Anointing Jesus’ feet John 12 1-8.
Mmm, you smell nice! How do we, as women, feel when someone pays us such a compliment. Our perfume may not be expensive, but it helps our sense of wellbeing. When going out to choir or another meeting, it is a quick spray of perfume from my local supermarket, that sets me up for the evening. The expensive perfume is kept for special occasions!
The woman in our bible story was not a reflexologist, someone who knows about the connections between parts of our feet and the rest of our anatomy. It is the same Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet, enthralled at what is had to say, who is now massaging Jesus’ feet. In the process removing the dirt from the road and filling the house with the fragrance. Unlike Judas, Jesus knows just what Mary’s act of devotion means.
“Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.
Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, “Why wasn’t this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.
Jesus said, “Let her alone. She’s anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don’t always have me.””
Prayer
May our thoughts acknowledge where there is need. May our actions be full of justice. May our love for Christ be sincere. Amen
Janice Clark – Area Trustee for Yorkshire North & East, Yorkshire West & Sheffield
Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash
