A Strange Meal
Text: John 12:1-11
Title: A Strange Meal
Thesis: Jesus Christ is the unique savior of the world.
Time: Lent, 5 Sun, C
We know well the events during the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus enters Jerusalem, he rides into Jerusalem like royalty, sitting atop a donkey as he is proclaimed by the citizens of Jerusalem the king of Israel. The religious and political leaders believe Jesus is a threat to their power and authority. They have Jesus crucified as a criminal. Jesus dies on the cross.
Lesser well known about the life of Jesus is what takes right before Jesus enters Jerusalem. However, we are told some about the where and what of Jesus’ life before his entry into Jerusalem in John 12. Jesus knows full well that going into Jerusalem, proclaiming himself as God’s Messiah will put his life in grave danger. He’s already prepared his disciples for the danger by telling them that he must die to make salvation possible, so that all people can be free of sin and oppression. And John 12 informs us that right before Jesus goes into Jerusalem he first stops for rest and relaxation at the house of his friend, Lazarus. Lazarus lives in Bethany, located just outside Jerusalem. It wasn’t uncommon for travelers making their way to Jerusalem during Passover week to stay in Bethany. Jerusalem being very crowded with the festivities of Passover, many travelers stayed in outlying villages like Bethany.
But Jesus is purposeful in his lodgings. He stays with his friend Lazarus. Jesus knows that Lazarus and Martha and Mary will extend to him hospitality and care. Jesus responds to his disciples about the way Lazarus and Martha and Mary care for him in this way, John 12:8, “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” So, before Jesus undergoes the stress and hostility that await him in Jerusalem, Jesus first receives nurture and care at the house of his friend Lazarus.
What grabs my attention in this story is the remark made about the smell of the perfume. We’re told in John 12:3, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” We take pleasing smells for granted now days, with products like Febreeze and Renuzit and Lysol. In fact, the strangeness of being inundated with such a pleasing smell was criticized by one of Jesus’ disciples, Judas Iscariot. He thought the bottle should have been sold and the money given to the poor, although the text tells us he was a thief and wanted the money for himself. Nevertheless, this is an extravagant act that Mary performs, the bottle of perfume valued at a year’s worth of wages. Imagine how much Febreeze you could buy with a year’s salary now days. Why did Mary do this extravagant, expensive act of pouring out the bottle of perfume on Jesus feet? Surely, its an act of her faith, having witnessed Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead back in chapter 11. She experienced firsthand the love of God as Jesus taught her. Also, for Mary pouring the expensive bottle of ointment on Jesus’ feet is her way of expressing her faith that Jesus is the Messiah. Just as past kings of Israel were anointed with oil, so does Mary anoint Jesus’ feet with oil, the one who has come to make salvation possible.
John 12:1-11 begs the question for each of us, how do we give testimony that Jesus is God’s Messiah? Mary pours out the bottle of perfume, Martha serves Jesus a meal. Lazarus extends Jesus hospitality, inviting him into his house and joining in a meal with Jesus. There are ways that all of us can be active in making known to others that Jesus has come so that none need live in sin or oppression any longer. Sadly, as we read in verses 11 and 12, some respond to Jesus with opposition. Here, the chief priests feel threatened by Jesus and set out to put an end to his ministry. Not only do they desire to kill Jesus, they also want to kill Lazarus, who is proof of Jesus’ power as Jesus has raised Lazarus from death. Imagine that, trying to put to death one who has already been raised from the dead.
Not only do we have the active responses of Mary and Martha and Lazarus in their care for Jesus as the Messiah. We also note that this is a teaching moment for the disciples, just as Jesus explains to Judas Iscariot why Mary’s expensive act of pouring out the ointment is appropriate. Being disciples means that we are continuing to learn what it means that Jesus is the Messiah. We continue to find appropriate ways of sharing with others that Jesus is the Messiah.
John Fischer, a Christian contemporary musician said, “I have a bad habit. When my children tell me about something they’ve learned for the first time, I often act as if I knew that. Even worse, sometimes I tell them how the same thing happened to me years ago. When my wife hears something “new” from the kids, her mouth drops open and her eyes widen. It’s as if she has never heard this kind of thing before. The kid’s faces brighten, and they feel as if they have actually enlightened their mother. I used to think my wife was acting and sooner or later the kids would find out and feel lied to. Then I realized it isn’t an act at all. Though she may already have experienced what they are trying to tell her, she’s never experienced it through them. Their personal “revelations” are entirely new. It’s the same with God. As all knowing and sovereign as God is, I’m sure God’s still eager to hear our prayers because God has never heard it quite the way we say it. We are all unique. We have our own signature attached to all we do and say. Our lives, our experiences, and our faith expressed to God are never old.” It may have been a unique way of expressing her faith, but it was her way. We all have individual and unique ways of expressing our faith that help others grow in faith.
As we are in the middle of this 40-day season of Lent, we are reminded of its purpose –that we can draw closer to God through Jesus Christ. Throughout church history, Christians have found that spending more time in prayer, and Bible study and praying, meditation, and acts of charity towards others help us to draw closer to God. As we do so, our attention is centered on Jesus, as we contemplate that Jesus came to earth to be the Messiah. What does it mean for you, for me, that Jesus came to earth, his feet touching the ground, his hand reaching out in service to others, his voice speaking words of forgiveness and love? Juan Monroy, a Christian journalist in Madrid, Spain, was among a group of reporters selected by the Spanish government to interview American astronaut James Irwin, who was on an European tour after his Apollo 15 mission to the moon. Monroy asked the astronaut, “What did you feel when you stepped out of that capsule and your feet touched the surface of the moon?” To Monroy’s surprise, Irwin replied, “It was one of the most profoundly disillusioning moments of my life.” Monroy pressed the astronaut: “How could standing of the moon be so disappointing?” Irwin explained, “All of my life I have been enchanted by the romance and the mystery of the moon. I sang love songs under the moon. I read poems by moonstruck poets. I embraced my lover in the moonlight. I looked up in wonder at the lunar sphere. But that day when I stepped from the capsule onto the lunar surface and reached down at my feet, I came up with nothing but two handfuls of gray dirt. I cannot describe the loss I felt as the romance and mystery were all stripped away. There will be no more moon in my sky!” We can not even imagine what it must have been like for Jesus to come to earth in the form of a human, but we do know that Jesus had such great love for us that he was willing to give up his life, to die for us. All the mystery of what it means to be human God realized through Jesus Christ. And rather than becoming disillusioned with our selfishness and pride and sin, we are of such worth to Jesus that he continued the journey towards Jerusalem, even dying on the cross for our sins.
Through Jesus we are given a second chance. Just as Lazarus is raised from the dead, given a second chance to live, so through Jesus we are given the freedom to start again. As we take up the life of discipleship, there are many points of starting over, as we contemplate and understand even more what it means that Jesus is God’s Messiah. At the Pan American Games, champion United States diver Greg Louganis was asked how he coped with the stress of international diving competition. He replied that he climbs to the board, takes a deep breath, and thinks, “Even if I blow this dive, my mother will still love me.” Then he goes for excellence. At the beginning of each day, how good it would be for each of us to take a deep breath, say, “Even if I blow it today, my God will still love me,” and then, assured of grace, go into the day seeking a perfect 10!
Today, how can you demonstrate that Jesus is God’s Messiah? What are ways that you can let others know that Jesus has come to set us free from sin and oppression?