WEDNESDAY: LEPERS, PERFUME AND BETRAYAL

Suggested Reading: Mark 8.31-38; Mark 9.30-37; Mark 10.32-45; Mark 14.1-11

Jesus talked a lot about dying, and few wanted to hear what he had to say. All except a woman who seemed to understand perfectly.

In Mark’s gospel Jesus clearly states on 3 separate occasions he will be killed. His disciples show their skill at missing the point. While Jesus showed them the path to life is not one of ascent but descent – they continue to argue about who is the greatest.

Then, on the Wednesday evening before Jesus’ death, he and his disciples recline at a meal at the home of Simon the Leper. Just before Mark wrote about the meal Mark shared this detail, “… the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him” (Mark 14.1). At this point the predictions by Jesus of his own death seem to be a forgone conclusion. Even so, his disciples still miss what is happening in their midst.

All of that changes however, when a woman shows her understanding. In the middle of the meal, at a table surrounded by men, a she entered the room and poured perfume on Jesus. And this was not just any perfume.

This would have come at great cost to this woman. A jar of this kind of perfume was expensive. Think life-savings-expensive. Think retirement-plan-expensive. Some scholars suggest a jar of perfume like this could have been a family heirloom. Something so costly that it was passed from one generation to the other. And the woman didn’t just drizzle a little on Jesus. She broke the jar and poured it all out on him. She did’t hold back anything. It was an unbelievable moment - one to which the disciples objected. Why?

They contended the money from the sale of the perfume could be used for something better like caring for the poor. This sounded good, and had some truth to it, but what they really did, once again, is miss the point. And Jesus immediately jumped in. He quickly pointed out this woman anointed him for burial. Of course, to be buried one first has to die. Which means, this was another prediction by Jesus of his impending death.

There he was, surrounded by his closest disciples, all of whom had no idea what he was talking about and a woman – whose name we never learn – stepped in and showed she knew exactly what he was talking about. Her expensive act reflected her understanding of Jesus’ death. Not only that, but it showed her willingness to also give up something that would cost her.

In the midst of the disciples failure to understand; she understood perfectly. In the midst of the disciples desire for power and prestige; she gave selflessly.

Then the story Mark recorded takes a dark turn. He wrote, “… Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them” (Mark 14.10). We cannot miss the phrase “one of the twelve.” While Judas acted alone, his act of betrayal was representative of the collective failure of the disciples. And his decision made Jesus’ death inevitable.

This story brings us face to face with the death of Jesus, and demands we make a choice. Will we join him in sacrifice or pursue our own program? And how we answer that question begins with where we are and what we have. If we think we have to wait until we have something costly to make a big sacrifice, we are wrong. Because how we handle what we have right here, right now is how we will handle everything we will one day possess. The invitation implicit in the death of Jesus is to imitate him in his life and in his death.

So how about it? We have a choice to make, and we don’t have a choice about making a choice. As we approach the Friday on which Jesus was executed will we be those who fail to see what his death means? Or will we be like the woman who gave everything and in doing so, found life?