Passiontide - The last two weeks of Lent

Notes on the Passion Sunday Narrative from John 12.1–8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

So here’s my question: Can we make some sense of what is going on when Mary pours that expense jar of perfume on Jesus’ feet? The cost of the perfume was equivalent to about one year’s wages for a manual labourer. So here is another question - Is this not a crazy amount of money to spend on a one off act of devotion? So what’s going on here? Is this just gratitude for Jesus’ recent revival of Mary’s dead brother Lazarus? I would suggest that Mary gives all that she has while Jesus is still with them.

Clearly this woman and others in the narrative are a lot smarter than the men take them for. My questions prompt others. What would lead us to offer such a generous and intimate act of devotion? But given our natural reaction both to the cost of Mary’s gift and its intimacy – washing his feet with her hair? In this narrative is Jesus addressing himself to those who hold back from outpourings of faith, love, and service. So what makes us hold back? A chapter later Jesus washes the feet of his disciples with a towel wrapped around his waist and we find a definition of discipleship. Having a personal Relationship with Jesus is understood as an important part of the Christian experience. But many people confuse a private sense of relationship to God with the more communal Theology of service that Jesus calls us to and along with Mary of Bethany provide a clear model.

Father David

Passiontide 2025