April 3 – John

John 12:1-8

Today’s Gospel lesson is a story that I am sure we are all familiar with.  Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead, and it has caused quite a stir.  Jesus is well aware that he is being watched by the religious leaders, yet He returns to the home of Lazarus.  It is clear that Jesus knows that this is the beginning of the end.  While the dinner is being served in the home of Lazarus, his sister Mary realizes that Jesus is more than just a healer, more than just a good teacher or preacher.  She recognizes something in Him has changed her, changed her values and those things which she valued, and she then uses the expensive nard to anoint Jesus’ feet and then wipe them with her hair.

Mary’s anointing is raw, vulnerable, and frankly erotic. Mary blatantly disregards gender norms: she wipes Jesus’s feet with her hair. Oil is pouring over the floor, running over Jesus’s toes, trickling down Mary’s neck. The scent is filling the entire house.  What is important as well about this story is not just what she gave, but what the gift represented.  It represented the anointing of a king, as David was anointed, and, as Jesus said, the anointing of one to be given over to death.

Then, we have Judas who speaks up and criticizes Mary for using the oil to anoint Jesus when it could have been sold and the money given to the poor.  Of course, by this point we know that some of that money would have remained in Judas’ own pocket.

Judas will always be something of a mystery to us because he had been with Jesus almost from the beginning and had all the evidence he needed to convince him that Jesus was the Savior sent from God. And yet he willingly turned against Jesus and offered to betray Him for 30 pieces of silver.

Why did he do it? Was it greed? That may have been part of it, because the Bible tells us that as treasurer of the little band of disciples Judas sometimes stole money from them. Or was it disappointment, because Jesus refused to become a king and Judas wanted power for himself? We can only speculate about this.  We will never know for sure.  Was he just a piece of the puzzle God used to bring about the crucifixion and Jesus’ rising from the dead for the atonement of our sins?

But what, just what if there is another message in this story that we should be thinking about?  What if we are to be thinking about how Jesus saw and felt about Judas?   For us, Judas is so easy to dislike or even hate.  Could it be that we are too quick to judge.  Let’s not draw any conclusions here about Mary or Judas.  It would be easy to oppose them.  Mary is good, and Judas is bad.  Perhaps we have all had times in our lives when we have lived as Judas and times when we have lived as Mary.

So, let us turn our attention now to what Jesus had said in the past by hearing the words of Matthew 5:43-48.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Therefore you are to be perfect; as you’re heavenly Father is perfect.”

Surely, Judas would be considered an enemy of Jesus.  Yet, here Jesus is telling us to love our enemies and pray for them.  According to these words, Jesus would then have still loved Judas and would pray for him.  Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing, He meant what he said.

By saying “Love your enemies,” Jesus meant that we should not take revenge on them or harm them but instead we should show kindness to them and pray for them.  Jesus, in fact, did that when He was hanging on the cross in pain and agony.  Luke 23:34 tells us that, “Jesus said, forgive them, for they do not know that they are doing.”  In short, if Jesus could forgive and love Judas, then we too must look at him with understanding and forgiveness, instead of our image of him as the villain.

God wants us, His children and disciples, to forgive those who have hurt us, those who we know are our enemies.  There were countless people who ridiculed and hurt Jesus when He walked this earth, but Jesus still died on the cross for them and for us.  All we need to do is turn to Him in love and trust and we can be forgiven of our sins.

As we leave here this morning, let us remember the parable of the Good Samaritan.  (Luke 10:29)  In the story Jesus taught us that we must demonstrate love to all types of people, no matter what creed, sexual preference, and nationality, economic or political status.  If we truly try to forgive and love our own enemies and pray for the, then we can make this a much better world and gentler world and truly reveal that Jesus is Lord of our life.

Amen