John 12:1-8
Mary Anoints Jesus
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?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 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.”
It’s not about the poor
It’s not about the dinner guests
It’s not about the keeper of the purse
It’s about a woman’s extravagant gift
The costly ointment
The fragrance
The unadulterated love exposed for all to see
And the discomfort of
witnessing such beauty and truth
becomes too much to bear
And so the focus is diverted
from a woman’s gift
to the men’s distraction techniques
lest we, too, should be moved
to such radical acts of love
that are searing to witness
causing those not comfortable in their own skin
to look away
to find distraction
in things that, in this moment,
do not matter.
Our discomfort might be transformed
by looking deeply
at the longings
and the fears
the envy
and the loss
that are stirred up in us
who bear witness
to a pure
and spontaneous love.
It’s all about Mary
and her love.
Thank you.
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