Seyton. But there is nothing of hope expressed in the attitude of Mary Magdalene in your picture.
Percival. No; she has loved, and she has lost, her Lord; lost Him, as she thinks, for ever, as regards this mortal life. Mary has kissed the dead feet; has pressed to her lips the wounded hand; and her tears have dropped on the thorn-encircled brow. Even the sight of angels will convey to her no comfort; her grief-dimmed eyes will not recognize the risen Christ Himself, till she hears His own beloved voice pronounce her familiar name.
Seyton. The third Mary presents a contrast to the Magdalene: the sister of Lazarus, with the tears streaming down her cheeks, looks as if on her pale lips could almost dawn a triumphant smile.
Percival. Have you never thought what was probably the subject of the Lord's discourse to Mary of Bethany when, absorbed in listening, she sat at His feet? Is it not likely that Christ was disclosing to her, as He did to less believing disciples, the approaching sacrifice on Calvary, and the glory which was to follow?
Seyton. If such were the subject of Christ's discourse, how Martha's impetuous interruption must have jarred both on the Divine Teacher and the listener who was drinking in such soul-absorbing truths!
Percival. Surely it was not in blind ignorance of the meaning of what she did, that Mary brought her precious ointment to pour on the feet of the Master! He who could read her inmost thoughts said, "She did it for My burial." Were not Mary's thoughts, then, something like this—
"He hath said it—alas! alas!—and all that my Lord says must be true. The holy Jesus will be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. He will be mocked, scourged, and slain. Yes, He who called my brother from the grave must Himself die! And they who murder Him will not, perhaps, suffer due honour to be paid to the holy corpse; I may not be able to approach the sacred form! I will be beforehand with Christ's cruel foes; what I may not be allowed to do after His death, I will do ere the awful moment come when the Lamb of God must be sacrificed for our sins. I will anoint Him for His burial!"
Seyton. And when the sacrifice had been offered, you believe that Mary of Bethany, unlike any of the apostles, had faith to look beyond death to Christ's Resurrection?
Percival. There is nothing in Scripture that I know of to lead us to doubt it. The piety of Mary of Bethany seems to have been of a higher, a more spiritual type, than that of her sister. It was not Mary who exclaimed against the removal of the stone from the sepulchre's mouth. Mary perhaps saw in the resurrection of Lazarus a type and pledge of that of her Lord. If so, her joy must have been yet more intense than that of Martha, even as her gratitude took a more palpable form.
Seyton. It is interesting and refreshing to the spirit thus to meditate over Scripture characters. What to some are merely like ancient statues, when we gaze on them thus, become human beings instinct with life.