START WITH SCRIPTURE:
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OBSERVE:
This passage follows directly after the dramatic raising of Lazarus from the dead. This is a more “domestic” moment in the life of Jesus at the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. We already know that Jesus was close friends with this family prior to the crisis in Lazarus’ life, but they certainly had ample justification for a dinner in honor of Jesus now!
The descriptions of the three siblings is apt: Martha, of course, serves; Lazarus, the man of the house, reclines at table with the guests, as was common in a Jewish home of the day; and Mary pours out an expression of love for her friend and rabbi.
The spontaneous nature of this act seems pretty clear: this nard would have likely been reserved for a burial — perhaps originally with Lazarus in mind?
The precious value of this nard makes Mary’s act even more extravagantly generous. And the intimacy of wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair suggests that she had not planned this moment.
Another character sketch is introduced when Judas begins to criticize what he’s witnessed. This provides a foreshadowing of what is to come. Judas, feigning pragmatism, questions the waste when the money could have been used for the poor. The Gospel writer is skeptical of his motives — Judas, he suggests, is dishonest. So what is to happen in the next chapters won’t come as a complete surprise.
Jesus rebukes Judas. In another moment of foreshadowing, he interprets Mary’s act as a preparation for his burial. He is clearly focused on the cross and the tomb at this point.
His reaction to Judas’ “empathy for the poor” should not be misconstrued. He is not suggesting that the poor should be neglected. He is actually quoting from Deuteronomy 15:11.
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
In other words, he is pointing out that the opportunity still remains to minister to the poor — but his time is short. Her ministry to him was timely.
Finally, in keeping with the insight into Judas’ shady character, there is the sinister association with the plot of the chief priests that will soon enmesh Judas as well. They see that Lazarus is proof to the people of the extraordinary powers of this carpenter from Nazareth. People are coming to behold and believe in Jesus because of Lazarus. And rather than choosing to follow the Nazarene, these cynical leaders instead make plans to kill Lazarus, the man whom Jesus has raised!
Note the chilling phrase: the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well. This suggests that the plot to take the life of Jesus is already in motion. They will kill Jesus and destroy the evidence of his ministry as well.
APPLY:
Fr Lawrence Lew’s photograph of this striking and powerful cross in a side chapel of Salamanca Cathedral portrays Jesus as our Prophet, Priest and King.
How extravagant is our love for Jesus? Martha serves Jesus at dinner. We need Marthas, whose love is steadily expressed in works of service.
We also need Marys, whose love is spontaneous and overflowing. She doesn’t hold back what is most precious, but pours it out on the feet of Jesus.
It has struck me that this anointing with oil is a reminder to us that Jesus is the Messiah — which means the anointed one. Anointing with oil was a ritual used to set apart a prophet, a priest or a king in the Old Testament. Naturally, that anointing was administered on the head, not the feet.
Nevertheless, Jesus is our prophet, priest and king, teaching us the ways of the kingdom of God; offering himself as our sacrifice, and interceding for us; and ruling over our hearts and lives.
RESPOND:
I wonder sometimes which sibling I am. Do I serve as a part of my routine, as a duty, like Martha? Do I recline and rest like Lazarus, listening to my Lord? Do I act spontaneously and extravagantly and unselfconsciously in expressing my love for Jesus, like Mary?
The truth is, at different times I am a little like each of them — may I serve with diligent duty, rest and renew, and also pour out my love with exuberance.
But may I never be like Judas, exacting and calculatingly “pragmatic” but in truth simply self-interested.
Lord, forgive me when I am coldly calculating, and lack spiritual insight. May my love for you be diligent, renewing, and exuberant. Amen.
PHOTOS: “Jesus Anointing” by Alexander Bida is in the public domain. “Lord of Life” by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license. Photo used as a background: “5 Sec Faces” by FLEE (a.k.a. FLEECIRCUS) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
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