"I love the Lord, I love the Lord, I love the Lord."
It's Thursday, so I'm late to sermon prep, and thinking about the story from different perspectives
On Wednesdays, I workshop the sermon. And sometimes on Thursdays, when the week has gotten away from me…
Reading:
John 12:1-8
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 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. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?" (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.) Jesus said, "Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."
Scripture: One of the things that always strikes me about this story is how clearly I can see each person’s viewpoint. Each character seems very real to me. Even Mary, who says not a word here, but her actions speak volumes.
Each person in this story has a backstory - and each person’s story goes on from this one moment of interaction. So much is said and left unsaid, and all as we walk closer and closer to Holy Week.