I was looking at a Facebook profile for one of my ‘friends’ recently, and under ‘Relationship Status’, he had written ‘It’s complicated’. I chuckled at the memory today when I started to read the 12th chapter of John’s Gospel [John 12:1-11] to start my Holy Week reflections.
In this part
of the Gospel, Jesus is at the home of His friends, Lazarus, Martha, and
Mary. He certainly has had a complicated
relationship with them recently. Lazarus
died and the sisters questioned Jesus regarding His whereabouts. Then Jesus, filled with deep feelings, called
Lazarus forth from the tomb: "Unbind
him and set him free." [John 11:1-44]. And now these four are dining together. I would have loved to be in on that dinner conversation!
Moreover,
Mary decides to pull out this lavish gift, this liter of aromatic nard. She kneels at Jesus' feet and anoints His
feet with oil and dries them with her hair.
And the fragrance of the ointment fills the room! I can almost smell it, just thinking about
it!
I notice
that she's not weeping, not repenting, she's just offering Jesus a dear and
kindly gift. And the marvel is that He
accepts it (much to the consternation of Judas). Let’s linger here a moment and attend to the
care and love that she pours out on Jesus' feet, a mere six days before the
Passover.
I
wonder. Could it be that Mary
'instructed' the Lord? Could it be that
she demonstrates a love and devotion that touched Jesus' heart in a special
way? It's amazing that, just a few days
later, Jesus mirrors this same action.
He kneels at the feet of His disciples and washes their feet [John
13:1-20]! Could it be that the loving
friendship He found in Mary's gesture offered an example for Him to demonstrate
His loving friendship for the disciples?
There’s a
particularly marvelous prayer that I found in my missal for Lent that I think can
help us fix our eyes on Jesus this week.
It says, "As we recall the great events that gave us new life in
Christ, you bring the image of your Son to perfection (‘fullness’ or ‘completion’)
within us."
What I take
away from this Gospel is that maybe we learn some important things in life by
receiving, not just by doing. And maybe
the true things in life, like love and friendship, discipleship, are learned
first by receiving. Let’s recall the
great events that gave us new life in Christ and find that image of Jesus more
complete in our lives. The Lord has done great things for us [Psalm 126]!
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