prepare....
Today in the Church calendar marks the start of the period known as Passiontide – it is the time when we move a little bit closer to the cross and to the pain and agony of Good Friday. Our gospel reading has the account of Jesus at the home of Lazarus in Bethany… there, as Martha served the food Mary took out some expensive perfume and anointed the feet of Jesus.
Judas Iscariot was horrified – and whilst he’s the one that is mentioned, maybe others were as well – this was expensive perfume which could have been sold and the money used to help the poor – but Jesus told Judas to leave Mary alone. In this action she was doing something incredibly special for Jesus.
As Mary anointed the feet of Jesus she was certainly recognising his words that he would shortly leave them – he would go to Jerusalem and face the pain and humiliation of a mock trial and the cross – but she also recognised the fact that Jesus would never leave her.
Maybe she didn’t understand fully at this point how Jesus would rise from the dead, but she understood very well that his influence and his love would always be a part of her. She was preparing in the only way she could for his death. Unlike others in the group of friends, she believed Jesus when he said that he was going to die – she believed him that he would be always be with her, even though she didn’t have a clue how, and she was doing the only thing she could possibly think of as she prepared to say good bye.
She knew she couldn’t stop him going to Jerusalem – she knew that there was nothing she could do to make his journey any easier – she knew that nothing anyone said was going to change the circumstances that would lead to the cross. And yet Mary by anointing Jesus was celebrating his life and his influence prior to his death.
A famous composer was once asked this question: "If you knew you had to spend the rest of your days on a desert island, which of your four hundred compositions would you take with you?"
"I'd take some blank paper," he replied. "My favourite composition is always the one I will write tomorrow." That's the "look ahead" spirit of the Gospels: the challenge to live each day hopefully and creatively, whatever the circumstance of life.
Mary had no idea what was coming – she had no idea in what way the promises of Jesus would be fulfilled, but she had an incredible life changing hope that would lead her to follow Jesus everywhere.
During this season of Lent we are all preparing ourselves to approach Easter. Lent is a time of struggle, a time of recommitment, a time for reflection. It is a time when we re-evaluate what is important in our spiritual lives, and how important it is !
And part of that journey through Lent has to be a recognition of the great mystery of new life offered by Jesus. Like Mary the gift of new life is sometimes a mystery to us, as all God’s ways are, but just as Mary did two things for Jesus that day, we can do two things every day.
Firstly by anointing the feet of Jesus Mary was showing Jesus he was special. Expensive ointments like this would be used perhaps only in the event of a death, and then only by people who could afford them – here Mary was using the ointment on someone who was still alive and with them… She was marking Jesus out as special to her.
It seems trivial to say that Jesus should be special to us – but it is not trivial at all if we take on the commitment of caring for someone special. Jesus showed his love for us by living as one of us and as a response we must show our love for him. Maybe that is in Church attendance, and I hope it is ! But it is also in the way we live our lives every day.
If Jesus is special to us, it means that we want to enjoy a relationship with him – through prayer, through study of the Bible, through fellowship with other believers, and by responding to his gospel message by seeking to live out that message.
In his gospel Jesus gave us examples and teaching about care for the poor, the weak, the marginalised… He taught about the need for justice and showed a commitment to work for it as he condemned some of the religious leaders and others who he saw as hypocrites… He showed commitment and courage as he sought to share the message with others – he didn’t think of a need for political correctness, he didn’t worry about people who would laugh at him – he prayed for them… He loved, when love seemed impossible…
Saying Jesus is special to us is not something we do on a Sunday alone – it is something that affects the whole of our lives…
In this anointing of Jesus Mary was saying Jesus was special, but secondly, she was also saying she trusted him. As I said earlier she had no idea how Jesus’ promises would be fulfilled – she had no idea how death on the cross could ever be transformed into new life and how that new life would be offered to all people – but she trusted.
Many people are searching for answers to all the questions life throws at us – and there’s nothing wrong with searching, but there are times when there will be no answers, times when we simply have to trust God…
And we can do that because of Jesus – in Jesus, God has shown us his commitment to us – he has shown us his love in that he gave his only Son to die for us on the cross… It was a sign of the greatest love but also the greatest commitment – God wants to welcome every one of his children back into his immediate family – and in the actions of Jesus, he showed us how.
It wouldn’t be through any wonderful work we can do, it wouldn’t be through being really nice people, it wouldn’t be through our Church attendance – or anything like those things (although I firmly recommend them all !) – it would be simply through trusting that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, and placing our trust in him.
In February, 1921 in New York, a doctor was performing an operation to remove appendics. In many ways the events leading to the surgery were uneventful. The patient had complained of severe abdominal pain. The diagnosis was clear: an inflamed appendix. Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane was performing the surgery. In his distinguished thirty-seven-year medical career, he had performed nearly four thousand similar operations, so this surgery was be uneventful in all ways except two.
The first novelty of this operation was the use of local anaesthetic. Dr. Kane was a crusader against the hazards of general anaesthetic. Many of his colleagues agreed with him in principle, but in order for them to agree in practice, they would have to see the theory applied.
Dr. Kane searched for a volunteer, a patient who was willing to undergo surgery in this way, but a volunteer wasn’t easy to find. Eventually, however, Dr. Kane found a candidate. On Tuesday morning, February 15, the historic operation occured.
The patient was prepped and wheeled into the operating room. A local anaesthetic was applied. As he had done thousands of times, Dr. Kane performed the operation - during the procedure, the patient complained of only minor discomfort. The volunteer was taken into post-op, then placed in a hospital ward. He recovered quickly and was discharged two days later. Dr. Kane had proved his theory. Thanks to the willingness of a brave volunteer, Kane demonstrated that local anaesthetic was a viable, and sometimes even preferable, alternative.
But I said there were two facts that made the surgery unique. The first was the use of local anaesthetic, but the second was the patient. The courageous candidate for surgery by Dr. Kane was Dr. Kane himself.
To prove his point, Dr. Kane operated on himself! The doctor became a patient in order to convince the patients to trust the doctor.
Jesus, through his life, his death, his resurrection and ascension has give us a reason to recognise him as special and he has given us the grounds to realise that we can trust him. As we continue through this passiontide, as we approach the commemoration of the cross, let us always look forward to the resurrection and rejoice in the fact that in Jesus we can trust our lives. AMEN
Judas Iscariot was horrified – and whilst he’s the one that is mentioned, maybe others were as well – this was expensive perfume which could have been sold and the money used to help the poor – but Jesus told Judas to leave Mary alone. In this action she was doing something incredibly special for Jesus.
As Mary anointed the feet of Jesus she was certainly recognising his words that he would shortly leave them – he would go to Jerusalem and face the pain and humiliation of a mock trial and the cross – but she also recognised the fact that Jesus would never leave her.
Maybe she didn’t understand fully at this point how Jesus would rise from the dead, but she understood very well that his influence and his love would always be a part of her. She was preparing in the only way she could for his death. Unlike others in the group of friends, she believed Jesus when he said that he was going to die – she believed him that he would be always be with her, even though she didn’t have a clue how, and she was doing the only thing she could possibly think of as she prepared to say good bye.
She knew she couldn’t stop him going to Jerusalem – she knew that there was nothing she could do to make his journey any easier – she knew that nothing anyone said was going to change the circumstances that would lead to the cross. And yet Mary by anointing Jesus was celebrating his life and his influence prior to his death.
A famous composer was once asked this question: "If you knew you had to spend the rest of your days on a desert island, which of your four hundred compositions would you take with you?"
"I'd take some blank paper," he replied. "My favourite composition is always the one I will write tomorrow." That's the "look ahead" spirit of the Gospels: the challenge to live each day hopefully and creatively, whatever the circumstance of life.
Mary had no idea what was coming – she had no idea in what way the promises of Jesus would be fulfilled, but she had an incredible life changing hope that would lead her to follow Jesus everywhere.
During this season of Lent we are all preparing ourselves to approach Easter. Lent is a time of struggle, a time of recommitment, a time for reflection. It is a time when we re-evaluate what is important in our spiritual lives, and how important it is !
And part of that journey through Lent has to be a recognition of the great mystery of new life offered by Jesus. Like Mary the gift of new life is sometimes a mystery to us, as all God’s ways are, but just as Mary did two things for Jesus that day, we can do two things every day.
Firstly by anointing the feet of Jesus Mary was showing Jesus he was special. Expensive ointments like this would be used perhaps only in the event of a death, and then only by people who could afford them – here Mary was using the ointment on someone who was still alive and with them… She was marking Jesus out as special to her.
It seems trivial to say that Jesus should be special to us – but it is not trivial at all if we take on the commitment of caring for someone special. Jesus showed his love for us by living as one of us and as a response we must show our love for him. Maybe that is in Church attendance, and I hope it is ! But it is also in the way we live our lives every day.
If Jesus is special to us, it means that we want to enjoy a relationship with him – through prayer, through study of the Bible, through fellowship with other believers, and by responding to his gospel message by seeking to live out that message.
In his gospel Jesus gave us examples and teaching about care for the poor, the weak, the marginalised… He taught about the need for justice and showed a commitment to work for it as he condemned some of the religious leaders and others who he saw as hypocrites… He showed commitment and courage as he sought to share the message with others – he didn’t think of a need for political correctness, he didn’t worry about people who would laugh at him – he prayed for them… He loved, when love seemed impossible…
Saying Jesus is special to us is not something we do on a Sunday alone – it is something that affects the whole of our lives…
In this anointing of Jesus Mary was saying Jesus was special, but secondly, she was also saying she trusted him. As I said earlier she had no idea how Jesus’ promises would be fulfilled – she had no idea how death on the cross could ever be transformed into new life and how that new life would be offered to all people – but she trusted.
Many people are searching for answers to all the questions life throws at us – and there’s nothing wrong with searching, but there are times when there will be no answers, times when we simply have to trust God…
And we can do that because of Jesus – in Jesus, God has shown us his commitment to us – he has shown us his love in that he gave his only Son to die for us on the cross… It was a sign of the greatest love but also the greatest commitment – God wants to welcome every one of his children back into his immediate family – and in the actions of Jesus, he showed us how.
It wouldn’t be through any wonderful work we can do, it wouldn’t be through being really nice people, it wouldn’t be through our Church attendance – or anything like those things (although I firmly recommend them all !) – it would be simply through trusting that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, and placing our trust in him.
In February, 1921 in New York, a doctor was performing an operation to remove appendics. In many ways the events leading to the surgery were uneventful. The patient had complained of severe abdominal pain. The diagnosis was clear: an inflamed appendix. Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane was performing the surgery. In his distinguished thirty-seven-year medical career, he had performed nearly four thousand similar operations, so this surgery was be uneventful in all ways except two.
The first novelty of this operation was the use of local anaesthetic. Dr. Kane was a crusader against the hazards of general anaesthetic. Many of his colleagues agreed with him in principle, but in order for them to agree in practice, they would have to see the theory applied.
Dr. Kane searched for a volunteer, a patient who was willing to undergo surgery in this way, but a volunteer wasn’t easy to find. Eventually, however, Dr. Kane found a candidate. On Tuesday morning, February 15, the historic operation occured.
The patient was prepped and wheeled into the operating room. A local anaesthetic was applied. As he had done thousands of times, Dr. Kane performed the operation - during the procedure, the patient complained of only minor discomfort. The volunteer was taken into post-op, then placed in a hospital ward. He recovered quickly and was discharged two days later. Dr. Kane had proved his theory. Thanks to the willingness of a brave volunteer, Kane demonstrated that local anaesthetic was a viable, and sometimes even preferable, alternative.
But I said there were two facts that made the surgery unique. The first was the use of local anaesthetic, but the second was the patient. The courageous candidate for surgery by Dr. Kane was Dr. Kane himself.
To prove his point, Dr. Kane operated on himself! The doctor became a patient in order to convince the patients to trust the doctor.
Jesus, through his life, his death, his resurrection and ascension has give us a reason to recognise him as special and he has given us the grounds to realise that we can trust him. As we continue through this passiontide, as we approach the commemoration of the cross, let us always look forward to the resurrection and rejoice in the fact that in Jesus we can trust our lives. AMEN
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