There’s so much to take in! In the previous two chapters Jesus has answered the disciples’ questions about the end of the age robustly, with warnings about being prepared and stories about judgement. Jesus now transitions from the unsettling Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, with its warning for those who ignore the disadvantaged and vulnerable, to the equally unsettling news of his upcoming crucifixion.
Jerusalem is bustling, throngs of people, hundreds of thousands more than usual, fill its streets for the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (including Passover), one of three pilgrimage festivals in the Jewish calendar when the faithful would travel to the Temple in Jerusalem.
With minds turned to celebration and worship, there are also more sinister undercurrents. There are those in Jerusalem who conspire and plot to kill…
In this chapter, we often skip over the beginning detail and rush to the Last Supper and Jesus’ arrest but, today, I invite you to bide a while here at the first table in this chapter.
Jesus is at Simon’s house, Simon the leper. This is Simon’s only mention; probably healed by Jesus, still bearing the name of his previous affliction, here a testimony to the power of the one with whom he shared his table. An unnamed woman enters, and pours expensive ointment on Jesus’ head. An intimate and extravagant act of devotion and worship. This woman truly comprehends the significance of this man, Jesus. However, in the midst of the beauty of the scene, the disciples’ concerns turn to money and cost! This perfume was worth a large sum but the disciples could not see that its use to anoint their Rabbi was worth more than money could buy. Trust Matthew, the tax collector, the accountant of the group, to be doing the sums and putting financial value and security at the top of the priority list!
The onlookers declare her act of sacrifice and devotion a ‘waste’! They could not see what she saw; despite three years following their Rabbi, they were left perplexed and bemused about who he truly was. Suddenly they appear to be concerned for the poor! The poor whom Jesus has had to teach them about very firmly just a few verses before, in chapter 25. Sadly Jesus’ words that, ‘you always have the poor with you’ are as true today as they were when he said them.
This woman’s act of faith is literally dripping with symbolism. She is preparing her Lord for burial, looking ahead to what is to come, just like the Magi did in chapter 2 when he was just months old. Then, unnamed visitors brought gold, for a king, incense, for worship, and myrrh, to anoint a body; this new unnamed visitor anoints her saviour in preparation.
‘Why the waste?’ they say. An act of worship and devotion can never be declared a waste! Come and sit at the table for a moment, drink in the scent that fills the room. Reflect upon what the next few days will bring…
This woman’s act of faithful, humble devotion stands in sharp contrast to Judas’ act of deception and betrayal. Another disciple distracted by money; not so concerned this time about the poor, more keen to line his own pockets!
We come to the second table in the chapter. Jesus is sharing the Passover meal with the twelve. This meal table is a symbol of mutual friendship, a place of devotion and trust. But this sacred time together is overturned, just as Jesus turned the tables in the Temple, as Judas plots to betray his master and friend. Psalm 41.9 expresses this sense of betrayal, ‘Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted the heel against me.’
The Passover meal was, and still is, a physical reminder of God’s care for his people, how he heard their cries in captivity in Egypt and delivered them from Pharaoh’s hand, keeping his covenant promise to his people. Jesus takes two of the symbolic Seder foods and gives them new meanings: the bread that hadn’t had time to rise is now to remind them of his body, the wine, the royal drink symbolising freedom, four cups of it reminding them of the four expressions of redemption God uses in describing the Exodus from Egypt, now remind them of Jesus’ blood. God has not forgotten his covenant with his people, in fact, in Jesus, he is renewing it, and inviting us to share in it. Jesus invites you to sit a while at the table with him, and be renewed in his presence. This table is for all who are hungry and thirsty. If you are hungry and thirsty, come.
Lord, you invite us to come to your table. Help us to hunger and thirst after you, and allow ourselves to leave your table changed and renewed, firm in our identity as your forgiven children.
Amen.