I always enjoy preaching from the Gospel of John. Being arguably the closest human being to Jesus
on this earth, John’s in a position to give us a personal touch along with the clear explanations of
Jesus’ life and work that have anchored our faith since the First Century. And the first eight verses
of John 12 are tightly woven. Along with the passages before it and after it they lead us right into
the events of Holy Week that we begin observing next Sunday, which of course is Palm Sunday.
What I’d like to do this morning is to go through today’s story chronologically, hopefully sketching a
picture of its significance as I do so. Today’s passage begins on p. 81 of the New Testament portion
of your pew Bibles if you care to follow along. But first I’d like to call your attention to the sections
just before today’s reading. We won’t fully understand the first eight verses of John 12 until we see
how this all folds together.
You’ll notice that in the pew Bibles there are headings for each section. Starting with Chapter 11,
the headings are “The Death of Lazarus”, “Jesus the Resurrection and the Life”, “Jesus Weeps”,
“Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life,” and “The Plot to Kill Jesus.” This sequence is very important. What’
s just happened is that Jesus had come to Bethany, where Mary and Martha’s brother (and Jesus’
friend) Lazarus had died. In fact, Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for four days, and his
sisters were grief-stricken.
Jesus seized this opportunity to announce his identity and his mastery over death. He said to
Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Then he announced to those gathered, “I am the resurrection
and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die.” Jesus was moved to the core, both by the grief of Lazarus’ surviving
family and friends, and by the outrageous injustice of death. Jesus wept, then stood before the
tomb and commanded Lazarus to come out, and he did. And so Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead.
Now, the chief priests and Pharisees had been gunning for Jesus for some time, and this was the
final straw. They were worried that people would begin following Jesus en masse, and that this
would invite the wrath of their Roman overlords. So they decided that it was in the best interest of
the Jewish people that Jesus be killed. In the mean time, Jesus and the disciples went to the little
village of Ephraim to avoid being taken.
And so the events of Holy Week were set into action. Rod Whitacre writes of this: “Thus, by giving
life to Lazarus, Jesus has sealed his own death. [And] in what follows we see the even greater irony
that through his death comes life for the world.” So this is all the backdrop for today’s Gospel
reading, and for the all-important events that follow.
And now Chapter 12 begins with John telling us: “Six days before the Passover (that is, the day
before what we now call Palm Sunday), Jesus came back to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he
had raised from the dead.” As you might imagine, they’re rather happy to see Jesus. So they throw
a little party for him. Martha serves the food, and Lazarus, the one who was raised from the dead, is
sitting at the table with Jesus.
Then something happens that would be absolutely jarring for a traditional Jew of the First Century.
Their sister, Mary, produces a jar of expensive perfume made of what’s now known as spikenard,
and begins pouring it over Jesus’ feet. Spikenard is a fragrance produced by crushing rhizomes of
the plant of the spikenard plant. It grows in north India and generally in the Himalayas. The amount
used by Mary here would be worth an average workman’s annual wages. This was very expensive
stuff.
When I was at Trinity our then Dean/President, Peter Moore, brought a small jar of spikenard to a
morning chapel service. Afterward he opened it up and soon the fragrance filled the whole chapel.
It has a pungent and unforgettable aroma—a very intriguing scent. And John describes the
situation at that house in Bethany the same way. He says, “The house was filled with the fragrance
of the perfume.” This is typical John, and a very convincing reply to some who argue that the
Apostle John wasn’t the writer of the Gospel that bears his name. The detail here is that of an
eyewitness who’s moved by the memory.
But here Mary does something doubly shocking. She begins wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair. This
would have been considered a breach of manners of the worst kind. No self-respecting Jewish
woman would be likely to allow herself to act so brazenly. It would have really gotten the busybodies
busy. “Look at that shameless display! And he’s a rabbi!” And even to this day, some readers have
made some pretty controversial judgments against Lazarus’ sister for this.
But personally I think the only really sensible interpretation of her behavior is that Mary is so
completely selfless and devoted to her Master that the taboos of her culture were meaningless by
comparison. The very fact that she’s identified by St. Luke sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening
is another indicator of this (Lk. 10:39). In that culture, at that time, this was the sole prerogative of
male disciples. Women were supposed to be in the background. And she’s not only here as a
listener, but as one who adores Jesus with such abandon that the only way she knows to express
herself is by pouring unimaginably expensive perfume on his feet and wiping them with her hair.
After all, just days before Jesus had raised her brother from the dead. This is an act of love and
devotion, not just a display of questionable boundaries.
Now let’s look at verse 4. This is where it’s appropriate to cue the “Darth Vader” theme from Star
Wars. Because, of all people, it’s Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, who objects. He says, “Wait
a minute! All this expensive perfume could be sold and the money given to the poor. This is
wrong!” And you know what? To most of us, that probably sounds pretty reasonable. We’re
practical people who want to serve God and our neighbor in a practical way, just like Martha. John
of course adds an aside concluding that Judas actually had been embezzling from the fund he was
charged to administrate. But doesn’t it sound reasonable to spend the money on helping the poor
rather than “wasting” expensive perfume? It does to me.
But as always, Jesus is full of surprises. And when we look at this particular surprise closely, we find
that it makes a lot of sense. Jesus says (verse 7), “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.” Now if these words were spoken by anyone other than the Son of God and the Savior of
the world, they would be the height of hubris. But you see, this is exactly the point. Jesus isn’t
someone other than the Son of God and the Savior of the world. This is what puts this entire
irrational sounding dialogue into perspective.
Looks look at this closely. First, when Jesus chides Judas Iscariot, in addition to probably reading
the deceit in his heart, he’s saying that at best Judas does not understand who Jesus is. He simply
doesn’t get it. He’s just focusing on how the money should be spent, with selfish, dishonest ulterior
motives at that. Do you see the contrast between Judas and Mary? Brooke Westcott writes, “Mary
in her devotion unconsciously provides for the honor of the dead. Judas in his selfishness
unconsciously brings about the death itself.” Who knows but if this very event may have contributed
to a big part of Judas’ decision to betray Jesus.
And when Jesus confronts Judas, he says those words that, out of context, sound a little insensitive.
“You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” But please hear this: We
should be very clear that by saying “the poor are always with us” Jesus is absolutely not giving an
excuse to ignore the needs of the poor. Jesus is very clear about this in Matthew 25, where he says
that if we don’t feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the prisoner, we’ve failed God and man
alike, and on the Day of Judgment, will be greeted by those dreaded words, “I never knew you.”
No, Jesus is saying something different. He’s saying that there’s something happening here of
infinitely greater importance than our material needs on this earth. This life is but a brief (but
important) chapter in a book that stretches to eternity. Jesus is about to do a work that brings
humankind back into relationship with the Creator, and provides the pathway for eternal, blissful life
in His presence. I’ve said it before and will say it again, it’s about who Jesus is, and about his love
for us, and about what he’s done for us in his love. Jesus says, “You do not always have me.” He
knows that his time on this earth is growing short. He makes mention that the perfume was bought
to be kept for his burial. The pivotal week in human history is about to begin, and Jesus knows what’
s coming. And what’s coming is the key to everything as far as the human race is concerned.
I think it’s only right that we not neglect the final three verses of John 9, which come right after today’
s reading. Here John comments that a great crowd caught wind of the fact that Jesus was there with
the one he raised from the dead. They knew something big was happening. And the chief priests
knew that they knew that something big was happening. And this was very, very threatening to
them. People were turning their loyalty toward Jesus and away from them. Verse 10 says this: “So
the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well.”
I just want to conclude by saying that, as we’ve seen so often in Scripture, the claims of Jesus and
his gospel seem to have a polarizing effect on people. We’re either driven to our knees by
amazement and adoration, or we’re disgusted and outraged. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of
middle ground. “Whoever isn’t for me is against me,” Jesus once said, “whoever doesn’t gather with
me scatters.” And Paul once wrote, “The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Polarization.
Next week we’ll see that polarization intensify even further, as, the very next day after the events
described in today’s Gospel, Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to prepare for the
Passover Feast. Upon that event the spiritual destiny of the human race will turn. Because there
Christ our Passover will be sacrificed for us. But for this day I invite us to reflect upon the kind of
devotion that would cause a person to lose herself to the point that even those things we think most
proper recede into unimportance.
May each of us see clearly who Jesus is and what he’s done for us, and learn to sit at the feet of our
Master with the same adoration. Amen.
on this earth, John’s in a position to give us a personal touch along with the clear explanations of
Jesus’ life and work that have anchored our faith since the First Century. And the first eight verses
of John 12 are tightly woven. Along with the passages before it and after it they lead us right into
the events of Holy Week that we begin observing next Sunday, which of course is Palm Sunday.
What I’d like to do this morning is to go through today’s story chronologically, hopefully sketching a
picture of its significance as I do so. Today’s passage begins on p. 81 of the New Testament portion
of your pew Bibles if you care to follow along. But first I’d like to call your attention to the sections
just before today’s reading. We won’t fully understand the first eight verses of John 12 until we see
how this all folds together.
You’ll notice that in the pew Bibles there are headings for each section. Starting with Chapter 11,
the headings are “The Death of Lazarus”, “Jesus the Resurrection and the Life”, “Jesus Weeps”,
“Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life,” and “The Plot to Kill Jesus.” This sequence is very important. What’
s just happened is that Jesus had come to Bethany, where Mary and Martha’s brother (and Jesus’
friend) Lazarus had died. In fact, Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for four days, and his
sisters were grief-stricken.
Jesus seized this opportunity to announce his identity and his mastery over death. He said to
Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” Then he announced to those gathered, “I am the resurrection
and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and
believes in me will never die.” Jesus was moved to the core, both by the grief of Lazarus’ surviving
family and friends, and by the outrageous injustice of death. Jesus wept, then stood before the
tomb and commanded Lazarus to come out, and he did. And so Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead.
Now, the chief priests and Pharisees had been gunning for Jesus for some time, and this was the
final straw. They were worried that people would begin following Jesus en masse, and that this
would invite the wrath of their Roman overlords. So they decided that it was in the best interest of
the Jewish people that Jesus be killed. In the mean time, Jesus and the disciples went to the little
village of Ephraim to avoid being taken.
And so the events of Holy Week were set into action. Rod Whitacre writes of this: “Thus, by giving
life to Lazarus, Jesus has sealed his own death. [And] in what follows we see the even greater irony
that through his death comes life for the world.” So this is all the backdrop for today’s Gospel
reading, and for the all-important events that follow.
And now Chapter 12 begins with John telling us: “Six days before the Passover (that is, the day
before what we now call Palm Sunday), Jesus came back to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he
had raised from the dead.” As you might imagine, they’re rather happy to see Jesus. So they throw
a little party for him. Martha serves the food, and Lazarus, the one who was raised from the dead, is
sitting at the table with Jesus.
Then something happens that would be absolutely jarring for a traditional Jew of the First Century.
Their sister, Mary, produces a jar of expensive perfume made of what’s now known as spikenard,
and begins pouring it over Jesus’ feet. Spikenard is a fragrance produced by crushing rhizomes of
the plant of the spikenard plant. It grows in north India and generally in the Himalayas. The amount
used by Mary here would be worth an average workman’s annual wages. This was very expensive
stuff.
When I was at Trinity our then Dean/President, Peter Moore, brought a small jar of spikenard to a
morning chapel service. Afterward he opened it up and soon the fragrance filled the whole chapel.
It has a pungent and unforgettable aroma—a very intriguing scent. And John describes the
situation at that house in Bethany the same way. He says, “The house was filled with the fragrance
of the perfume.” This is typical John, and a very convincing reply to some who argue that the
Apostle John wasn’t the writer of the Gospel that bears his name. The detail here is that of an
eyewitness who’s moved by the memory.
But here Mary does something doubly shocking. She begins wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair. This
would have been considered a breach of manners of the worst kind. No self-respecting Jewish
woman would be likely to allow herself to act so brazenly. It would have really gotten the busybodies
busy. “Look at that shameless display! And he’s a rabbi!” And even to this day, some readers have
made some pretty controversial judgments against Lazarus’ sister for this.
But personally I think the only really sensible interpretation of her behavior is that Mary is so
completely selfless and devoted to her Master that the taboos of her culture were meaningless by
comparison. The very fact that she’s identified by St. Luke sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening
is another indicator of this (Lk. 10:39). In that culture, at that time, this was the sole prerogative of
male disciples. Women were supposed to be in the background. And she’s not only here as a
listener, but as one who adores Jesus with such abandon that the only way she knows to express
herself is by pouring unimaginably expensive perfume on his feet and wiping them with her hair.
After all, just days before Jesus had raised her brother from the dead. This is an act of love and
devotion, not just a display of questionable boundaries.
Now let’s look at verse 4. This is where it’s appropriate to cue the “Darth Vader” theme from Star
Wars. Because, of all people, it’s Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus, who objects. He says, “Wait
a minute! All this expensive perfume could be sold and the money given to the poor. This is
wrong!” And you know what? To most of us, that probably sounds pretty reasonable. We’re
practical people who want to serve God and our neighbor in a practical way, just like Martha. John
of course adds an aside concluding that Judas actually had been embezzling from the fund he was
charged to administrate. But doesn’t it sound reasonable to spend the money on helping the poor
rather than “wasting” expensive perfume? It does to me.
But as always, Jesus is full of surprises. And when we look at this particular surprise closely, we find
that it makes a lot of sense. Jesus says (verse 7), “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.” Now if these words were spoken by anyone other than the Son of God and the Savior of
the world, they would be the height of hubris. But you see, this is exactly the point. Jesus isn’t
someone other than the Son of God and the Savior of the world. This is what puts this entire
irrational sounding dialogue into perspective.
Looks look at this closely. First, when Jesus chides Judas Iscariot, in addition to probably reading
the deceit in his heart, he’s saying that at best Judas does not understand who Jesus is. He simply
doesn’t get it. He’s just focusing on how the money should be spent, with selfish, dishonest ulterior
motives at that. Do you see the contrast between Judas and Mary? Brooke Westcott writes, “Mary
in her devotion unconsciously provides for the honor of the dead. Judas in his selfishness
unconsciously brings about the death itself.” Who knows but if this very event may have contributed
to a big part of Judas’ decision to betray Jesus.
And when Jesus confronts Judas, he says those words that, out of context, sound a little insensitive.
“You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” But please hear this: We
should be very clear that by saying “the poor are always with us” Jesus is absolutely not giving an
excuse to ignore the needs of the poor. Jesus is very clear about this in Matthew 25, where he says
that if we don’t feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit the prisoner, we’ve failed God and man
alike, and on the Day of Judgment, will be greeted by those dreaded words, “I never knew you.”
No, Jesus is saying something different. He’s saying that there’s something happening here of
infinitely greater importance than our material needs on this earth. This life is but a brief (but
important) chapter in a book that stretches to eternity. Jesus is about to do a work that brings
humankind back into relationship with the Creator, and provides the pathway for eternal, blissful life
in His presence. I’ve said it before and will say it again, it’s about who Jesus is, and about his love
for us, and about what he’s done for us in his love. Jesus says, “You do not always have me.” He
knows that his time on this earth is growing short. He makes mention that the perfume was bought
to be kept for his burial. The pivotal week in human history is about to begin, and Jesus knows what’
s coming. And what’s coming is the key to everything as far as the human race is concerned.
I think it’s only right that we not neglect the final three verses of John 9, which come right after today’
s reading. Here John comments that a great crowd caught wind of the fact that Jesus was there with
the one he raised from the dead. They knew something big was happening. And the chief priests
knew that they knew that something big was happening. And this was very, very threatening to
them. People were turning their loyalty toward Jesus and away from them. Verse 10 says this: “So
the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well.”
I just want to conclude by saying that, as we’ve seen so often in Scripture, the claims of Jesus and
his gospel seem to have a polarizing effect on people. We’re either driven to our knees by
amazement and adoration, or we’re disgusted and outraged. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of
middle ground. “Whoever isn’t for me is against me,” Jesus once said, “whoever doesn’t gather with
me scatters.” And Paul once wrote, “The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” Polarization.
Next week we’ll see that polarization intensify even further, as, the very next day after the events
described in today’s Gospel, Jesus makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to prepare for the
Passover Feast. Upon that event the spiritual destiny of the human race will turn. Because there
Christ our Passover will be sacrificed for us. But for this day I invite us to reflect upon the kind of
devotion that would cause a person to lose herself to the point that even those things we think most
proper recede into unimportance.
May each of us see clearly who Jesus is and what he’s done for us, and learn to sit at the feet of our
Master with the same adoration. Amen.
Lost in Adoration
John 12:1-8
John 12:1-8
March 21, 2010
Fr. Dan Tuton
Fr. Dan Tuton
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