Anointing at Bethany

It is the day before Good Friday. A friend put out a challenge at the beginning of this week to read the Passion Story in each of the four gospels - 1 account for each day before Good Friday. Yesterday was Mark - by far my favourite Gospel. 
With the busy-ness that has consumed my life as of late, I allowed the practice of lent and the opportunity for reflection to escape. But, this week has found me in a contemplative state of mind and as such, there have been neat opportunities for reflection. So as I prepare my heart for Easter weekend, I am being invited to stop, sit and absorb the Passion Week story. 

For me, I got lost in Mark 14, where Jesus is anointed for burial by an unnamed woman. I find this story fascinating. Jesus is sitting in a room, eating with His disciples and in walks this woman, no one knows. She enters, bringing with her, a beautiful jar of perfume, which she breaks open and pours over Jesus' head. A couple things stand out to me about this story:

• The jar is made out of alabaster and contains expensive perfume. There is a level of extravagance in her gift and she chooses to break it. 
• She is accused of wasting the perfume. After all, it would have cost her about a year's wage. This may have in fact been some inheritance she received. The cost was high, yet she sacrificed it in order to anoint Jesus for burial.
• Jesus comes to her defense and praises her for doing such a selfless act. Jesus even goes as far to tell the bystanders in the room that what she has done will be discussed and talked about in years to come. That is how significant this act was and it was performed by a woman. A woman would be remembered for what she did for centuries.
• The act of breaking open the jar and pouring out the perfume on Christ's head foreshadows what Christ does only a few days later on the cross. And, we practice this through communion.

I was doing some reading from a book we received from TREK entitled, "Trained by Jesus", and we read,

"The woman in our story provides an inspiration to all who would follow Jesus with sacrificial and extravagant love that values relationships above things, people above money. With this lofty declaration that this woman's story would go with the gospel around the world, Jesus made it clear that her example would be relevant to many through the ages."

In Mark 14:32, we see the story of Jesus in Gethsemane. It is through this scene where we see the pain and the tension of Christ as He knows full well what lies ahead of Him. There is tension between obedience to God's will and plan and the human instinct to avoid suffering. Jesus repeats the line, "Please take this cup of suffering from me, yet I want your will, not mine" (v.36).
Jesus knew the path ahead of Him - the tension he experienced  was indeed agonizing, but the choice for Him was a no-brainer. Right from the moment He set foot on this earth, Jesus' life was one of obedience and submission to His Father's plan. A life headed in the direction of the Cross is indeed one of self-denial and submission. In the shadow of the cross we discover our identity and who we are in Christ. We are called in Mark 8:34 to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Christ. A life of obedience to Christ is not an easy one - it is full of tension - even Jesus himself experienced that tension. 

At the end of Chapter 14 of Mark, we have the account of Peter's denial of Christ. Again, we witness emotional and spiritual tension going on inside Peter. A few verses prior, Peter publicly declares, that he would never deny Christ (v. 31). Peter makes the statement pre-trial. It's an easy statement to make, saying that we would sooner die ourselves than deny Christ when life is going on as usual. Yet, as the tension and the trouble grows for Jesus, and for Peter, we see the struggle Peter has. Upon realizing what he has done, shame and anguish overcome Peter. Life as a disciple of Christ is not an easy one, even for a guy like Peter - a man who walked, talked and lived with Christ. Peter's experience of denial is one we have probably all faced at one time or another and we experience a similar tension as Peter did. Loving God extravagantly and relinquishing our plans for God's is no easy task, but one that promises life - life abundantly. 

Lastly, my journey takes me to the site of the cross. Growing up in the church, it is a scene that has become familiar to me, and yet, no matter how familiar the words are, the impact they have, continues to leave me in awe and in reverence. This is the climax of the story. Jesus upon the cross - with blood falling down his face and pain raging through his body, has no anger or bitterness in him. . Instead He continues to seek the face of God. He pleads on our behalf, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do". Minutes later, Jesus breathes his last and the words the Roman soldier says, "Surely, this was the Son of God", get to me. Can you imagine the realization after it was too late? Imagine the tension occurring in that man. What a powerful scene. It is the moment where we become reconciled with God. Our sins have been washed away by the broken body of Christ and His blood has been poured out on our behalf.

Jesus has given us the most extravagant gift anyone could ever give us - Life - just like the unnamed woman from Bethany. Only in our case, we are undeserving of such a costly gift.
The story does not end on the Cross. We experience more tension in the next two days as we wait with hopeful anticipation for the empty tomb.