Reflection for Fifth Sunday of Lent (Passion Sunday) – John 12: 1-8

Where am I?

Where has the time gone? This reflection is for Passion Sunday and Easter is two weeks ahead, and we are already two-thirds of the way through Lent. So I am suggesting that this week we use the gospel story to reflect on where we are, each of us, in our own personal journeys. Particularly, I am asking you to recognise that you have needs of your own.

In today’s passage Jesus is visiting his friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus at Bethany. Bethany is a small village on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, only a couple of miles from Jerusalem. It is six days before the festival of Passover when Jesus will be arrested and killed. Some of his disciples, including Judas, are with him. The meal is served by Martha – the one previously admonished by Jesus previously for her over-busyness. No criticism this time, so perhaps Martha has calmed down a bit, but she is still responsible for ensuring that others’ needs are met. I get the feeling that she is the one keeping everything going, putting everyone else’s needs before her own. Her mission is service, and there is nothing wrong with that, up to a point. If this resonates with you, can you be honest about how always serving makes you feel? Tired? Exhausted? Even a little put upon? Desperate for a break? Imagine how Jesus might be inviting you to come to Easter this year… To come in a different way.

We also read that Lazarus is present. The brother of Mary and Martha, raised from death by Jesus not so long ago. Imagine how grateful Lazarus must have been, and how pleased to be sharing a companionable meal with his Saviour. Do you have something for which you want to thank Jesus? Perhaps, like Lazarus reclining at table with Jesus, you want to just enjoy that closeness to this special person in your life? How might you share the peace and presence of Christ in your life with others?

It may be more difficult to identify with Judas the traitor. His question ‘Wouldn’t it be better to sell the perfume and give the money to the poor’ is a perfectly understandable one. In this sense, Judas is the pragmatic one. Jesus’ response that the poor will always be with you, but he will not, sounds a bit blunt but I think that there is a point about priorities here. Perhaps you have a long ‘to do’ list of priorities of your own this Easter – the family get together, this bit of the church needs repairing, this rota needs organising, this report needs writing and so on. There are priorities, and I don’t mean to downplay them, but at this time of year preparing for Easter should be our first priority. After all the fact of Easter is why we have a church in the first place! What would it look like to reflect on God’s love and hope in your life this Easter and come back to the ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions later?

Then there is Mary. Earlier she had sat at Jesus’ feet listening intently to his teaching. Now she extravagantly anoints Jesus’ feet with costly perfume (usually reserved for anointing bodies before burial). It is an action of overwhelming love and she wipes his feet with her unbound hair (shocking). Her actions are carefree, careless of social conventions. Her action is motivated by devotion and love for Jesus. It’s bold. It’s brave. It’s inspiring.  Perhaps Mary’s actions resonate with you. If so, wonderful!  In expressing yourself you will inspire others. But perhaps you’re a bit more like me – while I admire Mary’s actions, I am a bit more reticent about flamboyant gestures. There’s part of me that really wishes to know Jesus in such an intimate way that I would throw conventions to the wind, and care little about what others thought. Sometimes I find myself a little self-conscious about openly expressing my faith, especially in some situations.  I long to be drawn to Jesus in the same way as Mary, but I am not there yet. If this resonates with you, perhaps the invitation is to draw closer, to share more deeply, to let Jesus into more of those secret, perhaps darker places of yourself. Come and enjoy his presence as you let him love you into the fullness of being that he intends for you?

However you come to Easter this year, there is still time to prepare. Jesus’ invitation is for all of us. He meets us where we are, wherever that may be. It is good to pause, take a little time in quiet and silence to take stock of where our lives are today. May we all encounter Jesus afresh as we come  to Easter this year. Amen.

Tony White