Monday 10 April 2017
‘Mary brought in a pound of very costly ointment … and with it anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them with her hair.’ John 12:1-3
The Gospel of John challenges the followers of Jesus to forget their fears and to take their faith to a deeper level. Six days before the Passover, perhaps a week or so after raising Lazarus, Jesus goes back to his friends in Bethany to the east of Jerusalem. The walk takes nearly two hours. Mary of Bethany forgets any fears she may have had and anoints Jesus’ tired and dusty feet with the most expensive perfume. Perhaps this is also an anointing in anticipation of Jesus’ death.
The house is filled with the fragrance and extravagance of self-forgetting love. Here at the start of the passion, and all through the passion, at the cross and the resurrection, the women disciples show the way. They understand God’s language of love. Lord Jesus, I want to be in love with you. Help me to feel your love. Help me to give and receive selfless love.
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