Two Rivers Pastoral Charge
April 3, 2022 – 5th Sunday of Lent
Scripture Reading: John 12:1-8
I want to set the scene for this week’s reading. In the chapter before this one, Jesus was in Bethany, summoned there because his beloved friend Lazarus had died. Jesus weeps at the death of his friend, he offers consolation to Lazarus’s sisters, Martha and Mary, and then he raises Lazarus back to life.
In the passage that we read today, Jesus is back in Bethany, at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and this time Mary takes a pound of expensive perfume – perfume that cost her the equivalent of a year’s salary – and she pours this perfume on Jesus feet and wipes his feet with her hair.
Immediately after today’s story, Jesus is going to enter Jerusalem riding a donkey, accompanied by his disciples and a parade of people waving palm branches; and from there the events of Holy Week are going to unfold.
And a few days later, Jesus is going to bend over the feet of his disciples, and wash them from a basin of water, and dry their feet with a towel.
When I looked at this story this week – a story that is so familiar to me – what struck me this time around was having these two stories of foot washing so close to one another. In one chapter, we have Jesus’s feet being washed and dried by his beloved friend, Mary; and in the very next chapter we have Jesus washing the feet of his beloved friends. They are both stories of deep intimacy. Exposing our feet to another person can make us feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. And in this section of John’s gospel, we see Jesus both receiving and giving this vulnerable sort of love.
Today’s story, along with intimacy and vulnerability, it also speaks to our senses. The sense of touch, as Mary anoints and wipes Jesus’s feet. And especially the sense of smell, as the aroma of the nard, the aroma of the perfume would have filled the room, filled the house, filled the noses of everyone who was there that day.
And as Jesus moves through the events of Holy Week, the scent of this perfume would have accompanied him. As he traveled in to Jerusalem, with each step, with each sway of his robes, the scent of Mary’s perfume would have risen up to meet his nose. As he gathered with his disciples to celebrate the Passover meal, and as he bent over to wash their feet, the scent of Mary’s perfume would have filled that room. As he was arrested and placed on trial, I wonder if Pilate and the soldiers could smell the remnants of the perfume. As he hung on the cross, I wonder if the wind carried a whiff of this perfume to Jesus’s nose, and when he smelled it, did Jesus remember Mary’s extravagant gift, and did he remember that he was loved? And when Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus carried Jesus’s body to the tomb, were they able to smell this perfume that still lingered on his body?
The word “Christ” in
Greek, or “Messiah” in Hebrew means “The Anointed One,” and with today’s
reading, Jesus has been anointed. He has had perfumed oil poured over his body.
Anointing is used as a sign of hospitality – the one who is anointed is deeply
welcomed in this space.
Anointing is used to indicate divine presence – God is with the one who is anointed.
Anointing is used for healing – as medicine.
Anointing us used to set a person apart for God – kings and queens are often anointed at their coronation; and in the same way, many traditions anoint people with perfumed oil at their baptism.
Anointing is also used to prepare the body of the dead for the grave.
And with the story that we read today, Jesus is now anointed. He is now the Christ, the Messiah. He has been set apart by his anointing, he has been anointed for healing, and his body has been prepared for the tomb.
And for we who are the church – we are the body of Christ. And when we look at today’s story alongside the story in the next chapter where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, we can see that there is a time for us to serve others, but there is also a time to allow ourselves to be served. In the church, we often find it easy to serve other people, but many of us, myself included, find it difficult to let others tend to our needs.
And so I invite you now to think of the places in your life that need anointing. If it is easier for you to visualize them with your eyes closed, I invite you to close your eyes now.
Is there any part of your physical body in need of healing?
Is there any part of your spiritual self in need of healing?
Is there a relationship in your life that is broken?
Is there a gift or a talent that you have that you long to be anointed, that you long to be set apart or dedicated for God?
Are you carrying around a loss that you haven’t been able to let go of, something that you need to anoint for the grave so that you are able to let it go?
Where do you need anointing today?
And now I invite you to visualize yourself there in the room with Jesus, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and the other disciples. It’s evening, so it’s dark in here, but the lamps are flickering, giving a soft glow to the room.
See Mary open her jar of precious, abundant perfume.
Can you smell the fragrance of the perfume filling the air? It smells more beautiful that anything you have smelt before.
Now Mary is coming over to you. She is pouring her beautifully-scented oil over you, pouring it over the part of you that is in need of anointing. Can you feel the warm oil running over you? Can you feel the beautiful aroma filling your nose?
Can you feel the anointing entering your very being – the healing, the consecration, the preparation, the divine presence?
And now Mary has uncovered her long hair, and she using it to wipe away the excess oil. Sense her closeness to you. Feel the vulnerability of her love. Rest in the love and care that she is offering to you. In this moment, know that you are safe and loved.
And as you prepare to leave the room, breathe in the smell of the perfume. Know that you will carry this scent with you in the days ahead. Know that the love and security and healing will go with you. Know that you are loved.
See the door to the room opening to the outside. Feel the fresh cool air rush in. If there is anything that you need to leave behind in this room, know that you are able to leave it here. Know that this room is a safe place to leave behind any burdens that you have been carrying. Feel yourself moving towards that open door.
If your eyes were closed, I invite you to open them now. Bring yourself back into this time and this place.
And may the healing, the peace, the love go with you, today and always. Amen.
“Anointed” – by Lauren Wright Pittman
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