Thursday, April 17, 2019
Beloved Friends,
A story of a woman anointing Jesus is captured in all four Gospel accounts. One of the accounts describes her as, “a woman of the city, and a sinner,” who went to Jesus while he was at the home of a Pharisee.[i] Two Gospel accounts describe it happening when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper.[ii] Another account describes an anointing at the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary; in this particular account, it is Mary who anoints Jesus![iii]
Whether Jesus was anointed multiple times or just once, this unsanctioned yet sacramental act, with very precious oil, was both intimate and holy.
If the anointing signified God’s presence and Jesus was King, his coronation horrifyingly happened before Pilate, and was consummated on a cross. And if the anointing prepared Jesus’ body for what was yet to come, his death came by execution on a cross, and his battered body was laid in a borrowed tomb. No anointer in her natural mind could possibly anticipate the things that would happen. She must have had an inkling from God. So, she went to Jesus, with all that she had, and expressed—through an anointing—her full gratitude and devotion.
Critics, including the disciples, other guests, and Jesus’ hosts, judged her flamboyance harshly, explicitly expressing their disapproval of her identity, her actions, and her waste of a valuable asset. The woman did what the others had not. With the authority of a prophet and a priest, she anointed Jesus, from head to toe. Scriptures report that Jesus was moved by her priestly act and said, “She has done a beautiful thing.”[iv]
Many of us began our Lenten journey weeks ago by marking our heads or hands with ashes, and in so doing, acknowledging our mortality and the temporary nature of our lives: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Let us now put on the oil of gladness, because we have traveled with Jesus and resolutely know that we are more than dust. We will need the oil of gladness with its transporting fragrance and transforming properties, to give us strength to witness the cross, and visit the tomb. At the end of the long weekend ahead, we will celebrate what God has done.
May Your Steps this Week Leave Imprints of Peace,
The Rev. Dr. Cheryl F. Dudley
Regional Executive Minister
American Baptist Churches of Metropolitan New York
—
[i] Luke 7:36-50
[ii] Mark 14:3-9
[iii] John 12:1-8
[iv] Mark 14:6