Missing Jesus in all the drama

 

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.  Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.  --James 1:14-15

We are coming up on Easter.  Historically, Easter Sunday is the one Sunday when church pews are full.  The good news is that more people hear the Gospel from the pulpit on this one day than any other Sunday.  The bad news is that more people are distracted, too.  

They may watch their children sing in the kiddy choir, then sleep through the sermon.  They may be looking to see how all the other people are dressed--either looking down on those dressed more casually or looking with jealousy of those who may be dressed more nicely.  They may be thinking of the effort it took to get everyone up and dressed in time for church, or of the argument they had with their spouse in the car on the way to church and completely miss the message of Jesus.

In the twelfth chapter of John's Gospel, we see one of the greatest acts of true worship ever.  The disciples, however, may have missed it because of some drama going on.  Let's read it together.

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."  Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  --John 12:1-11

The remarkable act of worship

While Martha served, Mary bowed at the feet of Jesus.  This is reminiscent of the first time we met the two sisters, as recounted in Luke 10:38-42.  You probably know the story.  Martha was busy serving, but Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to learn.  Martha complained, and Jesus said that Mary had made the better choice.

Here in John's narrative, Martha was again expressing her spiritual gift of service, but Mary expressed her own spiritual gift of giving.  Here's what WJ Erdman wrote:

“The life of Mary is painted for us, in three memorable pictures, in each of which she is at the feet of Jesus.” 

Luke 10:39: Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and learned.

John 11:32: Mary fell at Jesus’ feet and surrendered.

John 12:3: Mary anointed Jesus’ feet and honored Jesus.

David Guzek in his Study Guide for John says this:

In the midst of the supper, Mary gave a remarkable gift to Jesus. It wasn’t unusual to wash the feet of a guest, but it was unusual to do it during the meal itself, to use very costly oil of spikenard to do it, and to wipe the feet with her hair, using the hair as a kind of towel.

• Mary’s gift was remarkably humble. When a guest entered the home, usually the guest’s feet were washed with water and the guest’s head was anointed with a dab of oil or perfume. Here, Mary used this precious ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus. She considered her precious ointment only good enough for His feet. “To attend to the feet was the task of the most lowly slave. Thus Mary’s action denoted great humility as well as great devotion.” (Morris)
• Mary’s gift was remarkably extreme. She used a lot (a pound) of a very costly oil of spikenard. Spices and ointments were often used as an investment because they were small, portable, and could be easily sold. Judas believed this oil was worth 300 denarii (John 12:5), which was worth a year’s wages for a workingman.
• Mary’s gift was remarkably unselfconscious. Not only did she give the gift of the expensive oil, she also wiped His feet with her hair. This means that she let down her hair in public, something a Jewish woman would rarely do.

The Distractions

She was showing out, unbecoming of a lady.

Not only did Mary sit at Jesus's feet, but she made an outrageous gesture.  NT Wright in his commentary John for Everyone says this about an observant Jewish woman of the day letting her hair down in a public setting: "That's roughly the equivalent, at a modern polite dinner party, of a woman hitching up a long skirt to the top of her thighs.  You can imagine the onlookers' reaction.  Had she no shame?  What was she trying to say--to Jesus, to the onlookers?  All sorts of disturbing thoughts must have been flying round the room."

She was being wasteful.

We are not told that the disciples confronted Mary about this brazen display.  We are told, however, that Judas excoriated Mary for wasting perfectly good perfume.

Come again?  That's what was wrong with this picture?

The perfume was apparently very costly.  Judas valued it at about a year's wages for a common laborer.  That Mary poured it out on Jesus's feet, and then dried His feet with her hair, so that the fragrance filled the house--this galled Judas.  She could have sold the perfume, he said aloud; that money could have been given to the poor.  As an aside, John explained that the disciples later understood that Judas, who was the group's treasurer, was skimming money from the offering box.  He wasn't so concerned for the poor as he was his own pockets.

Jesus stepped in to the controversy but was misunderstood (again).

Jesus tells Judas and the other disciples to calm down.  "Leave Mary alone," He told them.  "She is using the perfume to prepare Me for My burial."  This particular prophecy concerning His imminent death apparently went over everyone's head at the time.  What they likely heard was the next statement, that the poor would always be with them, but He would not always be there.  Again, Jesus was speaking of His death and burial, but the disciples likely took it to mean after Jesus was gone (at some point in the very distant future), then they could worry about the poor.

The Jews were there to see Lazarus, the "flavor of the day."

The crowds followed Jesus and His friends, mainly to see the miracles.  In this instance, they weren't there to see Jesus, but to catch a glimpse of Lazarus, who had been dead for four days then was brought back to life.  Yeah, yeah, we know: Jesus was the One who brought him back to life, but wow, look at Lazarus.  Doesn't he look healthy?  He doesn't look like a corpse at all, does he?

How many times do we travel to a distant city to see a famous preacher, but miss his message?  Like, we saw Billy Graham before he died; it was great.  Really? What did he preach about?  Well, I don't really remember, but it was really great to see him and hear him preach.

The Pharisees plotted to kill Jesus, and Lazarus too.

The chief priests saw the crowds around Jesus and Lazarus, and they felt threatened.  Remember what they had said in the previous chapter:   In John 11:48 they said, "If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."  So they added Lazarus to their "hit list", as one who needed to be taken out of the picture, so that sanity could be restored and they could go back to their status quo.

Distractions from this passage even today.

There is disagreement among biblical scholars of whether this event is the same as is found in Mark 14:3-9 and Luke 7:36-38, or if it is a totally different event.  There are similarities between the two accounts--the costly perfume poured out on Jesus, the cost estimate of 300 denarii that should have gone to the poor, and Jesus's response that the woman did the right thing, and that the poor would always be with them.  There are also marked differences between John's narrative and that of Mark--the one says it was at the house of Lazarus, the other at the home of Simon the leper (whom Jesus had healed); the one says it was six days prior to Passover, the other says two days; the one says the woman poured the perfume on His feet, the other says it was poured on His head.

These differences lead some scholars to believe that they were two separate events.  The similarities lead others to think that they were the same event given by two witnesses with different perspectives.  Atheists and skeptics will use passages like this to say that the text is unreliable, that the stories contradict one another.

Just like the disciples missed the significance of the anointing of Jesus when they were distracted by Mary's actions and Judas's complaint against her, we sometimes miss the point of the Gospel.  Just like commentators argue about whether there was one event or two, we sometimes get caught up in insignificant details and forget the One who died for us and rose again on the third day.

We need to take our eyes off the drama going on around us and focus solely on Jesus.  Are we, like Mary, willing to do outrageous things for our Lord, or will we get distracted by the drama of controversies, complaints, and catcalls?  Are we willing to give up our pride, our reputation, and our standing in the community for the sake of the Savior?

Jesus asks that we follow Him, no matter what society says.