Reflection for Monday of Holy Week in Covid-19 Land

John 12:1-11 (NRSV)

   ¹ Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ² There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. ³ 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. ⁴ But 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.) ⁷ Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸ You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

   ⁹ When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Reflection

This story is set in the house where just a few days before Lazarus had died. It as a house filled with the stench of death. By the time Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for 4 days. Stinkily dead. It had been a house filled with despair, filled with grief.

Then Jesus had come into their midst and all had been transformed. Lazarus was raised bringing joy and anxiety, because now the stakes were raised. Each sibling responds in different ways. Martha responds were her statement of faith in 11:27 “She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah,^[a] the Son of God, the one coming into the world.””

Lazarus reclines next to Jesus at the meal, and action of intimacy and trust.

Here Mary responds with an equally intimate action of intimacy and trust. A scandalous gesture that goes beyond her sister’s words to life changing actions. The fragrance of her expensive perfume fills this house. It was cloaked in pain and grief, but now is transformed into a place of celebration and joy, life.

This is a gesture that speaks of belonging and new identity. A woman’s hair should only be seen by the men in her family. In this act she is stating that she belongs to Jesus family, Jesus whanau now. And in this act, she becomes the first disciple to realise the horror of what is coming. And to this one she has given absolute loyalty to; she offers her love to help him through what lies ahead.

As we join with Mary this morning, I wonder what grief and pain we bring with us, particularly what grief and anxiety this pandemic is causing?

If you have one, I invite you to light perfumed candle, and to reflect on the ways Jesus might be present in this day. How might Jesus be offering life in this midst of our pain and grief? How are we being is invited into life during this time. You might even want to anoint the people in with you as a reminder of God’s invitation this day.

At the end of the day you might share your experience of this story during this day and how you respond to that.

Alister Hendry in his resource finished todays refection with

Teach us, Loving Lord,

to reflect the extravagance of your love in our lives.

Jesus,

receive our love and worship.

Show us how to give you what we have,

for nothing is too big or small

for us to offer, or for you to use.