Lent Week 5

Psalm: Psalm 126
Old Testament: Isaiah 43:16-21
Gospel: John 12:1-8
Epistle: Philippians 3:4b-14

I hope this last week has been good for you all. Today is the final Sunday of Lent before Palm Sunday next week, followed by Holy Week. Today we look at a particular episode in Jesus' life which is recorded in at least 3 Gospels and occurs about a week before Jesus' death, so around Palm Sunday. (Luke tells a similar, but probably a different moment from Jesus' life.) Leading up to Jesus' betrayal and death on the cross, he was a anointed by a woman at a dinner party in Bethany. Only John tells us that this woman was in fact Mary, the sister to Martha and Lazarus. The picture we see here in chapter 12 is very similar to the other one we see of the two sisters in Luke's Gospel. (Luke 10:38-42) In Luke, neither Lazarus nor the village name are mentioned, but the matching names has led most people to agree that "Mary and Martha" are the same sisters in Luke and John. But more than just the names, another details are more striking. In both stories, Martha is busy "serving," while Mary is sitting at the Jesus' feet. This is fact an unusual place for a woman in Jesus' day, but shows that Mary was indeed a disciple and learned from Jesus. There is much to be said for Jesus' inclusion of women in his circle of disciples. But we will leave that aside for now.

Just one aside must be made here. Many throughout history have conflated Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the unnamed sinful woman who anoints Jesus in Luke (7:36-50). Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all 4 Gospels and a careful reading of the Gospels shows that she is different from Mary of Bethany. In fact, in the Eastern Church these two women were always deemed two separate individuals. The similarities between the Lukan account of the sinful woman washing Jesus' with alabaster and the story of John, led people to assume they were they same story and thus Mary Magdalene/Bethany was the sinful women (prostitute). But again, a careful reading of the texts shows that John and Luke are talking about two different instances in Jesus' life, and this is now generally recognized. I bring this up, because for whatever reason, I had heard that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute and washed Jesus' feet. Nowhere do the Gospels say either thing.

Returning to the story, Mary (of Bethany) takes things to an even greater level of scandal and begins to wash Jesus' feet with a pound of nard and to dry them with her hair. A few things, first as I said, respectable women didn't sit at the foot of a rabbi. Second, they definitely didn't let their hair down in public. Third, there are much better ways to wash someone's feet which involve water and a towel. And finally,  she wasted about a years worth of wages, as Judas points out. We shouldn't give Judas a hard time on this point. He was only saying what everybody else was thinking--It's a wonder Peter didn't blurt this out.

You can read the rest of the passage to see how the story ends and how the people were coming to believe in Jesus on account of Lazarus being raised from the dead. But what are we to make of this story? What does it have to say to us today? First thing I would say is that Mary here is caught up in something much bigger than herself. John doesn't tell us Mary's motivations for her actions, let alone where she got the nard. What we do know is that her actions served as a prophetic preparation for Jesus as he entered into his final week of life. Jesus recognized this, and turned her act of devotion into one of prophetic preparation.

The second thing this passage brings to mind is what is called the "scandal of particularity." The scandal of particularity is the idea that the Creator God would engage first one small group of people descended from Abraham and then that God would ultimately come in the Incarnation, born a 1st century Palestinian Jew. As such, he was truly betrayed by Judas Iscariot, tried under Pontius Pilate, executed on a cross along side 2 criminals, and truly died on that cross one time, providing salvation for all who accept it. This historicity presents a problem to some. The idea that God would become a man and live among creation is an obstacle that some people haven't been able to overcome basically since Jesus' birth. So in our story today we have a one time event. Mary, through her prophetic act, prepared Jesus for what was about to come. It can never be repeated!

The third thing I would say is that this passage does indeed show a concern for the poor. The disciples, even Judas, question Jesus and wonder why this nard shouldn't be sold to help the poor. Through the questioning we can see that this (serving the poor) would be a typical Jesus type of action, so why is now different they wondered. Jesus doesn't scold them for wanting to help the poor. Rather he points out that at this point, the week before his Passion and death, this act is appropriate.

Final thing is that we can all learn a thing or two from Mary. She knew what it meant to worship and learn from Jesus. She is always at his feet learning, and here we see her in humble devotion, expressing her love for Jesus. There is no other way to describe what she is doing other than love. (Beacon Bible Commentary on John, pg. 143) Out of love and devotion, she offers this extravagant act of worship. She brings her best and she offers it to Christ. In doing so, she becomes an example to us all.

This week, let us look to Mary and her love for Christ as an example of how to live. Let us learn from her. Let us ponder how we can both emulate Mary, while also having concern for the poor. Let us continue to grow in our understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.

Grace and Peace.