John 12:1-8 (and 9-11 also) (NRSV)
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.'
THOUGHTS:
In the three other canonical gospels, a "nameless" woman anoints Jesus' feet with expensive perfume and is praised by Jesus for her act of love. This woman-- "Mary" in John's gospel-- is "nameless" only because those writers chose not to bother with recognizing her worth. Unlike Mary, whose actions communicated to Jesus in an intimate way that he mattered to her, that he was a beloved child of God who faced a certain and unjust death, these writers chose consciously or unconsciously not to extend love. Why does it matter? Because those choices, and others like them made by the gospel writers, come to bear on the decisions of others that echo into our future. Interpretations were formulated that colluded with negligence, erasure, and the destruction of others. The intention of these writers does not make the impact of these words any less real.
This has been on my mind lately, especially when I encountered the rest of the verses that are included in this selection from the "revised" "common" lectionary. John 12:9-11 reads thus:
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.
Rife with anti-Judaism, these verse portray Jewish leaders as petty and clannish representatives who would rather turn to murder than face the supposedly "obvious" insufficiencies of their religious practices and beliefs when compared to those of Jesus. No matter what one might argue about why these verses were written, this is how they are heard, and they justify the false dichotomy of good, grace-lovin' Christians and bad/confused law-keeping Jews. I was pissed to hear them read aloud last Sunday in the progressive Lutheran church I attend, by the warm-hearted and intelligent pastor no less. I became enraged when this pastor at no point addressed these verses in his sermon about God's love reflected in Mary's acts. He could have pointed out their dissonance with this love that God gives and inspires. He could have chosen to not give them any air-time. Instead, he consciously or unconsciously chose to read them and participate in approximately two thousand years of Christian anti-Semitism.
Mary's love is a concrete action, and so is Jesus' in this instance. Jesus defends Mary's dignity, safeguarding her well-being under Judas' attack (who has his own shit to examine). This is what love does: it builds up other people in their humanness (and respects all other living creatures and life-giving systems) and resists the forces, ideologies, and conscious and unconscious choices that lead to wanton destruction. And let's be clear: we don't love because we're innocent of these destructive ways. Hell no. We love because we've a encountered a Love that has has showed us that life is better for all when we, for example, reside in religious identities that do not affirm their value by badmouthing people of different faiths. Love affirms us in our inherent worth, and, if we allow it to work through us, uproots the violence of oppression in our souls and in our societies. Love enables us to call out these forces that mindlessly enslave others (or ourselves) for our own (or other people's) social, economic, and political gain. Love does this and, as another John wrote, love comes from God.
PRAYER:
Holy One, during Lent you teach us your love again and again. May our hearts grasp hold of this wisdom. Lead us to repentance, Lead us to action, and give us hope for a new creation, where love reigns and no one or nothing is ever crucified again. May it be so. Amen.
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Thoughts by Ben Masters, a graduate of George Mason University and an alum of Lutheran Campus Ministry at GMU. He is currently working at Open Arms of Minnesota in Minneapolis, through Lutheran Volunteers Corps and is a proud member of the Wellstone House, who also says: "P.S. For folks on college campuses, folks in diversity and multicultural services often have some good resources for resisting oppression. Go look them up. A shout out to the folks at George Mason, who have some kickass opportunities to resist heterosexism and transphobia for LGBTQ Pride Week this week. Blessings and peace, y'all."
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