St Leonard

Today is Passion Sunday when we remember that Jesus loves us so much, he was so passionate about us that he died for us on the cross so that we might live with him where he is forever.

Our gospel contrasts two of the disciples for whom Jesus was about to lay down his life, Mary of Bethany who loves Jesus and submits to him as her Lord and Judas Iscariot who is following Jesus for a different reason and who has different expectations .

Both had the privilege of spending time with Jesus as he entered the final week before his crucifixion

Bethany was a useful stopping off place on the way to Jerusalem, near to the Mount of Olives and somewhere where Jesus and his disciples frequently came to relax when they came up to worship at the festivals in Jerusalem.

What Jesus was doing on this occasion was highly dangerous. Since Jesus had raised Mary and Martha’s brother from the dead, the religious authorities had been looking for ways in which they could have both Jesus and Lazarus killed.

John tells us it was six days before the Passover, the time when the lambs would be slain in the temple so that Jewish families could commemorate their freedom festival, when Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt into the wilderness where they would be formed into their identity as the people of God

John at the beginning of his gospel had pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Jesus was about to bring a new community of followers drawn not just from the nation of Israel but from the whole world

He was about to bring an end to the sacrifice of lambs for the forgiveness of sins in the temple

He was giving his life, and shedding his blood so that we can be forgiven and set free

Instead of feasting on the Passover lamb, we are both invited to feast with Jesus who is present every time we sit down to eat a meal and to feast on Jesus himself today.

Like us, Jesus spent a lot of time eating both with his friends and his enemies

Ostensibly, Jesus is eating with his best friends at this meal

Along with the twelve special friends he had chosen is Lazarus, who everyone present knew Jesus loved because they had seen him crying at his tomb. He is eating with them

Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary who Jesus had raised from the dead. His presence at the table would remind everyone there of how powerful Jesus was and of how he could command life out of death

Martha was doing what she usually did, serving the meal and making sure everyone was comfortable

The men would be lying round the food on a couch with their feet stretched out behind them, eating as was the custom and the women would eat separately after serving the men

This is still the arrangement in many Middle Eastern and Asian households today.

Whereas Martha accepted the status quo, Mary didn’t.

Luke’s gospel tells us of how she had taken the part of a disciple and sat at the feet of Jesus being taught by him while Martha did the hard work on a previous visit

Both Martha and Mary had shown that they understood more about who Jesus was than most of the men before Lazarus was raised. They both said Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God who was coming into the world, and they both had a close friendship with Jesus, the sort that most women were unable to have with men whom they were not related to.

Possibly this was because they were both unmarried and because Martha was the head of the household. We do not know why Lazarus wasn’t in this role; maybe he was disabled or very young.

We do know that Jesus and the women of this household felt very comfortable in each other’s company

On this occasion, when there were so many men present, Mary must have felt excluded from the inner circle and once against her actions are totally unexpected.

She possessed a pound of costly perfume made of spikenard which she pours out, anointing Jesus’ feet with it.

Jesus and his disciples should have had their feet washed and have been anointed with a drop of oil when they arrive. This observance would usually be carried out dutifully by servants

Mary’s act, however, seemed an unnecessary extravagance.

Mary’s heart was overflowing in love for Jesus and she knew that the end of Jesus’ time on earth was coming soon. She had to show him how much she loved him while he was still able to receive that love in a physical way

Mary didn’t wipe Jesus’ feet clean with a towel and might be expected, she took of her head dress and she wiped the feet with her hair

What she did was outrageous. Imagine a veiled Moslem woman doing this today to a man she was unrelated to in a room full of men

Adult women kept their hair bound and covered unless they were with their families

Their hair was considered their glory .What Mary was doing must have seemed erotic. It was likely to lead to her being accused of being a loose, immoral woman; a shameless hussy

She had poured out her most costly possession and now she was pouring out her beauty and her glory at Jesus’ feet.

Her skin was touching the skin of Jesus. She was washing his feet just as Jesus would wash the feet of his disciples gently with love

Jesus wasn’t afraid of being touched by a woman

Whereas no orthodox Jew would have allowed a woman to touch hi, Jesus treated men and women equally

Mary was giving Jesus her whole self, leaving herself open to rejection, mockery and criticism

Mary loved Jesus so much that it didn’t matter to her what people thought

Why did Mary behave so rashly? Why did she love Jesus so much?

There are many reasons why Mary would have loved Jesus

We have already heard that Jesus raised her brother from the dead

That he made time for her and commended her for sitting at his feet

She knew he was the Son of God and therefore what she did was an act of worship. Prostrating ourselves humbly at Jesus feet, loving him and giving ourselves to him are a way we can and should worship him today. He is our God and our Lord

Jesus gives a different reason as to why she did it. He says that she bought the spikenard so that she might keep it for the day of Jesus’ burial. Mary knew that the body of Jesus was going to be abused and put to shame. She would not have the opportunity to anoint and prepare the body for burial so she was doing it while she had the opportunity. Mary loved Jesus because he was going to die for her sake. He was pouring out is life for her so she was pouring out hers for him

What Mary did filled the whole house with the fragrance of the perfume. When we love and worship with our whole being, something beautiful and fragrant fills this place and changes the atmosphere, enabling everyone to experience God’s presence here with us

What Mary did is compared with Judas. Like Mary, he was in a privileged position and loved by Jesus

He was the group’s treasurer and clearly had business acumen. It is the job of our treasurers to use what is given wisely. It is not surprising that he was horrified by what Mary did. We would be too. He criticises her for not selling the perfume probably worth a year’s wages, and giving the money to the poor. Her gesture seems useless to him. What did it achieve?

Being a treasurer is a tough job. Joy, our treasurer’s work enables me to spend more time caring for others and worshipping. Dealing with accounts and money doesn’t bless the volunteer doing it. I am very grateful for what Joy does.

It is right that we should care for the poor. We do so. Just last week, Jackie took the money from Lent lunches and bought produce to support the homeless which she took to Belton Grove. Jesus was anointed to be good news to the poor. He summed up his ministry in this way.

The passage makes clear, however, that Judas didn’t care for the poor and that he was a thief. He stole either for his own benefit or to support a cause and Jesus knew he was stealing and didn’t challenge him. Jesus also knew that by this point Judas was so embittered that he was going to betray him for thirty pieces of silver.

Mary loved Jesus because of who he was and what he was going to do

I believe Judas was disappointed with Jesus because he wasn’t the kind of Messiah he wanted and expected

Judas wasn’t passionate about Jesus. He was passionate about the Jews. He was a patriot. His name suggests that he was one of the zealots. He didn’t expect Jesus to die but to rise against Rome and Jesus was not fulfilling those expectations with all his talk about dying. Judas was a political manipulator who couldn’t get Jesus to do what he wanted him to do.

In many ways the position of Judas makes more sense than Mary’s adoration. He was the political pragmatist, the one who got things done, an activist

Yet Judas’ cynical criticism is an attack upon love and worship and an attack on a defenceless woman. He is attempting to take control, to force Jesus’ hand, to make the decisions about what should be spent on what.

Who are we most like in this story. Judas or Mary? Like them, we have come here this morning to eat with Jesus. Are our hearts critical or are they full of love

Have we come with our own agendas or are we here to thank Jesus for loving us and raising us to new life?

Are we here to worship and submit to Jesus because he is the Son of God without using the church for our ends?

And do we recognise, like Mary that Jesus was crucified because he loved and loves us with a passionate love. He gave his whole being in love for us. Are we like Mary able to accept his love and love him in return?

St Leonard

St Leonard

Get in touch

Revd Jane Platt

Holly Hill Church. Every Tuesday during Term Time at 3.30 pm Holly Hill Church School.

Holly Hill Church. Every Tuesday during Term Time at 3.30 pm Holly Hill Church School.

Laying Our Lives Down in Worship

St Leonard

St Leonard

Get in touch

Revd Jane Platt

Holly Hill Church. Every Tuesday during Term Time at 3.30 pm Holly Hill Church School.

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Laying Our Lives Down in Worship