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Sermon: The Fifth Sunday in Lent (C) - 21st March 2010
St Albans' Anglican Church Epping
Readings: Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3:3-14; John 12:1-9,
We don’t get many insights into the day-to-day life of Jesus from the New Testament. We know of the grand moments, the feeding of the five thousand, the preaching of the Sermon on the Mount. But what about the spontaneous moments, events Jesus didn’t plan, moments when the disciples suddenly react without thinking, moments of complete spontaneous reaction, when they reveal far more about themselves than they intended.
We find all of that in John 12. As we come to this chapter we notice, that we are in the final weeks of Jesus’ earthly life. All the gospel writers spend more time on these events than on any other part of Jesus’ life. We have so much detail. And for us, these are the parts of the gospel story that we have read most often, considered most often, meditated on more often. These are stories that we know so well. But let us suspend our judgment for a moment. Lets stop ourselves from running to the end of the story. Let’s put ourselves in the position of the disciples who had no idea what the next few days would bring. Jesus certainly knew what would happen. He knew the danger he was in. He had now arrived on the outskirts of Jerusalem placing himself in a position of maximum danger.
In contrast, the disciples didn’t know what Jesus knew. They had a general sense of the danger he was in. But at this point they had no real understand about how the next few days would play a vital part in his mission. Rather, at this time they were also concerned about the upcoming Passover Celebration. Passover has always been the biggest event in the Jewish Calendar. Even today in Sydney, almost every Jew will observe Day of Atonement, which is its modern label. Almost every Jew in Sydney will attend a synagogue. Sydney synagogues have to sell tickets for the event. You need to book a particular seat at a particular time otherwise you miss out.
And this was the disciples’ focus. They had come close to Jerusalem so they could share the Passover there. We know that they are on the cusp of what we call “Holy Week”. We know the story. We know what will happen next. But the disciples don’t know that. They don’t know what the next few weeks will bring. But they have arrived in Bethany with Jesus. Bethany is just 4kms from Jerusalem. Bethany will be their base for the next few weeks. Each day Jesus will walk with his disciples the one hour walk to Jerusalem and we know of the day to day events that will occur. But each night he would return to Bethany to stay with his old friend Lazarus, the same Lazarus he had raised from the dead in the previous chapter of John’s gospel.
We know something of Lazarus and his two sisters who lived with him, Mary and Martha. We read about another time when Jesus visited them in Luke 10. It seems that you never knew what to expect when you visited that home. Sparks always seemed to fly. During that visit Martha worked away in the kitchen while Mary stayed with the men to listen to Jesus teach. According to custom, Mary should have stayed in the kitchen to help Martha. At the very least she should not have stayed with the men. But Mary had more sense and refused to be constrained by cultural mores. So she stayed where she was. Martha criticised her for her behaviour. But this was not because Martha was being precious, and felt she was hard done by. Rather, Martha was concerned for Mary’s reputation and was concerned for her welfare. But Jesus recognised Mary’s wisdom and commended her for taking a wiser path even if it might result in criticism from others. Jesus pointed out that both sisters were doing what though thought was best in the situation, so both should be praised.
But notice what happens now in John 12. Jesus is back with the family and we have this similarity of behaviour of Mary and Martha. Some families never change. Jesus has come to visit again. This should be a time of rejoicing but the tension soon returns. Mary and Martha are two amazing women. When Lazarus had died, Jesus didn’t arrive till several days later and each woman took the opportunity to take him to one side and accuse him of being negligent towards their brother. If Jesus had been just a few days earlier, Lazarus might not have died. Jesus might be the son of God but each woman spoke her mind and didn’t hesitate to put Jesus right. And when these two girls get together, anything can happen.
Notice how their behaviour is exactly the same in Luke 10. Here is Martha again in the kitchen preparing the meal while again Mary is somewhere else. This was a special meal in honour of Jesus, to welcome his arrival in their house. This may have been the first time they had seen him since he raised their brother Lazarus from the dead. This was a very formal occasion to honour their very special friend Jesus, and what does Mary do? She again isn’t in the kitchen helping Martha, she is with the men in the dining area and we are told she untied her hair. This was very wrong.
Women usually kept their hair tied up all day and only untied it to wash and to sleep at night. Women who untied their hair in public were not well thought of. Usually people washed before meal and oil was often used instead of water. Yet Mary performs this amazing act. She poured expensive perfume all over Jesus and she cleaned his feet with her hair. It is one of the most beautiful pictures of love in the New Testament. In those days women were expected to guard their feelings. What could she do to express her love for Jesus in a way that would produce minimal offence? And this is what she did. This, of course, was how you might treat a king on special occasions. And this is what she did. Lazarus was a reasonably wealthy man, but this was a very expensive gesture even for him. The cost of the perfume was valued at a year’s wages.
And here we have one of the few moments when Judas speaks up. At this stage he was not known by the disciples as a betrayer. In Matthew’s gospel when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him, the disciples responded with “Is it I, Lord?” They didn’t look down the table and complain, “Not Judas again.” They all recognised their own potential as a betrayer, but not Judas more than anyone else. Judas kept the common purse, and it may be that the disciples felt he was the most reliable. He was one who could be trusted. However, now with hindsight, John points out what a mistake that was. But this event also shows us how limited the disciples resources were. No doubt all of the disciples would have thought like Judas and considered what Mary had done was scandalous – a waste of a year’s wages. Judas covered his tracks. He wanted the money. But he appealed to the needs of the poor, but no doubt he was more concerned for himself.
And so here we have Jesus again defending the behaviour of Mary. Probably the family had bought this perfume for the day of Jesus’ death when he could be properly anointed. this would be their special gift to him. They probably had no expectation that Jesus death was immanent. For us, with hindsight, the act is prophetic. Mary anoints Jesus for death and we know that death is only a few days away. And it is in the context of the immanence of his death that Jesus makes that statement, “You will always have the poor, but you will not always have me.” Its not what we usually expect from Jesus. So much of his ministry was for the benefit of the poor. He began his ministry by announcing good news to the poor. He always put the poor and the vulnerable first even when he was exhausted. His final teaching on true Christian discipleship was expressed in terms of caring for the poor. There is even irony in the name of the town Bethany. It means “House of the Poor.” But here Jesus is giving his disciples a warning. He is telling them, “You will not always have me.”
This is a messages to wake the disciples up. It’s a good reading for us to have during Lent. Its aim is to wake us up also. “You will not always have me.” Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and then it is Easter itself. The words of Jesus remind us of the coming Easter events just like the celebration of Easter each year is a call to all the world. God is active in our world. He impresses his will upon our world. God loves the world so much he has sent his son. He has not left the world to muddle along on its own. History is not moving along towards an empty void, rather it is progressing according to God’s will to the day when all things will be summed up in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth. And we each need to be prepared for that day. Because, whether we like it or not, each one of us will have to face that day when all creation will recognise its true Lord and Master, when at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. How will we receive the Master of our world? An opponent? A threat? Or as our Master and our friend.