Thought for the Week

Things are moving to a climax. In fact there will several climaxes. One of these happens just before the Week begins. It happens I think, as a result of what Jesus did for His family of friends. Jesus raised Lazarus from death after four days in the grave. There was a strong desire to honor Him. A feast was given in the small town of Bethany. Jesus was guest of honor. Lazarus was seated with Him at the table. No doubt there were those in attendance who wanted to see both men. It was surely a time for celebration. There is somewhat of a pall over their time together for the Jewish leadership had every intent to have Lazarus killed because so many had come to believe in and follow Jesus since His act of raising Lazarus from the dead. I am sure there was much joy and laughter. Somewhere in the midst of the celebration, Mary finds her way to the feet of Jesus. There she takes a vessel filled with oil of spikenard and pours it onto the feet of Jesus. She unbinds her hair and wipes Jesus' feet. It was an extremely fragrant, pungent perfume. So fragrant the whole house was filled with the rich aroma. A protest arose from Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples. His lament was: "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred denarii and the proceeds given to the poor?" Now 300 denarii was the equivalent of one year's wages for a working man. It was a large sum and surely could have fed clothed, and ministered to the needs of many people. John, the Gospel writer, interprets Judas' motivation saying, "He did not say this because he cared for the poor but because he was treasurer for Jesus and His disciples, he was a thief, and had control of the treasury." Jesus Himself rebuked this attitude saying, "Let her alone, she has done this as an honor for me to anoint me before my burial. You will always have poor among you but you will not always have me." We see Mary's act as a deep sign. She was most certainly grateful to Jesus for bringing her brother back to life. But, I think a deeper meaning was that she somehow understood Who Jesus was and what was about to happen to fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah. When Jesus was ultimately crucified only about a week later, there was no real time available or allotted to properly prepare His body for burial. Mary could not do it all but she certainly did her part. Mary's attitude and the attitude of Judas Iscariot were diametrically opposed. Hers was a lavish gift of love for. True love, God's love, knows no boundaries. Judas, on the other hand was greedy, a thief, and most certainly did not share Mary's attitude of love and worship. We remember them both: We remember Mary for sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning from and believing His teachings. The climax of Mary's life and her love for Jesus would most certainly have had ministering to the poor and needy for the rest of her life. We remember Judas as the one who ultimately used by Satan, betrayed Jesus into His enemies' hands. The climax of his life was horrible. We will examine how it happened in next week's "Thought". (D.V.) In the next several days, we will see Jesus fulfilling quite a number of prophecies. Hopefully we will learn some of how our early choices in life climax in out eternal destiny. We can learn before it is too late for us.

Scriptures to Read

St. Luke 10:38-42

St. John 11:1-16

St. John 11:17-27

St. John 11:28-35

St. John 11:35-44

St. John 12:1-11

St. John 12:12-19