Mark 14:1-31 (Anointing)
Notes
Transcript
Mark 14:1-31 (Anointing)
Mark 14:1-31 (Anointing)
It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.” While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish, but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” So the disciples set out and went to the city and found everything as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal. When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though all fall away, I will not.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.
We will stop there this week. I am breaking up Mark 14 over several weeks.
Now, I must tell you, I don’t read this section the same way as most (what a surprise!)
Mark sets the scene…
It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head.
Okay, so I want to get this straight:
Jesus, who is messiah, preparing to do passover, is at Simon the Leper’s house.
What is the problem with this?
Simon the LEPER.
Is he still a leper?
Probably not…
If you are a leper, the WHOLE HOUSE IS UNCLEAN!
And who, among the leaders, are going to Simon the Lepers house?
But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her.
The greed of the people around the table was exposed, and Mark does not hold back.
The ‘some’ certainly included ‘some’ of the disciples, as we learn from other Gospels (Judas)
Jesus sees it differently…
But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish, but you will not always have me.
His response is that one jar is not going to solve the problem of the poor
Further, he chastises them because they can ‘show kindness whenever you wish.’
Might seem to indicate the people in attendance are able to help the poor anytime they want to.
And, did you notice something different?
He says of her that she did a ‘good work’
Don’t be fooled, the term there is work, not service.
You could say a good deed and you would be correct.
More on that later…
But even that is not the SHOCKING part!
She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.
The anointing of Jesus is quite extraordinary.
It cannot be anointing as a priest, because Jesus is disqualified from being a priest, as the author of Hebrews declares.
So watch this: Jesus interprets the action of the woman.
As ‘anointing my body beforehand for its burial’
Interesting…We will deal with this in a moment…
The disciples prepare for the passover, just as Jesus instructed them, and while they are eating...
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”
They freak out and try to figure it out among them…
They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?”
So, Jesus clears the matter…
He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me.
ALL OF THEM ARE DOING THIS!!!
The one who partakes in the bread and wine is a betrayer…just like some today
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
After this ‘communion’ he tells them, ‘You will, all of you, fall away.
And just as Peter swore that Jesus would not die, and he was corrected, here Peter, and the rest of them, swear they will die with Jesus and not deny him.
Bible Nerd thought: The language of ‘going before them’ or
Leading them to Galilee out of Jerusalem
Is striking…
Okay, I told you there are two things that just LEAP out on the page:
Two things:
A woman anoints Jesus’ body
Nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is a body anointed before burial (except Joseph and Jacob)
No instructions or command to do this either
And women do not anoint in scripture
First, the anointing of his body is shocking.
There are several anointings of a person in the Hebrew Bible
Aaron and his sons and Kings
As a king, it is just a regular olive oil
For Aaron and his sons it is a very special scented mixture
Let me read you the formula from Exodus 30:22–25 “The Lord said to Moses, “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil.”
For my Tuesday nerds, remember Ezekiel’s temple and it was divisible by 50, the year of Jubilee?
Take a look at these numbers…
There is a second formula in Exodus 30:34–38 but it is for incense and is never allowed to be used as a perfume. It also does not have the number association.
What do you do with this anointing oil?
Exodus 30:30–33 “You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’ ””
But, Jesus did not say she was anointing ‘HIM,’ he said she was anointing ‘HIS BODY’ for burial.
And Jesus is not a descendant of Aaron and his sons according to the author of Hebrews.
Plus…
No one is anointed before burial.
Joseph and Jacob, Egyptian embalming and 40 days, but that does not link up with anything regarding Jesus.
No command to do this to any body.
But that is not the only thing that is anointed.
With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant and the table and all its utensils and the lampstand and its utensils and the altar of incense and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin with its stand; you shall consecrate them, so that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy.
The tabernacle gets anointed too.
This is a critical point.
Jesus is not a qualified person
But his body is a qualified temple.
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
Having an unknown and unnamed woman (at least in Mark)
Disconnects Jesus from the old system entirely
The leaders, as it turns out, are going to destroy the temple
2. He calls what she did a good work
God does not call a human’s work good
Jesus does, one time, only here
How modern pastors deal with her anointing of Jesus minimizes her.
She is the example of worship
Devotion, prophecy, recognizing holiness
If you think I am overstating what she did…
What she did is connected to the gospel
Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
And nobody remembers it.
Nobody remembers her.
Because how, on earth, could a woman, anoint the temple of God before it is destroyed.
How, could a woman be the honored one, that her story is connected to the gospel.
Because Jesus acknowledged her
And she knew and did more than any person in scripture
Mark 14:1-31 (Anointing)
Mark 14:1-31 (Anointing)
