It was almost time for the Passover celebration—the Wednesday before the Passover meal at sundown on Thursday. Jesus was keenly aware of what this Passover meant for him. He would be arrested by the religious leaders, tried by the Sanhedrin, delivered to Pilate and the Roman court where he would be condemned and sentenced to die by crucifixion.
Jesus had spent the early part of the week focused on the Jewish nation and the Temple. On Sunday, he had entered Jerusalem in a parade that proclaimed him to be the long-awaited Messiah. On Monday (according to Mark’s gospel—Mark 11:12-19), he had taken charge of the Temple compound by driving out those who were buying and selling sacrificial animals. Jesus returned to the Temple on Tuesday (Mark 11:20, 27) where once again he took charge. In doing so, he defied the authority of the Sadducees—the priestly class—who were responsible for the Temple (Mark 11:27-12:12). His actions fueled their seething animosity. They joined ranks with their religious and political enemies—the Pharisees and Herodians—in seeking a way to get rid of him (Mark 12:12-13). Jesus spent Tuesday teaching in the courtyard and fielding off the attempts by his adversaries to trap him (Mark 12:13-44).
On Wednesday and Thursday, Jesus turned his attention to his disciples. He once again sought to prepare them for what he knew was coming. Throughout their six-week journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus had been telling them what would happen to him in Jerusalem. He would be betrayed, arrested, brought to trial, and condemned to death. As a result, he would be crucified (Mark 8:31; 9:30-32; 10:32-34). Frustratingly, the disciples could not hear—much less accept—what he was saying. So, on Wednesday and Thursday of that Passover week, he once again sought to help them hear what they did not want to hear. An unplanned event on Wednesday provided an opportunity for him to do so.
Jesus was at a dinner in the home of Simon the leper (Mark 14:3-9) when he was approached by an unnamed woman. As she stood over Jesus, the woman broke open an alabaster jar of expensive ointment and anointed Jesus’s head. Her actions stirred angry reactions from some of the dinner guests—was it some of the disciples? They scolded the woman—reprimanded her—declaring the ointment was wasted and could have been better used by selling it and giving the proceeds to the poor.
As he often did in such situations, Jesus came to the defense of the woman. He reframed what the woman had done from a waste of money to “a good service” (Mark 14:6). He saw in her actions the anointing of his body for burial (Mark 14:8). He went on to say the woman would always be remembered for what she had done.
We don’t know if the disciples understood Jesus’s reference to his death. After all, they did not want to hear that he would die. Death did not fit into their narrative of him as the Messiah. It seems, though, that Judas understood as he left the dinner and “went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them” (Mark 14:10).
It was Wednesday before the Passover—Wednesday of our Holy Week—when Judas made his pact with the religious leaders to betray Jesus into their hands. “So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him” (Mark 14:11). That opportunity would come after the Passover meal when Jesus and the disciples went to their familiar retreat in Gethsemane in order to pray.
Once again, the disciples become an opportunity to see ourselves during this Lenten journey. Their resistance to what Jesus sought to teach them raises questions for us to consider as we come to the end our Lenten journey: what of Jesus’s teachings do we not want to hear? What “narrative” do we cling to that blocks our willingness and ability to hear what he teaches? What will it take for us to hear what we don’t want to hear?
Lenten Prayer: Lord, give us ears to hear.
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