“An outpouring”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, March 25, 2024
John 12:1-11(Forward, p 56) CEV p. 1117
One would normally never even think of it, but an outpouring of grief can be taken the wrong way by the authorities and sometimes even ‘backfire’. Think simply of the recent funeral of the Russian opposition figure or the American funerals that fueled the Black Lives Matter movement: the authorities were understandably ‘on edge’, wondering what might happen and being ready for the worst.
Interestingly, the death of Lazarus and Jesus’ subsequent raising him to life again resulted in an incredible outpouring of gratitude and praise, on the one hand, and curiosity and interest on the other. With Lazarus’ sister Mary, hers was such a relief, such a gratitude towards Jesus, that she felt that nothing was ‘too good for Him.’ Accordingly, she spent—some would say, wasted—her most precious possession on Him, breaking open her alabaster jar of spikenard and using the perfume therein to anoint Jesus’ feet. Given that it was worth 300 denarii, which was almost a year’s wages for an ordinary labourer, this was an expensive gift to say the least. But to Mary, He was worth it, worth any gift or expenditure she could make. Nevertheless, it didn’t put her above criticism, for the disciples, Judas in particular, would have gladly seen the money put to other uses—for instance, his own pocket.
And, as for the crowds, they were sort of like the crowds, the onlookers, that seem to materialize out of nowhere to gawk at the scene of a disaster or a crime. Only this time it was not bad news, but good. And here again, there was criticism, as the authorities disliked all the ‘good press’ this healing was giving Jesus. Indeed, that is why they were secretly making plans to get rid of Lazarus and eliminate Jesus’ ‘star attraction.’
These two ‘outpourings’ put me in mind of the two radically different responses to Jesus that occur today. On the one hand, there are the curious by-standers, who like a good story and like ‘all the trappings’ but aren’t willing to take it seriously nor make any real commitment. And on the other hand, there are those, who having encountered firsthand the love and power of God in Christ Jesus, are prepared to give Him their all. It is a choice that people back of Jesus faced, but no less a choice that we have
to make today. Thanks be to God for this great love that is herein revealed, that we, you and I, have the opportunity to make such a choice. Amen.
Forward notes: “Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (verse 3).
“Jesus encounters Mary at dinner. As the scent of the perfumed anointing oil fills the house, Mary conveys a powerful physical, mental, and spiritual example of Jesus’s way of love for all in attendance. No one passing by the area could have ignored the pleasing aroma, the outpouring of her act of anointing.
“Her act of humility was one of pure love. Her outrageous expense was calculated and planned. Her choice and use of fragrance propelled a meaningful symbol of God’s spirit to all who were in the vicinity. Mary begins our Holy Week experience with extravagant, abundant love.
“Jesus is on the way to the cross. His time is limited, and we are invited to contemplate how we offer ourselves to a God who loves us more than we can ask for or imagine. Perhaps our own acts of devotion to Christ might transform the world physically, mentally, and spiritually so that others might see what wondrous love it is that we encounter in Jesus.”
Moving Forward: “What outrageous action will you offer to God?”