St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Wesley Chapel, FL
Preacher: The Rev. Adrienne R. Hymes
5 Lent/C—April 3, 2022Jesus Was a Wanted Man
Lord, take our minds and think through them, take our mouths and speak through them; take our hearts and set them on fire, for Christ’s sake—Amen.
For the past four Sundays, we have been on a journey with Jesus “on the way” to the cross. As we journeyed with Jesus, we have had the advantage of knowing what is to come. On this, the fifth Sunday in Lent, our gospel reading in John, intentionally situates us in Bethany—a specific location on Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. It is a sharp turning point which signals that Jesus’ journey will soon end, and that the cross is near.
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to a dinner gathering given for him in the home of his beloved friends, Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, and Lazarus’ two sisters, Martha and Mary. It is precious time spent with friends whom Jesus loved and who loved Jesus. While breaking bread amongst friends may evoke joyful memories for many of us, there is a dark, contextual reality operating around this gathering in the home.
Jesus was a wanted man. I mean this in two ways. On the one hand, Jesus’ presence was desired in the Lazarus family home. On the other hand, Jesus’ absence, and the erasure of any evidence of his ministry, was wanted by those who had put a target on his back. Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead had caused many witnesses to believe in him, and it threatened the power of the religious leaders and Pharisees—setting into motion their murderous plot.
The verse which appears just before the start of our passage (11:57) tells us that the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone with knowledge of Jesus’ whereabouts should inform them so that they might arrest him. They issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) for Jesus as if he were a criminal. Everyone in Lazarus’ home would have been aware of the danger to Jesus’ safety had he been exposed. Jesus was a wanted man; people were on the lookout for him; and Lazarus’ home was an intentional, place of refuge for the fugitive Jesus. This safe space from the dangers of the world outside of the home ensured that Jesus’ journey to the cross continued to unfold in God’s time, not man’s.
The dinner, being served by Lazarus’ sister, Martha, was in process. The resuscitated Lazarus was at the table with Jesus. We later learn that Jesus’ disciple, Judas, was also present. In the midst of this sharing of a meal, Lazarus’ other sister, Mary, anointed Jesus’ feet with the perfumed ointment that cost the equivalent of one year’s wages. Imagine that home, filled with the powerful fragrance, and surrendering to the inescapable aroma as it wafted over all who were present.
While others certainly witnessed the encounter, and smelled the fragrance, this action of anointing Jesus’ feet was a loving, intimate encounter shared between Jesus and Mary. Not only did Mary anoint Jesus’ feet; she wiped them with her hair. And, it strikes me that Mary, in wiping Jesus’ feet with her own hair, was actually wearing the fragrance. I imagine Mary walking around the home, after the anointing, with the sweet aroma of the costly perfume filling the room ahead of her and lingering in the room after she departed from it.
I am reminded of a surround-sound home entertainment system in which the human sense of hearing is enriched. This image of enhancing the human sense of hearing is one that illustrates how Mary’s action of anointing Jesus’ feet, engaged the human senses of smell, touch, sight, taste and hearing to create a layered sensory experience at this dinner. This intimate experience of full-sensory engagement can only be experienced through the human body. Consider that while I am emphasizing the human senses, Jesus’ message to Judas was not only a warning to Judas, but also to us, to come to our senses before it’s too late.
The intimate moment was interrupted by Judas’ greed, concealed as concern for a missed opportunity to serve the poor. “Why was this perfume not sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor?” said Judas (v. 5). Mary did not answer, but Jesus’ response offers us levels of opportunities for deeper understanding. “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me,” said Jesus (v. 8).
The human experience of visible poverty and the invisible state spiritual poverty—or spiritual dryness—are human sufferings of the earthly kingdom, not of the heavenly kingdom. Judas was focused on things of this earthly world, not on the heavenly kingdom which had come near to him, in the person of Jesus, in the extra-sensory, immersive experience of living a life of discipleship with Jesus. Jesus ordered Judas to leave Mary alone and told him that she had bought, and saved, the perfume, for the day of his burial. The cross loomed and Jesus’ human presence would soon be no more.
Mary was doing something that Judas did not, or could not comprehend. Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet was an act of recognition—Mary was recognizing Jesus’ kingship. Anointing with oil was used then, as it is now, for healing and for burial. The sensory experience, enhanced by the wafting of the perfume’s aroma, provided a moment in time in which Jesus’ divine nature was revealed through the anointing of his human feet. This anointing pointed to the splendor and honor and kingly power that is his by right (BCP, pp. 93-94). In this captured moment, we are taken up into this moment in time, where the division between the earthly and the heavenly realms ceased to be.
It is a powerful reminder for us to seek Jesus in our “ordinary” relationships and in our “ordinary” day-to-day tasks, just as we would in our holy spaces set aside for worship. The reality of Jesus showing up and sharing, with us, an otherwise ordinary dinner with friends is our reality of Jesus today. When we gather to share in the Eucharistic meal in which we eat and drink the sacraments of Christ’s body and blood, we must be clear that it is not an “ordinary” meal, and that the real presence of Christ is truly among us and in us. Our liturgical and sacramental worship creates that “surround sound” effect which awakens our senses, and draws us closer to intimate encounters with our precious Lord and Savior as we await his coming again.
Jesus is still a wanted man—a desired, sought after and yearned-for presence who transcends all limitations of our human senses. This desire to seek Christ can only be known in the depths of the human soul. As we continue our Lenten journey, continue to work on your own spiritual wholeness as a way of creating an inviting, safe space for Jesus to dwell. Put on the heavenly aroma of Christ, which goes before you as you move about this world and lingers behind to cover the souls you encounter, long after you depart from their presence.
As we each take up our own crosses and walk life-long journeys of discipleship with Christ, may we tap into all of our human senses so that we may come to sense our divine Savior truly present—in the present—before it’s too late. The cross looms and Jesus’ journey continues. Amen.
