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The Anointing of Christ / Passion Sunday

Readings: Isaiah 43: 16-21; Philippians 3: 4-14; John 12:1-8

28/03/04

Today is the first day of Passiontide, the last fortnight of Lent. In the gospels it's a time when every word and action of Jesus and those around him becomes invested with a special symbolic significance. It's a time when Jesus was hiding right under the noses of his enemies, as he lives out his final days, teaching his last lessons to disciples who sometimes still don't seem to understand.

During this season in the church year, some people choose to give something up, some to take on something extra. But more importantly, for me anyway, this is a time for us to look at our priorities, at who or what is important to us, and to try to move God nearer the top of the list.

Today's gospel reading has a lot to say about Jesus's priorities, and those of the people around him.

We find Jesus in one of his favourite situations: sharing fellowship, and a meal, with friends. He's eating with the brother and sisters, Lazarus, Martha and Mary. We know that they were close friends because, if you read the previous chapter of John's gospel, you'll see that Jesus wept over Lazarus's death, before raising him back to life. This show of Jesus's power over death was a presentiment of his own death, coming all too soon, and his resurrection.

A near-death experience, or the death of a loved one, can cause people to reassess their own lives and priorities so I would imagine that the people round that table had recently thought long and hard about what was important to them.

Lazarus, the host, at table with his guests, probably still amazed and excited by the life he's been given back. Perhaps it's made him think that life is so precious he shouldn't waste it; perhaps he's witnessing to those at the table as to the great things God has done.

Martha is serving the dinner, giving service to her Lord. This time she's not complaining about the lack of help from her sister, so hopefully she's realised that God accepts her practical nature, and her gift of giving hospitality, as well as her sister's more spiritual nature.

And Mary, who, Luke tells us, had listened so avidly to Jesus's teaching, now responds in the most extravagant way.

Mary doesn't just wash Jesus's feet - she anoints them with expensive perfume. This action looks forward to Jesus washing his disciples' feet at the Passover meal a week later. The perfume she used was most likely intended for anointing or embalming her own body in the funeral rites of that time, and Jesus points out that, she has recognized his imminent death by her action. She has done this with an extravagant act of giving, without thought to the cost to herself. For Mary, words are not enough; serving with her sister would not be enough to fully express her feelings toward Jesus. But this act of extravagant love is a reflection of her gratitude for her brother's life; her humbleness, as she goes on her knees before Jesus and uses her hair to dry him; and her recognition, on some level, of what he is and what he will do by dying and overcoming death. She gives us the message that life does not revolve around material possessions; her priority is to worship the Lord in the best way she can.

Judas, on the other hand, shows himself to be a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Perhaps he's jealous: of Mary's spontaneity, of her place close to Jesus's heart, or just of the money he would have made on the sale of the perfume. Rather than seeing Mary's gift as a wonderful and prophetic gesture, he complains about the waste of financial resources. Or, more importantly to him, a waste of his financial resources, since we're told he spends from the common purse as though it belonged to him personally.

Mary must be getting used to her motivations being questioned by now, her sister has previously accused her of laziness, and now Judas accuses her of wasting precious resources. But Jesus didn't agree with either accusation. He says that her priorities are just right, which firmly tells Judas that his priorities are not. Judas shows that despite being one of the Twelve, the inner circle of disciples, he really doesn't have the understanding of Jesus that Mary has gained through her friendship with him.

The prophet Isaiah, in chapter 43, says that the Lord says his chosen people are "formed for (himself) so that they might declare (his) praise". That, he says, is God's ultimate priority for us.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, says that he regards everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. He came from the right family, was learned in the Jewish scriptures, followed the Law strictly and piously - he was a righteous man. But he says it was all "rubbish" compared to Christ. His priority was changed from destroying the church of Christ to wanting to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings.

Prioritizing the material things in our lives: work, home, family, church, can be hard work, and we shouldn't expect our spiritual priorities to be any easier to arrange; so if we look at our lives sometimes and feel that our priorities need to change, it's not so surprising. It's such good news that we don't need to rely solely on our own righteousness, or our own self-control. Mary didn't make her gesture as a righteous person, she made it as someone who loved Jesus and loved God wholeheartedly. Paul didn't rely on his righteousness under the Law, but on "righteousness from God based on faith".

I think the Message translation of Paul's letter to the Philippians puts my final point across very clearly:

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have made it. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back."

There are no experts here, just people who are reaching for Christ and struggling with bringing him higher in the list of priorities. And just as Paul discovered, Christ is reaching out for us, so as we go forward on our journeys through life we should be prepared for our priorities to be changed, perhaps as dramatically as his were.