by The Rev. Dr. Max Lynn
SCRIPTURE READINGS Isaiah 43:16-21, Philippians 3:4b-14, John 12:1-8
Transcribed from the sermon preached on APRIL 6, 2025
John 12:1-8
12Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him. 3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus's feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5"Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" 6(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.) 7Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
At first glance, Judas has a point. This may be an overly expensive, overly dramatic, overly sensual act. Mary, undoing her hair and anointing Jesus with costly perfume. Why not just save the money for the poor.
Sometimes I wish we could listen to bible stories without two thousand years of baggage, doctrine, history and theology attached to them. Like going into a dark theater away from the bright lights and clatter of the busy world, to immerse ourselves into a story. John’s Gospel is strange and different than the other three and carries more cultural baggage than the other three combined. The words are often high, mystical theology. They make big claims. My recommendation is to let John’s words float and linger. Resist a tight grip. It is heart language, not head language. Meanwhile amidst the high, mystical language and theology, we get glimpses of sweet intimacy and love. Nobody gets a more powerful and intimate place in the drama than Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
I’m not sure of the birth order but I can take a pretty good guess. Martha is the oldest, Mary the youngest. Lazarus, we know less about his personality, so I will stick him in the middle. Martha is the leader, the practical one, plain spoken, responsible, hard working. She runs things. Even though Jesus sets her back for criticizing her sister for sitting and listening to Jesus teaching, rather than helping her work, Jesus counts on Martha, on her hospitality and friendship, and all the logistical work she does. She is the one who provides the safe and welcoming space for meals and teaching. While Mary gets credited with listening to the teachings of Jesus, I’m guessing if Jesus handed out a college exam on his teachings and theology, Martha would be the one in the family to get an A. Shortly after her brother Lazareth died, and had been placed in a tomb, and they hear Jesus is nearby, she is the one who goes to find him. “If you would have been here, I’m sure he would not have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
[John 11:24] Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” [25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, [26] and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”He is talking about an embodied, living, now resurrection, a new life resurrection, a new beginning while we are living which will continue even after we die. I am, present tense, now.
He asks her, “Do you believe this?”
This maybe the very centerpiece of John’s Gospel theology: [27] She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.” Jesus, according to John and Martha, is a continuous ongoing presence.
Now Jesus has this conversation straight up face to face and Martha gets credited with perhaps the most important words of the Gospel not spoken by Jesus. Then Martha tells her sister Jesus is near, and she goes out to him, and other grievers with her. Now Mary, the passionate social one, she is the one who shows her grief. She is the one who others grieve with.
Martha holds the space for teaching and food fellowship, celebration, and grief. No doubt friends and neighbors talked to Martha about what they could bring, how they could help. Mary on the other hand…Mary grieves, and others grieve with her and around her. And when he meets up with her, Jesus breaks down and weeps too. Jesus wept. They get one each other’s nerves, but they make a good team, these sisters.
Then Jesus brings Lazarus back to life. Lazarus comes out and Jesus says, “unbound him and let him go.” When we find ourselves in a life draining situation, when the life we have been living leads to a dead end, by grace, Jesus calls us out unbound him, unbound her, unbound them.
Now people freaked out at this miracle. We might imagine that he was in a coma or something, but whatever it was, word got to the Chief Priests and Pharisees (Think Congress and lawyers). They were worried; “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. [John11:48] If we let him go on thus, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.”
“So, from that day on they took counsel how to put him to death.” They are worried because the emperor is someone who can’t handle competition. They are worried this loving healer will stir the jealousy of the emperor and cause a war, destroy the temple and wipe out the nation. Avoiding the wrath of the narcissistic, jealous vengeful leader, it seems, is still an issue for big law, priests, Congress and tech firms. Although it would be hard for the Pharisees to deny that what Jesus is doing is amazing and wonderful, life-giving work, they just can’t get themselves to focus on and honor that. Their fear has stopped their wonder. They are focused more on the power of wealthy vengeful men than on the revelation of the love of God. They decided to do pro bono work for the emperor. The idolatry and fear of the demigod trumps worship of the Living God who gives and demonstrates eternal life now. But not for Mary.
So, Mary has just witnessed this radical turn of events, her brother who was dead and everybody gathered weeping, is raised from the dead, and now because of this miracle, Jesus will now take her brothers place in a tomb. For saving life he will lose his life.
So, this is the context for Mary’s extravagant, sensual act. She sits at Jesus feet, breaks open the jar of perfume, pours it on his feet, and wipes it in with her hair. She is not thinking and reasoning, she isn’t considering the emperor or Herod, she isn’t discussing the issue with the priests and lawyers, she isn’t considering the financial cost, she isn’t considering whether others will judge her, she isn’t asking herself if she is worthy, she isn’t self-consciously contemplating if people will think she is weird, she isn’t holding up her iPhone so she can post it later, she isn’t planning to write a doctrinal or theological dissertation, build a church and make others swear by it. She is still raw with grief, profoundly grateful, deeply in love, feeling she is loved, and wholly, physically, spiritually, heart and soul, all the way present. Right here. Right now. Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Six days later it will be Jesus on the floor. Washing feet. And telling us to do likewise.