Gospel text: John 12:1-8
Supplementary texts: Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
Statistics NZ tells us that the average hourly rate for men is $42.79. It comes to just over $89k per year.
- According to Trade Me, this would buy a 2002 Aston Martin, or a 1973 Holden “Torana” (in “amazing condition”!).
- According to New Zealand Mint, it would buy just under sixteen ounces of gold. (It would’ve bought more a few days ago. I had to update my figures after recent economic events.)
- According to Walker & Hall, it would buy a 3.2ct diamond ring. And I have mentioned this to my husband, but he seems curiously unenthusiastic…
- According to St John however, it would buy you a pot of perfume to pour over some chap’s feet.
Mary had a few encounters with Jesus’s feet. She sat at them, listening to his teaching, when he was in their home. She fell at them, weeping, when her brother died. And here, she anointed them with some remarkably expensive perfume, before wiping them with her hair – which, according to the proprieties of the time, would usually have been covered.
Perhaps the most surprising element in these stories is Jesus’s acceptance of it all.
***
To a casual glance, Mary sitting at Christ’s feet to learn from him might look like humility – and in some ways, of course it was. However, Rabbis didn’t typically teach women. Mary, in sitting at his feet to learn, was taking a risk, assuming a position that wasn’t, in fact, hers to assume. She risked being sent away (kindly or otherwise) – but she was accepted and welcomed.
A bit later, Mary fell at Jesus’s feet in grief at losing her brother. Curiously, unlike her sister Martha she didn’t do this with any expression of faith at all. Both sisters said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”, but it’s Martha who added, “Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you”. Mary simply poured out her grief and recrimination. And although the Gospel tells us that Jesus found the whole situation distressing, there’s no hint that he judged Mary – either for her emotional outburst, her lack of faith, or her inability to see the bigger picture.
And only a little later – some scholars believe about a week, or several days; in terms of our written Gospel, we’re in adjacent chapters – Mary, Martha & Lazarus hosted a dinner party – quite probably, in gratitude for the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
Although not much time elapsed between those two stories, some important events did take place. The raising of Lazarus was all a bridge too far for the Pharisees & Priests. They were concerned (and probably rightly) that the Romans would retaliate if large quantities of people began believing in Jesus as the Messiah. The displeasure of the Roman Empire wasn’t a pretty prospect – blood would certainly be spilt. So the high priest, Caiaphas, pointed out to his team that it was better for one man to die for a nation than for the whole nation to perish. The Gospel writer tells us that this was Caiaphas, albeit unconsciously, speaking prophecy in his high priestly role. Christ would indeed die for a nation – in fact, for the world.
The Priests & Pharisees began to plan Jesus’s death.
It isn’t completely clear how much of this was known to Lazarus, Martha & Mary; but they must have known at least some of it of it. Mary probably didn’t know that Jesus was going to die on a Roman cross, but she very likely would have known that the Priests wanted him dead. The orders had gone out to the people that if anyone saw Jesus, they should report him to chief priests & Pharisees, and Jesus had effectively gone into hiding.
He was a wanted man.
It’s against this backdrop that Lazarus, Martha & Mary welcomed Jesus into their home and to a meal. It’s against this backdrop that Mary performed her extraordinary action.
It would have taken courage for Mary to sit at Christ’s feet, risking rejection in the hope of learning from him. It broke the social norms no less than it would in our day, although for slightly different reasons.
And if she was in a state to think about it (and very likely she wasn’t), it would have taken courage for her to fall at his feet in her grief and blame at Lazarus’s death.
And it would have taken courage for Mary to anoint Jesus’s feet in the manner we heard of this morning. She was both risking social displeasure and effectively putting herself on the wrong side of the civil law.
Again, from Jesus we see a complete acceptance. He is neither displeased nor even disconcerted.
***
New Testament professor Sister Mary Coloe points out that there are echoes in this story, of the anointing of the tabernacle in the Sinai wilderness. Moses experienced the glory of God for six days (Ex 24); Jesus was anointed six days before Passover and his death. The tabernacle was anointed with precious spices to emphasise purity and abundance (Ex 30); Mary used a pure form of one of the most expensive substances known. God’s glory filled the entire tabernacle (Ex 40); Mary’s perfume filled the entire house.
People in first century Palestine typically washed their feet to go into houses, of course, but it was also a ritual prior to entering the temple. Mary has prepared Jesus, not only for his death and burial, but for his return to God’s heavenly temple, as God’s obedient, triumphant and beloved Son.
It seems Mary has achieved more than she could ever have imagined.
***
Although these days we combine Passion Sunday & Palm Sunday into one event, which we will commemorate next week, this fifth Sunday of Lent used to be known as Passion Sunday. It marked the beginning of “Passiontide”, the last two weeks of Lent, finishing on Holy Saturday. This fortnight of Passiontide commemorates Christ’s suffering (Latin “pati” then “passio” = suffering).
Language is a living thing, and the word “passion” – like many others – has undergone several changes. Outside of a Christian context, and specifically an Easter context, it’s seldom used to refer to “suffering” these days. Not too long ago, it often referred to rage – a child who “flew into a passion” was likely to be stamping their feet in a fury, their emotions out of control. These days, it usually refers to an ardent love, or an enthusiasm.
Whichever way you read the word – Mary shows “passion” in our story this morning. Her suffering and her outrage at the systemic attack on Jesus must have been immense; but her love for him is indisputable. Passion Sunday, of course, refers to Christ’s passion; but in Mary’s actions, we have a sort of very first “Passion Sunday”.
***
In our second reading this morning, we heard about a remarkable re-evaluation of assets. Paul has gone through all the things he had formerly relied on to make him “good” – his parentage, his status as a Pharisee, his faithful observance of all the religious requirements – and he has basically counted them as less than worthless. All of his fondly-valued assets were assets no longer. He has found something so much more valuable that his assets fade into oblivion.
In our Gospel story, we see Mary take extraordinary steps with a few assets of her own. One was her jar of perfume – say in our terms, ninety thousand dollars’ worth. Another was her passion, and a third was her dignity. She offered it all, in overwhelmed love and gratitude, at the feet of the Christ she adored.
All three “Mary at Jesus’s feet” stories suggest a fairly emotional person. Paul seems a different personality – not without emotion by any means, yet somewhat more analytical and intellectual. But despite their differences, they had this core thing in common – they understood, at a deep level, that Christ – loving Christ, knowing Christ, being accepted by Christ – utterly eclipses everything else. May we experience the same!
Juli Meiklejohn