Monday, April 6, 2020, The Monday of Holy Week

John 12, 1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

St. John is very specific about the dating of certain events in the life of Jesus, just as we find him giving the particular sites of his miracles.  At the beginning of his Gospel he gives a day by day account of four consecutive days in the Lord’s life: the witness of John the Baptist, the calling of the first disciples, and then the wedding of Cana.  John also emphasizes that Jesus made three visits to Jerusalem at the Passover during his lifetime.  His account of the time of the Passion is meticulous in its detail.  In today’s reading from his Gospel he tells us that Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, to eat with them on the very Monday before he died.  Besides confirming John as a reliable eyewitness to the life of Jesus, he wants to show how these events related to each other, to help us understand their deeper meaning.  At the beginning of his Gospel, in 1, 28, John had pointed out that it was at Bethany that John the Baptist had baptized Jesus, and where Jesus had met with his future disciples Andrew and John.  By telling us it was at Bethany that Mary anointed Jesus, John relates what she does to the Baptist’s act of immersing Jesus in the Jordan.  Both are preparations.  In the first, John prepares Jesus for his public ministry.  In the second, Mary prepares his Body for burial, at the end of his public ministry.  Both of these actions take place within a few miles of Jerusalem, and just before the Lord enters the city at the beginning and the end of his public life.  It is as though his life were a pilgrimage to the holy city, and he was washing off the dust of the road in a ritual cleansing before entering.  The first washing prepares him for his life of preaching God’s word, and the second for offering himself as a Sacrifice for God’s people, who hear and obey the word they have heard from him.

We can see the Christian life in outline form, here.  Our baptism into the Body of Christ prepares us with grace so that we might live out our life in preaching the word of God and performing good works.  The Holy Eucharist, as explained in chapter six of this Gospel, fortifies us for the opposition of the world, which we find especially in the chapters immediately following.  The oil of Confirmation, signified by Mary’s anointing, furthers our being conformed to Christ so that, dying in him, we may rise with him.  We can also understand Mary’s anointing as the Sacrament that is traditionally called Extreme Unction — the final anointing, which absolves sin and dresses the soul for salvation.

The anointing entailed a serious cost to Mary’s family.  The nard which Mary used was a product of the region of Tibet.  It would have been produced from tiny flowers which grew there.  One estimate of the worth of the nard she used on Jesus comes to over $57,000 in today’s money.  This gives some idea of the wealth of the family and also of their largess.  It also shows that Mary did not act on impulse.  Such an amount of nard was not to be found in the market of a small town like Bethany.  It would have to be specially purchased in Jerusalem or through a contract with merchants.  This tells us that Lazarus, Martha, and Mary had planned the anointing beforehand.  

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary clearly intended this anointing as a sign to the Lord.  John tells us that Mary anointed the Lord’s feet with the oil and then dried his feet with her hair.  St. Thomas Aquinas says that she would have anointed his head as well.  John does not mention this because it would be taken for granted that she anointed his head by his first readers.  He makes mention of the anointing of the feet because this was an extraordinary act.  In this, Mary may have gone beyond what she and her brother and sister had planned.  It is an act of utter abasement, of presenting herself very dramatically as a handmaid of her Lord.  If the anointing of the head meant a recognition of the kingship of Jesus, then the anointing of the feet shows Mary’s abject love for her king, and her readiness to serve him without condition.

In our own way we must show Jesus our acknowledgment of his kingship and of our offering of ourselves as his unconditional servants.  Mary’s sign took several minutes to accomplish.  The reality of our offering is to extend throughout our lives.  In this way, we may merit, as Mary did, to see our risen Lord and to hear him call our name (cf. John 20, 16).