Read: Mark 14:1-11.
Encouragement and Opposition (26 Jun 2016)
Let us pray, Heavenly Father, we have participated with our hearts and mind before you in praise and adoration. Now as we hear your Word through Jesus, I asked that you steady our minds and open our ears, encourage us by your Spirit to receive the Word today. Amen
Today, we will take the journey that leads to the betrayal of our Lord Jesus Christ into the hands of the religious leaders, the Chief Priests of the Sanhedrin. While thousands of Passover pilgrims were preparing for the joys of the feast, Jesus was preparing for the ordeal of His trial and crucifixion. What has just occurred in Chapter 13 about the end times, Mark now traces Jesus immediate present events as an eyewitness. Mark gives a specific event that are about to take place in two days’ time, the Passover and the Festival of the Unleavened Bread (v1). It is a time of celebration of remembering God’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. Passover is an event recorded in Exodus 12 when the first-born males in Egypt died where there was no blood the door-frames and those of the Israelites were ‘passed over’, literally ‘to spare’ because of the blood. A special meal was instituted that night and held annual by Jews ever since as a memorial to the Exodus. The act of the ‘pass over’ is ‘to save from death’ and the blood was from an unblemished lamb. In Exodus 12, we hear the decrees of Moses from the Lord, a perpetual ordinance for the Israelites to observe and practice. The ‘Passover’ was a festival to the Lord, where wine is used to represent the blood of the sacrifice and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, held over seven days to remember the deliverance from Egypt. We are two days out of the most important celebration that we observed in worshiping God and it is also an important time for the Chief Priests of the Sanhedrin, where they make the special sacrifice in the temple to God. We are not privilege to what the Chief Priests were conspiring, they were determined to get rid of our teacher Jesus, they were envy of him but they did not to do anything while the festival was on because of the people. The Chief Priests and the scribes were the opposition to Jesus’ teaching and ministry. After all, they were the established church authority and they say how God to be worship. Jesus was seen as encroaching upon their space, crossed the boundary line of society and teaching a new way to live, to worship God. The people were being healing, restored and made whole. “The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to take Jesus into custody “by trickery,” that is, “by surprise” and away from the crowds “....and kill him.” The plan to kill Jesus was not new. But we may well believe, however, that the leaders were now more determined than ever to destroy Jesus.” (Felker (2010), “Do What You Can for Jesus”) However, they had a problem. Though they passionately desired to destroy Jesus, they did not know how to do this without creating more trouble for themselves, as v.2 indicates.
“The plotters realized that Jesus had many friends and adherents, especially among the thousands of Galileans attending the Passover. So they decide to wait patiently until the people had returned to their homes. Then, when it was all safe, they would kill Jesus! Or so they thought. “Not at the Festival,” said the plotters. “At the Festival,” said the Almighty. Later we shall see that the plan of God overruled the plans of man.” (Felker (2010), “Do What You Can for Jesus”)
As we traveled with Jesus, we arrived at Bethany, a town outside of Jerusalem and on the outskirt at the house of Simon. Where was Jesus and it has an important lesson for us today in being an authentic and relevant church? Jesus was outside the city limits because they were at the home of Simon the Leper and according to Jewish rules, he was unclean. Since we are associating with Jesus, we are also unclean as we recline at the table along with the disciples. A woman comes in with no advance notice or warning, invades the space without an invitation to attend.
Who was this woman? Both our reading in Mark and Matthew’s Gospel does not indicate who this woman is but the Gospel of John chapter 12 contains an account of Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus anointing Jesus with a costly perfume of pure nard. Judas objects to the use of the perfume. The basic teaching in John’s Gospel is the same being unfolded in our journey with Mark. Should we afford her the name of Mary or leave her with an unknown name? All I know is that John is retelling his testimony about Jesus from his engagement as a disciple for people to get to know who Jesus was and is. The woman comes in to where Jesus was reclining, break open the alabaster jar containing pure nard. Nard is a perfume oil from India via the trade routes and very expensive – a year wages. We are astonished at the expensive perfume used and suddenly one of the disciple Judas was angry over the waste. The product could have sold and the money could have help the poor. His fellow disciples also felt indignation over the event but Jesus defended her.
This is what he said to us. “Leave her alone, why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.” (Mark 14: 6-9 NRSV)
In this woman’s action Jesus saw a preparation for his death: an anointing of his body for burial. He said she has performed a good service. We were reminded that the poor would always be there for help but not so with Jesus. His final words this woman’s action would be told in remembrance of her as part of the good news being proclaimed. This is unfolding before our eyes and ears in the now but Jesus is inferring the future.
I am totally struck by verse 9, "Truly I tell you, wherever the good news (gospel) is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her." We so often portrayed Judas betraying Jesus as the first act in the suffering and death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that we glimpse or pass over the preparation for His burial by the woman. Here Jesus instruct that this act of sacrifice by this woman is to become a tradition by remembering her in of our faith. In my association with the church, I am not aware of remembering her importance in the Easter story. We celebrate the triumphal entry upon the donkey, the last supper, the betrayal, the sentencing, the death on the cross and his resurrection. Yet her preparation of Jesus burial is significant according to Jesus that he defended her action and counsel his disciples accordingly. What are your thoughts from this verse and how does it play out in practice when remembering the Easter event? How often do we engage with her in our witnessing of the gospel proclamation - the preparation of Jesus' burial? We immediately relive the economic cost greater than the burial preparation of Jesus and that was the objection of the disciples - the economic use of the product.
While we are still with Jesus, one of his disciple Judas Iscariot leaves in disgust, he is angry over the waste of the perfume. He goes and visit the Chief Priests to betray Jesus to them. The chief priests rejoiced and promise Judas financial incentive upon execution in delivering Jesus to them. What is going on in Jesus’ life at this particular point in time? He has come to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover to die in fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, and in fulfillment of all the predictive rituals and prophecies of this saving death on our behalf. To save us from death, the wages of sin is death as Romans 6:23 declares. In two days’ time he will deliberately bring to completion in time and space that which was planned before the beginning of time and space.
Let us pray, Heavenly Father, following you can be tough especially ministering to the outsiders of societies, sitting and fellowship with them. We are sometime afraid of being friends with outsiders of the community. Even with those that are different in lifestyles, the marginalised and the destitute in our community. Help us Lord.
