Bethany
Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 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 (John 12:1-3).
Bethany was the place where Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” It was the place where He demonstrated the reality of what He had said when He raised Lazarus to life in the most remarkable of all His miracles. And it was also the place where Martha declared, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:25, 27). At the beginning of chapter 12 Jesus returns to Bethany. The Passover was only six days away.
We read in John 19 the account of how, on the Preparation Day of the Passover, Pilate spoke to the representatives of the nation of Israel about Jesus: “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” He brought Jesus out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and said, “Behold the Man!” (John 19:4-5). The hate-filled and deafening response was, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” A little later Pilate said to them, “Behold your King!” (John 19:14) and again the people cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” and the chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” Jesus was then delivered to them to be crucified.
As all this awaited the Lord, He went to Bethany, the home of those He loved: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” (John 11:5). And we are told they made Him a supper. They expressed their love and gratitude for the Lord in a meal in His honour. I don’t think we always understand what it meant to the Lord to be received in this simple way. In the glorious beginning of John’s Gospel we learn of the deity of the Person of Christ. And soon afterwards we read about the rejection He faced by His own people. As John writes, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13). At Bethany the Lord had fellowship with Lazarus, He was served by Martha, and He was worshipped by Mary. The Lord was received by this tiny group of people. The Person, who is the centre of eternity, was the centre of their hearts.
When the Lord stood and heard His people’s hatred of Him, His heart was broken by their reproach. But when we gather around Him in fellowship, when we seek to faithfully serve Him, and when we pour out the worship of our hearts to Him, His heart is filled with joy. The Lord wanted to be in Bethany, and He wanted to be in the upper room with His disciples to celebrate the Passover and institute a simple supper that would forever remind us of His suffering love. And He promises to be with us as we remember and respond to His love.
