Extravagant love (Monday/Holy Week)

‘… And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume’. (John 12:3)

John 12:1-11 (Monday of Holy Week)

Jesus was eating in a safe house ('house' being, literally, the meaning of ‘Bethany’). At this point he was on the run as the Authorities were seeking him. A woman called Mary took a very large consignment of perfume to the value of 300 hundred denarii – apparently the equivalent of ‘a year’s wages’ (verse 5) one denarius being a day’s wage. Some versions say, simply, ‘very costly’ or ‘a pound of costly anointment’.  Now, a year’s wages might be around €30,000 or £25,000 a year in today's world. This, clearly, was top of the range perfume!

John never misses an opportunity to situate a story in the wider drama of Jesus’ impending death.  We are now in the final week of the liturgy of the Christian year moving towards the Passover of the Christ. Such a display of affection, trust and love was not accidental. We may assume that the lady in question had much to be thankful for. She had met goodness, truth and beauty in the person of Jesus. Why wouldn’t she ‘waste’ (to quote brother Judas) a huge and precious gift. Where did she it from? May be it was a gift to her? Or, maybe she traded in such goods? Or, maybe she ran down her savings to buy this? It was an exercise in generosity towards a person who would display the greatest generosity a few days later by the dying on the cross for Mary and Martha and Lazarus and Simon the leper and you and me and everyone else. Judas’ smoke screen about giving the money to the poor instead of wasting it as Mary had just done triggers a saying well known to Jews at that time (Deuteronomy 5:11):

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

Some readers have interpreted both Jesus’ response and the fuller quotation in Deuteronomy to claim that Christians must accept that poverty and severe economic inequality will always exist and that the role of good people is to lessen its effects a little through charitable donations from the surplus we have. This is not consistent with a reading that invites everyone – including Christians – to work for a different world where poverty and all the lack of dignity that goes with it are abolished and the values of the kingdom of God triumph.

Love acts more than speaks

Washing feet was a deeply symbolic (as in connecting and signalling) gesture – something to be repeated later in this week as Jesus gives his disciples (us) a lesson in discipleship.  In Mary’s case it was extravagant involving the mostly costly of perfumes and ointment and her very own hair (a touching and sensuous gesture befitting of John’s gospel). A 21^st century reader might view this gesture as slightly risky and inappropriate. Matthew and Mark’s version of the story is that Mary poured the oil over Jesus’ head. Ointment bucket challenge!  Luke (7:36-50) spells it out in terms of Mary a ‘sinner’ and a well known one at that anoints Jesus with oil in front of everyone. And she was ‘weeping’. She goes one step than Mary in John’s gospel by not only using her hair to wipe the feet of Jesus but she kissed them as well.

Whatever the context and the meaning of gestures in another cultural milieu and time we can be sure that Mary was not ready to settle for half measures. Neither should we in our in particular situation, calling and duty. Mediocrity, timidity and fear of social sanction can impede modern-day Christian witness. But, everything in its rightful place and time!

(‘And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume’ (v. 3). This might hint at high church worship in the Johannine community?!)

And so

In the way that this story is told in the gospel of Matthew (26:6-13) Jesus confounds his listeners by saying that ‘she has done a beautiful thing to me’ (Matthew 26:10) and that ‘wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her’ (Matthew 26:13).  Today, each of us ought to live in such a way that some day – eventually – we will be a good memory for others who follow in our families and in our circles of friendships and acquaintances. Actions speak louder than world (the gospels do not indicate that Mary said anything).  Mary ‘did what she could’ (Mark 14:8). We should do what we can as long as there is light. And we should be generous and prompt about it. Leave the rest to God.