 |
| Image by Alcides Ota |
Holy Week: the Body
†
A GREETING
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, for ever;
with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
(Psalm 89:1)
A READING
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’
(John 12:1-5;7-8)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
'My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him.'
(Psalm 89:24a)
A THEMATIC VERSE
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.
(Songs 8:6-8)
A REFLECTION
It is something not seen, something we don't get to feel directly. On the contrary, it is something entirely improbable and incredible, according to which we judge what we experience here. It speaks of an event beyond all worlds and wants to draw us away from our own world to another. A dark abyss opens up, and a voice commands: Jump across. I will catch you and hold you fast. I am stretching out my hand. Now bet your life on it, and rely on me and on nothing else. My grace is sufficient for you. I am love. "I have called you by name, you are mine."
- from I Want to Live These Days With You: A Year of Daily Devotions
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
VERSE OF THE DAY
Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
(Psalm 85:10)
†
 |
| "The Anointing of Christ"(2009) by Julia Stankova Julia Stankova's icons can be explored at juliastankova.com |
Today’s reading holds in tension a wide range of human capacity for transformation and for brokenness. The figures of Mary of Bethany and Judas stand in direct contrast in their relationship to the present and future body of Jesus. The context of this encounter is a dinner being served at the home of the family of Bethany in which all members of the family are named as present — on the night before Palm Sunday. In the Matthew and Mark accounts, the event takes place in Bethany with the woman presumed to be an outsider, and those who scorn her actions are not specifically named. Therefore, the John account is significant in naming both Mary of Bethany and Judas as co-participants in the scene. In the John setting, Mary is not an outsider at all, but is actually at home. She is in a place where she has many times spoken with Jesus and offered him hospitality. She is one of the hosts, and Jesus and Judas, are guests. In this era, it is a tradition of the host to provide for the washing of feet of the guest, usually upon arrival. The sudden and extravagant lavishing of her love in Mary’s expression of anointing upends the tradition by coming at the end of the meal and being done with nard. It is one of the most passionate moments in all of scripture, erupting into the narrative, its scent, we are told, filling the room. By all accounts, it takes everyone by surprise with its audacity. The reaction of Judas is to immediately challenge its sincerity: Jesus has been teaching the disciples to sell what they have and give it to the poor. The model Jesus establishes is one of humility and service. Why shouldn’t Mary be held to the same standard? The reply that Jesus gives is prophetic and links Mary’s action to his own future. The bountiful and majestic gesture of Mary, pouring nard on the feet of Jesus and wiping it with her hair, will soon be replaced by the pounding of nails through his feet to a cross. Judas is the link between these two events and in Matthew, he goes immediately from this gathering to make his arrangement for betrayal. An emotion, a predisposition, a deep brokenness overwhelms Judas. Jesus holds all of this in love. He is the Christ that is above, before, within and behind both Mary and Judas. How can we hold the Mary and Judas within ourselves? What are the ways in which we lavish love and devotion on our faith practices, and also betray our deeper relationship with Jesus, through negligence, through indifference to the things Jesus cared about, through laziness of discipleship? Accepting the radical love of Jesus is how we start. Sometimes this can be challenging, in light of the failings we perceive in ourselves. Bonhoeffer dares us to make the jump of faith into grace. Jesus always loves us, and nothing can change that. He loves us in our hesitations of purpose in faith, he carries us across our own deserts of uncertainty. Jesus is the Simon of Cyrene in our own lives, who lifts with us the Crosses we bear, is with us in the tombs of our doubt and embraces us in moments of renewal. As we journey into the Great Three Days, how can the body of Jesus be present to us, not as some remote figure in a long ago drama, but as someone who was at the table with us, and was both loved and betrayed in the same night? What are the brokenness and the nard that we will bring with us from our own lives, as we journey with him to the Cross?
 |
| Image by Jasleen Kaur |
†
LC† Retelling the Stories is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. Join us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year.
Thank you and peace be with you!
