rewind (part 6)

rewind  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  18:09
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Maundy Thursday and the scent of grace

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On this Maundy Thursday, I want us to return to the gospel of John for our time here. We have been working backwards through John’s gospel all throughout this season of lent. Tonight we will continue that journey backing up one more step in John’s story. It was just back at the beginning of this week when we gathered here and spent some time with the Palm Sunday story as Jesus enters Jerusalem for this final week before he surrenders himself to the cross. Before we trace the journey of that week forward again in John’s gospel, let’s start out by backing up one more story before Palm Sunday, and let’s spend a few minutes in that story before we proceed through the week up to this Maundy Thursday.
Because it is what we see in this earlier story that prepares us for what we go on to see on this Maundy Thursday. We find it in John 12.
John 12:1–11 (NIV)
John 12:1–11 NIV
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.
You find similar stories to this in all three of the other gospels. Although, interestingly, they all vary in details with discrepancies that leave scholars wondering if this kind of event took place more than once in the life of Jesus, or if the gospel writers twist the re-telling of this story to bend the details in a direction that fits their purpose. These details include things like whose house Jesus was at when this took place, who was the woman who poured this perfume on Jesus, and was it poured on his entire body from head down or just on his feet?
As with so much of the Bible, the authors here are not motivated by trying to writing a chronically accurate history textbook. Rather, these writers all have a deeper message in mind. They are all presenting the narrative description of Jesus in ways that display he is the Son of God who came into the world to save people from sin. To that end, John chooses to place this story in this particular place with these particular people to stay in line with the theme he is developing in his gospel.
John, then, mentions three names in this story that are absent from all three of the other gospels in the telling of this event: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It is Mary who enters with this jar of very expensive perfume. The amount of perfume here makes it likely that she would have poured it over the head of Jesus and it would have been enough to rundown all over the outside of his clothing and onto his feet. In an act of penetrant humility, Mary wipes the feet of Jesus with the perfume that flows down from his body.
The scene would have been striking for many reasons. The smell of this nard would have been everywhere—John tells us it fills the whole house. It was customary in this time for grown women to keep their hair completely covered, it would have been shocking to everyone in the room for Mary to let her hair down for this moment. And the cost of this nard is astronomical to think about. The average worker in Israel was paid one denarius for a day’s work. Therefore, a year’s wages for this amount of perfume would have been about three hundred denarii. In today’s money that is about $60,000 simply poured out and gone.
Maybe we can sympathize a little bit with Judas’ objection; this certainly appears to be quite of waste of so much money that could have been used for something else. But Jesus understands what is really meant by this gift. And I cannot help but wonder if Mary understands this too. John tells us this takes place in the town of Bethany—which is not far from Jerusalem. By this time there is a threat upon Jesus’ life, and traveling closer to Jerusalem makes it all the more likely that Jesus will be captured by the officials in Jerusalem. The disciples seem to know this; we read elsewhere that they urged Jesus not to make this journey to the towns near Jerusalem.
There is an unspoken tension in this story that perhaps we pass over and miss. It was dangerous for Jesus to be there where he was at this particular time. And everybody around Jesus seems to know this; they are aware of it. While the disciples may have seen this as a fight that was coming in which they intended to go down swinging, Mary demonstrates in this moment that she has already accepted the outcome which she sees approaching be the end of this week. What Mary does here is prepare Jesus for his burial. The use of nard in this kind of amount had no other practical purpose except for embalming a body for burial. Here again, we see the apostle John placing stories arranged in his gospel that are meant to show the way Jesus has been preparing his people for what is coming.
We tend to read a story like this in scripture and then move on. But I cannot help but wonder how long the fragrance of this perfume lingered. It could have been days if not the entire week that some trace of the scent remained. This would mean that all the events we are about to proceed forward and read about in this service would have included the lingering scent of Mary’s gift. When Jesus gathered with his disciples in the upper room for the Passover, the smell of Mary’s gift would have still been there. When Jesus washed his disciples feet, fragrance of Mary wiping the feet of Jesus would still have been there. When Jesus went with his disciples to pray in the garden, the smell of Mary’s gift would have still been there. When Jesus is arrested by a mob, the smell of Mary’s gift would have still been there. When Jesus is on trial before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate, the smell of Mary’s gift would have still been there. When Jesus is tortured by Roman soldiers, the smell of Mary’s gift would have still been there. And when Jesus is taken out and nailed to a cross, the smell of Mary’s gift would have still been there.
Of all the things that were taken away from Jesus during that week—his companions all flee away, his dignity is taken away, his life is taken away—the thing that could not be taken away from Jesus in all these events is the gift that Mary pours out upon Jesus right here. It almost seems as though Mary knows what is coming, knows that Jesus will be taken, and knows that—at least—this is one thing she can give which cannot be taken from him.
A gift that can never be taken away no matter what. I think that is one thing this story places in front of us. Not only Mary’s gift to Jesus that can never be taken from him, but also what it is that Jesus gives that can never be taken away from us. Everything that Jesus took upon himself in this week to take the guilt of our sin to the cross, it leaves something last behind in its place. I don’t know that grace has a fragrance like the perfume that Mary poured upon Jesus, but if grace does have a fragrance, it would be the kind of thing that never goes away. It would be a lasting and permanent fragrance that fills every corner of what it touches.
Mary poured out her gift upon just one person. Jesus carried the fragrance of that gift with him through the events of this week. But when Jesus pours out his grace upon the entire world from the cross, it is a grace that completely covers all who come to God in faith. And no amount of the stench of a sinful and broken world will ever be able to overpower or take away the fragrance of grace that has now been completely washed over the people of God. We now wear the grace of God for all eternity. Nothing will ever take that away.
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