Meditation Moment in Holy Week ~ Monday '23

The Gospel of John 12:1-11

    MONDAY, after all of the joy and excitement of Palm Sunday, sees Jesus back in the town of Bethany.  On the previous Saturday, Jesus came to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead in the tomb for four days, and his sisters Mary and Martha were in anguish.  Now on this day, Jesus returns to a dinner by Martha to see Lazarus and enjoy a meal among his closest friends. Mary decides to welcome him ~ in the traditional way of hospitality of the time ~ by cleaning and anointing His feet but instead of a simple washing, she uses an exquisite ointment known as Nard. Then she dries His feet with her hair.  
    One of the disciples, Judas Iscariot, makes a snide comment about the expensive perfumed ointment that Mary used saying that it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. He didn’t care about the poor. He was in charge of the money and also a thief skimming money for himself off the top of whatever had been donated to the group of Jesus and his disciples.  Jesus, supportive of Mary's actions, told Judas that Mary had purchased the jar of Nard in preparation for Jesus' own death and burial and that, "You always have the poor with you but you do not always have me."
    Meanwhile, a great crowd was assembling to see Jesus and Lazarus together.  The chief priests were not at all pleased at this development, especially after throngs of excited people along the entry route into Jerusalem the day before. They decided that they would put both Jesus and Lazarus to death as all that was being said and the miracle of raising of Lazarus were turning Jews away from the religious authorities of the Synagogue toward this Jesus. The chief priests felt threatened by this new and powerful prophet. 

   Have you ever really experienced the tension of this week while even knowing the outcome? Try to imagine it. Listen, hear. Be there. Be here in our own time, with building tension on a variety of fronts. Think of a favorite mystery thriller and not knowing the end. The clock is ticking...

Sweet Jesus,
         On this Monday in Holy Week, the Gospel speaks of You relaxing at dinner with friends and being pampered as we go about the busy-ness of everyday life. How unaware are we, as were the disciples on that day, of the significance of this week in our own lives as Christians? 
        The Sanhedrin were plotting against You, and we are making lists of necessities for Easter Day, including bunny-shaped chocolates and marshmallow peeps in brightly colored baskets with plastic grass and hard-boiled eggs dyed in multiple colors. Where else in the world on this day in our time are executions being planned and carried out against innocent people? How  many unknown women, men, and their children will be brutalized for their religious beliefs, their race, gender, ethnicity, who they love, or simply because they seem to be a threat to some person or group in power? 
       Grace us with Your spirit Lord, let us, Christians, Your followers, hear and pay attention to that still small voice inside that tells us to take a moment today to stop, reflect, and pray.  Remind us to give thanksgiving for the ordinary parts of a day that make up an extraordinary life for the many of us that don't have to fear murderous persecution. Have we realized today why it is that we're privileged to be gathering fun fillings for an "Easter Basket?"  It's only Monday and much more than shopping and preparing an Easter Feast is yet to come during this very sacred, Holy Week.  amen.

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