The lectionary text for Monday of Holy Week is John 12:1-11. Since it features a story of Mary and Lazarus — and Martha? — and we’ve been grappling with the work of Elizabeth Schrader on this subject, I’m sharing the sermon above with you during this sacred season.
The sermon was preached at Wayne Presbyterian Church in Wayne, PA on March 26. They requested this text as part of a special Lenten program. This will be the last of the Mary Magdalene cycle in John 11 and 12. She does not show up again until John 20.
Perhaps the biggest surprise in the sermon is that several ancient manuscripts say that Mary served the dinner and then she anointed Jesus. This new research and historical investigation suggests a powerful alternative narrative in the Gospel of John, one long hidden in plain sight: Mary Magdalene confesses the Christ, serves Jesus, anoints him for burial, witnesses his death and resurrection, and proclaims the first Easter message. She is truly Mary the Tower as she models a five-fold vocation for all of Jesus’ followers.
And she is an admirable example for our journey through Holy Week — trust, serve, bless, witness, and proclaim. It is a path we can all walk.
John 12:1-11
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." 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. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
PRAYER
Lord, you bring us into being
and let our lives touch your heart:
may the fragrance of our worship
draw us closer to your open heart
and free us from our clinging
to the things we can control;
through Jesus Christ, the passion of God.
Amen.
— Steven Shakespeare
Monday in Holy Week: Hidden in Plain Sight