5th Sunday in Lent, March 25, 2007, “Series C”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, through the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ, you fulfilled your promise to redeem the world. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, open our hearts and minds to your Word, that we might not only more fully appreciate our Lord’s gift of himself for our redemption, but also inspire us to serve you and your church with thanksgiving. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Our Gospel lesson for this morning has some similarities with the stories of the anointing of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. In these two Gospels, Jesus is having dinner at the home of Simon the leper in Bethany, two days before the Passover. While Jesus was sitting at the table, an unknown woman comes in with an alabaster jar of costly ointment of nard, breaks it open and pours it on Jesus’ head.
Then we are told that some who were present became angry and scolded the woman, calling it a waste of money, since the ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus then responds to their anger in a similar way as in our Gospel lesson for this morning.
But in John’s Gospel, there are some unique differences to this story, which bring it alive with meaning. This should not surprise us, for unlike the Synoptic Gospels, which tend to focus on providing us with a chronological sequence to the events in the life of Christ, John’s Gospel is more concerned with helping us realize the significance of these events.
In John’s Gospel, the time line in the events of the life of Christ is not viewed from a chronological perspective, but, if I might use what my confirmation kids refer to as one of my fancy words, John uses a kairotic time line. Kairos is a Greek term which means, “the time is right” for a changing event to occur.
More specifically, according to John’s Gospel, the time was right for God to fulfill his promise of redemption. The time was right, had come to be, as Isaiah expresses in our first lesson for this morning, when he declares that God is “about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Thus, when John’s Gospel makes reference to time, it is for the specific purpose of helping us understand that in the events of the life of Jesus, the time had come for God to do a new thing. In Jesus, the time was right for God to redeem the world from sin and death – for Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
According to Frederick A. Niedner, in his commentary on our lesson for this morning, “John’s placement of this event six days before Passover, in stead of the Synoptic Gospel’s two days before, holds a key to its meaning… According to Exodus 12:3, preparation for the Passover includes selecting on the tenth day of the month of Nisan a lamb without blemish or spot to reserve for sacrifice (so that Israel might observe the Passover, recalling God’s act of deliverance from their bondage to slavery in Egypt)… John has located the anointing story of Jesus in the sequence of days leading up to Passover so as to make this scene the moment of ritually selecting “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” [1] End quote.
In addition, Dr. Niedner points out that unlike the Synoptic Gospels, which chronologically place Jesus being crucified on the day following the Passover meal in the upper room, John’s Gospel depicts Jesus being slaughtered at noon, on the Day of Preparation (the day before the seder meal of Passover). This was precisely the same time that the sacrifice of the festival lambs began at the temple in Jerusalem, for the celebration of Passover. [2]
There is no doubt that John’s Gospel utilizes his Kairotic time line to help us realize, that just as the time had come for God to act in the past to deliver Israel from physical bondage, the time had come for God to do a new thing – to deliver the world from sin and death. And the means by which God would accomplish our deliverance, was through the sacrifice of Jesus, who would become for us God’s own Lamb.
But there are other aspects to John’s story of the anointing of Jesus that also differ from the account of this event in Matthew and Mark, which also impacts its meaning. Although each of the Gospels tell us that this event took place in Bethany, John tells us that the anointing of Jesus took place at the home of Lazarus, not Simon the leper. And John also is specific in naming the persons who are present.
There was Lazarus, whom Jesus had called back from the tomb, who had shed the cloths used to bind him for burial, sitting at the dinner table with him. What joy and awe he must have felt at that moment, just to be in our Lord’s presence.
There was Martha, Lazarus’ sister, who once complained about Mary not helping in the kitchen, serving dinner without complaint, and from whose lips in the previous chapter expressed her faith in Jesus with these words: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
There was Mary, who loved to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him teach, hanging on his every word, as if she knew that God was speaking through him. So now, again at Jesus’ feet, she anoints them with costly perfume, in a humble act, with significance even beyond her knowing.
And we can assume that our Lord’s disciples were also present, since Judas was there. And of course, John makes sure that we know that Judas expresses his concern at the cost of the perfume, not so much out of his own compassion for the poor, but as an expression for his own greed and deceitful faith, fooling only himself.
According to John’s Gospel, this event took place with Jesus surrounded by a cast of known characters, who represent those for whom Jesus was about to give his life. In this Kairotic moment, we are given a glimpse of church, for whom Jesus gave his life, that we might know God’s redeeming grace.
According to Dr. Niedner, “Each (of the persons gathered at this event) played a typical role within the community of the Fourth Gospel, and perhaps in our own communities as well… Since Lazarus has just shed his grave-clothes and begun a new life, he represents the people new to the faith. Martha serves as deacon, and Mary acts as the priest who performs the anointing.
Judas is a thief, but the worst thing about his stealing becomes evident in the way John describes the treasury bag he carries. The bag contains “what they collected,” probably not for their own needs, but as their offerings for the poor.
Together, this small gathering comprises a whole Christian community – the newcomers, the faithful proclaimers and servers, the worship committee, and the small contingent that sucks the community dry by betraying the mission of the church. Not only our faithfulness and worship make Christ our sacrifice, but also our sins and treachery call forth the need for his blood on our doorposts.
Later, when Jesus becomes the servant beneath the table, washing feet and wiping them dry, when he hears the cross by himself, when he ends up in Lazarus’s grave-clothes, anointed in death with the fragrant substance meant to cover the stench of death, he does these things for the whole community.
Judas was the traitor, but all of them together handed Jesus over on this day in Bethany, when they selected him as God’s lamb. Indeed, the words Jesus uses to instruct the group about Mary and her apparent waste of ointment could be translated, “Forgive her,” just as accurately as “Leave her alone.”
Besides, the assembly will have plenty of time in the days to come for doing the work that the contents of the treasury bag were meant to aid. The poor are always with us, and in them we find our way to continue serving Bethany’s guest.” End quote. [3]
According to John’s Gospel, it was a kairotic moment. The time was right for God to offer his Son as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But today is also a kairotic moment, as we explore the meaning of this text in the context of our worship. It is a moment in time, in which God’s Spirit might open our hearts and minds to experience anew the gift of God’s grace, which Christ’s death brings to our lives. May God’s Spirit so lead us to embrace Jesus the Christ as the Lamb of God who died for us. May we be led by God’s Spirit, to embrace him in faith, and serve him in truth and thankfulness.
Amen.
[1] New Proclamation, Year C, 2003-2004, Fortress Press, Minneapolis, p.281
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., pp. 182-183
