May the words of
my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O
God, for you are our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.
Jesus
has been on an emotional roller coaster these last few days. He finds out that
his best friend is dying and arrives four days too late. He is overcome with
grief and screams loud enough to wake the dead, literally. Even for God’s son
that must have been taxing on Jesus’ body and spirit.
After
performing this miracle, Jesus knew that his time of being relatively under the
radar of the Romans was coming to an end.
A
huge crowd has gathered at Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus and the Romans are
not liking it one bit. The chief priests begin to ploy Jesus’ death. Jesus has
traded his life for the life of his friend.
By
raising Lazarus from the dead Jesus has graduated from a slight nuisance to a
serious threat. His days are numbered and he knows it. When he arrives at his
friends’ house in Bethany, they can see it on his face.
As
with the last time Jesus was in Bethany, Martha waited on him while Mary sat at
his side. Jesus was happy to eat and drink in the company of friends, likely
trying to forget about what is to come, even if only for a moment.
Emotionally
and physically spent, Jesus takes solace in the company of his friends Mary,
Martha, and Lazarus. They care for him, shutting out the world for this one
night at least.
Then
something beautiful happened. Something so unexpected and so special that it
has become one of our most beloved stories.
It
happened right before the Passover, in this lovely little house that is a safe
place for Jesus.
Mary
takes a pound of expensive perfume that would cost a years’ wages, lets her
hair fall, and begins to wash the feet of Jesus. She is weeping, kissing Jesus’
feet, anointing his feet with the perfume as a gesture of deepest love, and
drying his feet with her long hair.
In
the middle of this tender and emotional scene, a spoilsport by the name of
Judas, the keeper of the money purse, the man who sold Jesus to the Pharisees
for 30 pieces of silver, grumbles that the gesture being made by Mary is a
waste of money and the perfume should have been sold and given to the poor.
Jesus
defends Mary by declaring that she is to be left alone because she is anointing
him for his burial.
Isn’t
that a beautiful story? Many of the actions in this short little story are
unexpected.
It
was unexpected that someone would use such a costly amount of perfume to clean
someone’s feet.
It
was unexpected that Jesus would dampen the mood by talking about his death.
And
it was unexpected that he would engage in an argument over dinner with one of
his disciples.
At
the centre of it is Mary. From a previous story, we remember that Mary was
complimented by Jesus for sitting at his feet and listening to him. After her
brother had died, she was the one who ran out to Jesus and wept at his feet.
Mary
was the listener, the emotional one, and the sensitive soul.
The
way that Mary cares for Jesus in this story is quite unexpected in many ways.
As everyone in the room watches her, she does four remarkable things in a row.
In
a radical departure from appropriate custom, she let her hair down, her hair
that had been tightly braided around her head. Women’s loose hair was perceived
as being sensual by men in Galilean culture, as it is still true in some
segments of present-day society.
Then
she pours perfume on Jesus’ feet, a product usually reserved for anointing
kings and new priests and then only on their head. And this wasn’t just any old
perfume. No, this was perfume worth 300 denarii, valued at 300 days of labour.
It was expensive.
Mary’s
gesture with her expensive perfume appears as an exaggerated expression of
hospitality. At formal dinner parties,
when guests reclined at table, and feet which had walked through the filthy
streets were not hidden under the table, a slave would wash their feet; only,
this household had no slave to do it.
In
that time and place, it was taboo for a man to be touched by a woman. Normally
a woman would only touch her husband and children, and only in private. But
here Mary rubs Jesus’ feet in front of everyone. She doesn’t have a slave, so
she did the job herself.
She
wipes the perfume off with her hair, an inexplicable and bizarre act that was
also a most loving and tender gesture, so intimate that it made everyone in the
room feel uncomfortable.
Why
does she do all of this? We know that Mary loves Jesus but was she so moved
that she would make all sorts of cultural faux-pas?
Well,
yes, in fact, she does love him that much. Mary’s act of devotion is such an
‘in the moment’ act of utter devotion.
As
a household with connections to Jerusalem, Mary would have had inside
information as to what was about to happen to Jesus, that plans were underway
to arrest and execute him.
She
would also know that crucifixion would be the method of choice by the Romans as
their intention is to kill belief in Jesus as well as any further movement by
his followers.
And
she would be fully aware that this form of death does not allow for a proper
burial with proper anointing of the body. Often the bodies of the crucified
were left on the cross for the birds and animals to eat the flesh, with the
remains later thrown into a pit.
Mary
knew that Jesus was destined for something of singular significance, and she
took it upon herself to prepare his body for it in the most extravagant way.
It
is Jesus alone that Mary attends to, and she takes it up a notch by anointing
instead of washing — and not his head or his body, but his feet.
Any
act of anointing (of the head or the body) acknowledges and affirms something
about the person being anointed.
Feet,
in Hebrew culture, were the body’s means of taking action, of proceeding with
intent; thus, in anointing Jesus’ feet, Mary open-heartedly affirms Jesus’
campaign.
Judas,
by contrast, has serious doubts about Jesus’ campaign, and cannot imagine why
it should be affirmed in such a categorical way.
But
Jesus knew why. Mary was anointing Jesus for his burial.
Everything
around Mary in this story is full of significance. Judas, the betrayer of
Jesus, strongly argued against what Mary was doing for Jesus.
The
flask of nard was from the funeral for Lazarus.
A
freshly vacated tomb still smelling of burial spices was out in the yard
waiting for a new occupant.
Mary
could have anointed Jesus’ head and proclaimed him a king. He was already known
as the king of the Jews after all.
But
instead she fell at Jesus’ feet as if she knew something that others didn’t.
She knew he was about to die so she dropped to her knees and poured perfume on
his feet. Only dead men had their feet
anointed. To Jesus, this was a sign from God that his time was up.
Jesus
traded his life for that of Lazarus and Mary was anointing him for his burial.
In
contrast to Judas’ disloyalty and dishonesty, Mary overrides cultural norms to
show a shocking intimacy of loyalty, trust, and love towards Jesus.
And
Jesus defends her actions, declaring that her special affection for him was
good and appropriate, no matter what Judas or anyone else had to say about it.
Jesus
loved what Mary did for him. Not because she anointed his feet with expensive
perfume or dried his feet with her hair, but because all of these simple
gestures were symbols that she truly loved Jesus in a deep way.
For
Jesus, women are more than sexual objects and child-rearing machines. That’s
why Jesus does not have a problem with being touched by women, seeing them with
their hair down, with women talking to men or being active with their bodies
and alive in their senses. In short, in the Reign of God women are equal at the
intellectual level, at the salary level, and at all levels.
We
all know that God works in mysterious ways. God also loves to do the unexpected
with, for, and through unexpected people.
Sarah
wasn’t expected to have children and yet founded a dynasty.
Moses
wasn’t expected to lead the Israelites to freedom.
The
shepherd boy David was never expected to be king.
People
expected the Messiah to look like King David. Instead, they got a carpenter
born to a young virgin.
The
crowds who followed Jesus expected him to throw out the Romans. Instead, the
Romans crucified Jesus.
Jesus’
followers thought his death meant the end when really it was only the
beginning.
So,
who’s next? Who is the next unexpected person God will work through?
Is
it me? Is it you? Look to your left and right. Is it one of them?
God
is about to use any one of us at any time for anything.
Maybe
your neighbor needs some extra care or a listening ear. Or maybe a child needs
help resisting peer pressure at school.
We
won’t know until it happens. All we know is that God is regularly in the
business of surprising us with where God shows up, whom God uses, and what God
accomplishes.
Sarah
was chosen and she said yes.
Moses
was chosen and he said yes.
David
was chosen and he said yes.
Mary
was chosen and she said yes.
If
you are chosen, what will be your answer?
The
circumstances surrounding and the events occurring during Mary’s anointment of
Jesus is symbolic and yet unexpected.
As
we approach Good Friday, Jesus’ death is foreshadowed by his anointing by Mary,
the sister of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.
Mary
may have been the only disciple in the room who truly comprehended what was to
come in the next days. As she anoints his feet, clearly she is foreshadowing
what custom would soon entail.
While
Mary saved that pound of pure nard for the day of Jesus' burial, she anointed
him while he was still alive. Mary anointed Jesus for continued love and
service. And for sacrifice.
As
she lovingly prepares him for death, then finally for burial, she grieves
openly and shares in his suffering.
Jesus
traded his life for that of his best friend, Lazarus. And it was Lazarus’
sister who anoints Jesus for his burial.
Judas
is uncomfortable with Mary’s display of devotion. Where Mary gives, Judas
hoards. Where Mary sacrifices financially, Judas seeks self-benefit.
And
yet, what Judas critiques as waste is, in fact, the greatest gift that Mary can
give. Not expensive perfume or money but the offering of her very life,
stripped of all masks, given in service to Christ.
Can
we say we could be as Mary? Can we give everything we have to God? Can we be
God’s unexpected person through which God accomplishes awesome things?
Only
you can answer that for yourself.
Amen.
