Give or Take

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GIVE OR TAKE

John 12:1-8

12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." 

NIV

Although or because the time is coming for Jesus to head to Jerusalem and suffer the agony of the cross, he is in Bethany with his friends. Again we remember Bethany is just on the backside of the Mount of Olives and very close to Jerusalem, perhaps only two hours or less walk. Here in the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus a dinner is held in honor of Jesus. This must have been a great time, wonderful fellowship, great food, and good friends, what a combination. We can just imagine the feeling of Lazarus. Once he was dead, and now he is reclining at the table with Jesus. Isn’t that our story as well? Except, even though we were not in a grave, we were dead men walking. And now we are reclining at the table with Jesus. We are experiencing wonderful fellowship with Jesus, we are having great food, his very words, and we are with good friends, in fact, our family, our brothers, and sisters in the Lord. We could also say that we are having the body and blood at Jesus when we recline at his table with the family of God. During the dinner at this house of his friends, Mary does something unexpected. A bottle of very expensive perfume that she was keeping to use on Jesus when he was buried was used now. She took it and poured it all over his feet and then wiped them with her hair. Talk about feet washing. It was customary for the host of a home to wash the feet of their guests before dining, or as they entered the home. In this case, it was before they ate, as they were reclining at the table. Again, no chairs as we are accustomed to but they would recline on cushions or pillows with their heads facing the table and thus their feet away from the table. As it was also custom of that day, people wore sandals and with the dry and dusty ground, their feet would have been rather dirty most of the time. So at the table clean feet would be a good thing. It is sort of like the days of our youth when our mother would say, “Go wash your hands before dinner”. The question is; why did John who penned these words include the knowledge that Mary had intended to keep this perfume for the burial of Jesus? Sure he was inspired by the Spirit, but still, could he have been made privy to this information from Jesus or Mary? Had Jesus confided in his friends the whole truth of what was to happen, his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection? Could Mary have known all this and just wanted to do this before he was dead, so he knew of her love and devotion to him? Those are questions we may not be sure of the answers, but the fact is this is what happened. Then, of course, we are informed of the Judas who not only betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver but was a thief besides. This gives us the insight to his accepting the money to betray Jesus. It seems he was motivated by greed. Many scholars want to make more of that. Some profess Judas just wanted to assist Jesus in accomplishing the will of the Father, knowing this was what needed to be done. Even if this is the case, he was motivated by human efforts rather than relying on God to accomplish his plan. What is striking is the contrast between Mary and Judas. Mary was giving it all, Judas wanted to take it all. That is the question we need to ask ourselves. Do we give or take?