"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 poind 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.'"
The heads of kings were anointed as part of the enthronement ceremony. Frangrant oil being a sign of empowerment to rule. The only people who had their feet anointed were the dead. I wonder if this bottle of nard is left over from the spices used to anoint brother Lazarus, whom Jesus raised a few chapters earlier. One man in Mary's life was resurrecting, one was about to be put to death. Mary seems to see and understand it all. Maybe that comes from her time spent at Jesus feet while her sister was running about taking care of the household.
As we come ever closer to the end of Lent and the celebration of the resurrection, what in you needs to die and fall away so that new life might spring forth? Anoint it and let it go.
Why do we need to let our earthly brokenness die and fall away? What is the purpose of having this new life springing forth from the old? Instead, can I embrace my earthly brokenness and learn compassion from it? According to Rabbi Rami Shapiro: “[T}he spiritual ideal of the Hebrew Bible [is] [n]ot the whole person, but the wounded person. I think it translates directly into the crucified Christ. It's your crucifixion, it's your brokenness, it's your shatteredness, that makes you spiritual. “ Even Christ was not made whole after his resurrection, but he still had the marks of his crucifixion. It seems Christ was trying to witness this same message from that text. By having the marks of his crucifixion after his resurrection, he showed us that an earthly wholeness is not the key to our spiritual transformation.
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