“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).

Mary pouring nard on Jesus’ feet isn’t only about extravagant worship. Even half asleep at night, I knew when we had reached my grandparents’ house in a rural village in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. I ...