| First
Reading | Psalm | Epistle | Gospel |
| Isaiah
43:16-21 | 126:
1-7 | Philippians
3:4b-14 | John
12:1-8 |
The
story in John's Gospel of Jesus' being anointed at Bethany before the events of
Holy Week is also in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew. It is one of the very few
times that a story of John appears in any of the other Gospels. Obviously the
early Gospel editors thought this incident at Bethany contained an important aspect
of Jesus' life that needed to be preserved. There
are some notable differences between the story in John and the other two Gospels.
In John the anointing takes place during a dinner in the house of the sisters
Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. Their house had been home base for
Jesus and his disciples when they went back and forth into Jerusalem. Mary is
specifically mentioned as the one who anointed Jesus and Judas is named as the
one who objected to Mary's gift being used that way. In the other two Gospels,
the incident takes place at the home of Simon the leper although in the Aramaic
language, the word used here for leper could also mean a jar merchant. There is
no mention of who the woman is, it is just "a woman", and there is no
mention of who objected, it is just one of the disciples.
We don't know whether John type cast the characters after
the fact, or he had additional information that the other Gospel writers did not
have, we don't know. Wherever the anointing took place, whoever gave the gift
or whoever raised objection, it was Jesus who right before the climax of his ministry,
very unassumingly and gratefully accepted the gift. It wasn't something Jesus
absolutely needed for the trying times ahead. Whoever the woman was who anointed
Jesus had no inkling of any future significance later generations would attach
to the gift. Its true value was that it was both given and accepted with love.
Christmas is the great gift-giving season, as much for
the secular culture as it is for people of faith. People are urged to be generous,
and as much as we might try to tone things down, most of us get caught up in the
anxiousness of the season. We like to be seen as giving to others. There is great
spiritual danger in this. There are those who believe that they have nothing to
give anymore, so they become ostracized by the outside world and depressed within
themselves. The competition to give that wonderful gift often masks a fear that
we might not be able to give quite as valuable a gift as we would like, or that
our gift will not be appreciated as we think it deserves. No wonder tension runs
high. The desire to be the generous, magnanimous giver tends to be an unhealthy
diet for our pride leading to false expectations, if not outright delusions. We
become the center, the controller, the great dispenser of gifts.
Of
course one of the important messages of Christmas is that Jesus' birth among us
was the great gift of God to the world, and there was no gift that we could ever
offer in return, much less equal it. The shepherds had no gifts. Even the magi's
offerings, were hardly an equal exchange as much as they were symbolic trinkets.
The main message contained in the story of Jesus’ birth is that God gave
the world what the world couldn’t give and had a very difficult time accepting.
The
example Jesus sets before the hardest days of his earthly life is one of thankfully
receiving. It is no accident that John places this in the house of Martha, the
doer, the one who is always busy, giving and serving, or that Judas is cast as
the tempter, much like the devil who tempted Jesus at the beginning of his ministry.
Yes, there is glory in having everything desirable, in wanting people to appreciate
and to worship you and be dependent on your magnificence. Judas in effect was
tempting Jesus to be part of such a feel-good admiration culture over which every
emperor and dictator wishes to preside . The world likes superheroes, playing
to pride and self-confidence, exhibiting a sense of arrogance and importance like
a body builder displays those amazing, flexing muscles.
Jesus
does not choose to enter Jerusalem or die on the cross like a world superhero.
The anointing of Jesus at Bethany is such an appropriate lesson as we approach
Holy Week, for it shows us that appreciation of the gifts of others is a vital
part of love, and that the ability to openly and joyfully receive is as much a
part of a grace filled life as the ability to share and give.
And
I offer this to you in the name of the Loving & Living God, Amen. 