Mary and Judas

March 17^th, 2012         “Mary and Judas”       Rev. Heather Jepsen

John 12:1-8

          We are near the end of our Lenten journey.  Next week we will celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem for Palm Sunday.  Today we find Jesus enjoying one of his final meals with his friends.  We are reading in the gospel of John this morning, and Jesus has just called his friend Lazarus out of the tomb.  It is for this singular act that the Pharisees and chief priests begin to put a plot into motion to kill Jesus.  They are waiting for him to come to Jerusalem for the Passover, and then they will ambush him.

          But for now, Jesus is in Bethany.  He is dining at the home of friends, Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus.  This is one of those wonderful stories in scripture where we can so easily imagine the scene: Martha in the kitchen, as usual cooking away; Jesus lounging at the table, enjoying a glass of wine and relaxing among his friends; Mary sitting with the group and enjoying the conversation; the disciples filling the space with their hustle and bustle; and Lazarus, enjoying food and drink as he never has before.  It is a beautiful picture of friendship and love. 

          The dinner is going along swimmingly and no one seems to notice when Mary leaves the room.  In fact, no one really notices when she comes back either, settling down near Jesus’ feet.  But then Mary breaks open her nard and all heads in the room whip around to stare.  Mary has a whole pound of the expensive perfume and she proceeds to pour it all on Jesus feet.  She then lets down her long hair, a sign of intimacy in the ancient world, and begins to wipe his feet with it.  As John tells us, the whole house is filled with the fragrance.

          It is hard for us to imagine what this would be like.  I have tried to find a modern example of such an extravagant act.  Mary’s pound of pure nard would have cost almost a year’s worth of wages.  In our modern world, one of the most expense perfumes is Coco Chanel.  A vial this size would be worth over $100 dollars.  Now imagine a whole milk jug full, poured out on Jesus’ feet and spilling on to the floor.  Everyone would be struggling to breathe because the scent was so strong and all of us would be in shock to see such a waste.

          Mary is showing complete abandon in her devotion to the Lord.  She has anointed him so extravagantly that everyone present is able to share in the ritual.  And think of the intimacy involved in wiping his feet with her hair.  Ladies, consider for a moment just whose feet you would wipe with your hair.  I am guessing the list is pretty short if it contains anyone at all.  It is telling that this act remains so shocking even to this day when we have much looser standards regarding bodies and contact.  This is a boldly intimate act, done in front of friends and family.  I am sure Judas was not the only one in the room who felt uncomfortable.

          In this story from John, Mary acts as a prophet.  She knows that Jesus is preparing for his death and so she anoints him for burial.  Later on, after he has died, it will be men who anoint his body and they will do it in secret because they are afraid.  In contrast Mary has anointed Jesus boldly in public, and while he was alive and able to fully appreciate her act. 

          In addition to preparing him for burial, it is important to note that Mary anoints the feet of Jesus rather than the head.  This act foreshadows the foot washing that Jesus will do for his disciples in the coming weeks.  Mary is modeling the discipleship behavior that Jesus will ask of all of his followers. 

          And in the extravagance of her gift, Mary models the generosity that Jesus has shown throughout John’s gospel.  From more wine than anyone could drink, to 12 baskets of leftover bread, to nets that are breaking from too many fish; Jesus has demonstrated that the love of God is an abundant, wasteful love.

          Of course, the counter to Mary in the story is the disciple Judas.  He is the only one bold enough, or foolish enough to speak out regarding Mary’s act.  This gift is so lavish, he complains, it’s too much.  Some of this money should have been given to the poor.  Leaving John’s comment regarding Judas’ morals aside, he does have a valid point.  Mary’s gift is wasteful.  It’s like buying a year’s worth of bread and leaving it outside to rot, it is like killing a cow and not harvesting the meat, it is like pouring a truck load of hot fudge out into the street, it is like cashing out your 401K and dropping the money off a cliff.  An act of adoration yes, but completely wasteful.

          No matter what his motive is, Judas voices the concerns of many.  The perfume that Mary has poured out on her Lord could have been sold and the money given to the poor.  That would be a fine act for a disciple of Christ.  Judas is coming from a logical place.  He knows what the rules are and what the community of disciples should do.  We might not like him, but Judas has a valid point.

          Jesus shuts Judas down though.  “Leave her alone,” he says.  “She bought it so that she might use it for my burial.  You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”  What does Jesus mean?  Believe it or not, throughout the ages people have twisted Christ’s words to mean that we don’t need to care for the poor.  This is why we can’t take things in the Bible out of context, one look at the rest of the gospel will tell us that’s not true.  I think Jesus meant that we always need to be working on behalf of the poor, that in part Judas was right; but at this moment in time, Mary had given a great gift to him and that needed to be respected.

          Will you imagine the scene with me again?  Mary has just broken open the nard and heads turn at the strong smell.  She pours it all out on Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair.  I imagine that the room was silent, with everyone holding their breath.  What they are watching and participating in is an intimate holy moment.  Mary is baring her soul to her Lord, expressing her thankfulness for having her brother back, and giving the most lavish gift that she can imagine.  This is her moment with God, and everyone there suddenly finds themselves on holy ground.

          That’s when Judas breaks in with his quip, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”  Imagine it; the mood is broken, everyone turns to look at him, and suddenly Mary’s great gift of love appears foolish and out of place.  What Judas has done is stolen away the worshipful moment, and he has reduced Mary’s gracious act to nothing but frivolity.  Though his point is valid, what he does is hurtful and wrong.

          As modern Christians, we love to hate Judas; he is the ultimate bad guy.  But I would wager that we are a lot more like him then we care to admit.  Think about how we assume that we know the one way to be a Christian.  When we see someone worshipping in a way we don’t agree with, we shut them down.  When we find someone who reads the Bible differently than us, we tell them they are wrong.  When someone’s faith leads them to a different political understanding and passion than us, we find them offensive and hard to understand.  And when people prefer a different church and a different style of worship, we make snide comments.  We are just as good at ruining other people’s holy spaces as Judas was at ruining Mary’s.

          When we read this story, I think we find that we are not Mary and we are not Judas; rather we are somewhere in the middle.  All of us are called to give our greatest gift to God, the whole of our lives.  We are called to make lavish offerings and to worship our Lord with the abandon that Mary demonstrated.  But we are also trapped in our religious system and full of concerns for conformity like Judas was.  We struggle to see beyond our narrow definitions of proper discipleship.  We would do well to open our minds and hearts to a broader understanding of what the love and worship of God might look like, not only in the lives of others, but in our very own lives as well.

          As we continue on this Lenten road with Jesus we are nearing Jerusalem.  It is there that Jesus will face his suffering and death.  This is the proper time to consider our own acts of faith and love.  How have we modeled our understanding of what it means to be a disciple?  How have we shown God’s extravagant love?  And how have we encouraged others to worship in ways that are meaningful to them?  God has been more extravagant in expressing love toward us than any of us can imagine and that is what we are called to respond to.  Amen.