Further reflection on reverence from Pastor Andrew:
If you were in church Sunday, or listened to the podcast on the church’s website, you heard me preach about reverence. There aren’t a lot of reverent things or places in our world today. Baseball fans may feel a sense of reverence if they visit the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, OH. A veteran may feel reverent standing before the Vietnam Memorial or while visiting Arlington National Cemetery. Reverence is a feeling or attitude of profound respect, and few things in life provoke that feeling.
In John 12:1-10, we see Mary—sister of the ever-busy Martha and recently-dead Lazarus—at Jesus’ feet, wiping his feet with her hair and anointing them with an extremely expensive perfume. The gesture is strange, to say the least, but Mary’s actions flow from a deep reverence for Jesus as her Lord and her Savior. Nothing was too costly, too precious, or too dear to sacrifice for Jesus.
The perfume, pure nard, was worth about a year’s wages. Can you imagine giving someone a gift of $50k or more that isn’t family? These are Jesus’ friends, to be certain, and Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Perhaps the family felt indebted. Wouldn’t you? Had it been a simple matter of paying Jesus back for the miracle He had performed, giving the perfume would seem wiser; instead it is poured out on His feet. Jesus is being honored in life as a precursor to His death. Even though Mary could not have known that in a short time Jesus would be nailed to a cross, she understood that Jesus was worthy of honor and praise.
The only person to object in Luke’s account is Judas Iscariot whom hoped to get his hands on whatever might end up in the disciples’ collective purse. Surely the perfume could have been sold to benefit the poor (or sticky-fingered ne’er-do-wells), but nothing is nobler than honoring Christ.. His incarnation was for a limited time, and Mary chose correctly to focus on Him while He was still present in the flesh.
Most people don’t get honored in life; they are honored after they have died. Epitaphs and eulogies tell the tale of a past life, but Jesus was being honored pre-mortem. Her actions are a foreshadow of the week to come where Jesus will go from King to criminal, hanging between two thieves. This He does willingly in order to carry our sins—the sins of the world—and free of us of them. Mary was willing to put all pride and convention aside to worship and bestow reverence on her King, even offering up what was likely their prized possession. What are you willing to give up? We often forget what Jesus has done for us, even though we celebrate Easter every year, beginning with Lent and through Holy Week. All our focus is on the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in whom we place our faith, hope, and love. Should we not revere Him?
day2dayreflections 