witness in one of the teachers. She watched for an opportunity to reach some of the pupils. When this young lady of wealth and position came, the teacher set her heart on winning her to Christ. The first thing she did was to befriend her.
Let me say right here that we won’t do much toward reaching people until we make them love us. This teacher, having won the heart of her pupil, began to talk to her about Christ, and she soon won her heart for the Savior. Then, instead of dropping her like so many do, she began to show her the privilege of working for God. They worked together and were successful in winning many of the young ladies in the school to Christ. When the pupil got a taste of work, that spoiled the world for her. To any Christian holding on to the world, you need to get into the Lord’s work, and the world will soon leave you. Neither will you leave the work, because you’ll have something much better than the world.
I pity those Christians who always ask if they have to give up this thing and that thing. You won’t be asking that when you get a taste of the Lord’s work. Then you’ll have something the world can’t give you.
When this young lady went back to her home, her parents were anxious for her to get out into worldly society. They gave many parties, but, to their great amazement, those didn’t interest her. She hungered for something else. She went to the Sunday school in connection with the church she attended, and asked the superintendent to give her a class, but he said there were already more teachers than he needed.
She tried for weeks to find something to do for Christ. One day, as she walked down the street, she saw a little boy coming out of a shoemaker’s shop. A man followed him out holding a wooden mold of a foot in his hand. He ran as fast as he could after the boy. When he realized he couldn’t catch him, he hurled the mold at him and hit him in the back, but the boy kept running. When the shoemaker picked up his mold and returned to his shop, the boy stopped running and began to cry. The scene touched the heart of this young lady. When she reached the boy, she stopped and spoke to him kindly.
“Do you go to the Sunday school?”
“No.”
“Do you go to the day school?”
“No.”
“Why are you crying?”
He thought she was going to make fun of him, so he said it was none of her business. “But I am your friend,” she said. He wasn’t used to having a young lady like that speak to him. At first he was afraid of her, but in the end she won his confidence. Finally, she asked him to come to the Sunday school and be in her class.
“No,” he said. “I don’t like study.” He wouldn’t come.
“I won’t ask you to study,” she said. She told him she would tell him beautiful stories and they would sing. At last, he promised he would come. They agreed he would meet her on Sunday morning, at the corner of a certain street.
She wasn’t sure he would keep his promise, but she was there at the appointed time − and he was there too. She took him to the school and said to the superintendent, “Can you give me a place where I can teach this boy?” He hadn’t combed his hair and was barefooted. They didn’t have any of that kind of children in the school. The superintendent looked at him, and said he didn’t know just where to put him. Finally, he put him away in a corner, as far as he could from the others. There this young lady started her work that the angels would have been glad to do.
He went home and told his mother he thought he’d been among the angels. When she learned he’d gone to a Protestant school she told him he must not go again. When the father learned about it, he threatened to beat him every time he went to the school. However, the boy went again the next Sunday, and the father beat him. Every time he went, he gave the poor boy a beating. Finally, he said to his father, “I wish you would beat me before I go, and then I won’t be thinking about it all the time I am at the school.” You laugh at this, but let’s remember that gentleness and love break down the opposition in the hardest heart. These little diamonds will sparkle in the Savior’s crown, if we will just search them out and polish them. We can’t make diamonds, but we can polish them.
Finding that the beatings didn’t stop the boy from going to the school, the father said, “If you’ll give up the Sunday school, I will give you every Saturday afternoon to play, or you can have all you make by peddling.” The boy went to his teacher and said, “I have been thinking that if you could meet me on the Saturday afternoon we would have longer time together than on Sunday.” I wonder if there is a wealthy young lady reading this book who would give up her Saturday afternoons to teach a poor little boy the way into the kingdom of God. She said she would gladly do it. If anyone came to see her on Saturdays, she was always engaged. It wasn’t long before the light broke into the darkened mind of the boy and change came into his life. She bought him some good clothes and took an interest in him. She was a guardian angel to him.
One day he was down at the railway station peddling. He stood on the train platform and leaned against a railcar. When the engine gave a sudden start his foot slipped, and he fell under the train. It tragically passed over his legs. When the doctor came, the first thing the boy asked was, “Doctor, will I live to get home?”
“No, my boy, you are dying.”
“Will you tell my father and mother that I died a Christian?”
Didn’t the teacher get well paid for her work? She will be no stranger when she goes to heaven. That little boy will be waiting to welcome her.
It is a great thing to lead one soul from the darkness of sin into the glorious light of the gospel. I believe if an angel were to fly from earth up to heaven and say there was one poor, ragged boy, without father or mother, with no one to care for him and teach him the way of life − and if God asked who was willing to go down to this earth and live here for fifty years and lead that one to Jesus Christ − every angel in heaven would volunteer to go. Even Gabriel, who stands in the presence of the Almighty, would say, “Let me leave my high and lofty position, and let me have the luxury of leading one soul to Jesus Christ.” There is no greater honor than being used as an instrument in God’s hand for leading a person out of the kingdom of Satan into the glorious light of heaven.
I’ve written this motto in my Bible, and I recommend it to you:
Do all the good you can,
to all the people you can,
in all the ways you can,
and as long as ever you can.
If each of us immediately gets busy doing some work for God and will keep at it for 365 days in the year, then a good deal will be accomplished. Let’s live in such a way that it can be truthfully said of us: We have done what we could.