March 13 |1
Sermon – Bethlehem Lutheran, Kalispell MT
Mark Gravrock
13 March 2016
Lent 5
John 12.1-8
Grace and peace . . . .
What does salvation smell like?
What does grace smell like?
Of all our senses, the sense of smell seems to be the most potent,
the most visceral,
maybe the most ancient.
Smell carries memory:
An aroma will evoke an old, old memory,
and bring the entire scene before us,
just like that!
What does salvation smell like?
Do you recognize the aroma of grace when you smell it?
All four gospels tell some version of today’s story1 –
different themes, different characters,
all with the same central event of a woman anointing Jesus
and evoking strong reactions.
But among all these four versions of the story,
only John pays attention to the smell:
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.2
Why does John mention it?
Is John just a more sensual kind of writer,
a more sensitive personality?
Is this just John’s way of telling us
that there was no way that Mary could pull this off quietly?
That her action got the attention of the whole room?
At our Tuesday Text Study,
one of the pastors joked,
1
Matthew (26.6-13) and Mark (14.3-9) are close parallels. Luke’s story (7.36-50) is quite different.
2
John 12.3
March 13 |2
You know, right before this Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,
and when Jesus wanted the stone rolled away,
Martha objected, “Lord, he’s gonna stink!”
Do you suppose Mary’s ointment was meant to cover up that stench?
It was just a joke, just play,
but it reminded me of a strange passage in Paul:
Paul writes:
We are the aroma of Christ
among those who are being saved
and among those who are perishing:
to one, a fragrance from death to death,
to the other, a fragrance from life to life.3
(Paul is playing with the image of the triumphal parades
that Rome would throw for their victorious generals.
As the general and his army paraded down the street,
incense would accompany their progress.
For the soldiers and for the people of Rome,
that incense was the smell of victory.
For the captives, who were also being paraded through the streets -on the way to their execution -that incense was the smell of death:
Same smell, different experience entirely!
We who belong to Christ, says Paul,
we who represent Christ –
we are the aroma of that incense:
For some, we are the aroma of salvation:
We smell like grace and forgiveness and peace.
For others, we are the stench of death:
We smell like God’s judgment.)
What do we smell like, to the world around us?
What does salvation smell like?
What does grace smell like?
The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
This story is packed.
3
2 Corinthians 2.15
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It’s laden with emotion and tension –
love and gratitude, greed and fear,
all of it caught in the pressure-cooker of Jesus’ final crisis,
which now is only days away:
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany.4
Six days.
Six days from now Jesus and his friends will share their last meal.
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday.
The final storm is brewing.
Bethany – only two miles from Jerusalem –
virtually a suburb.
Here Jesus has some dear friends – Martha, Mary, Lazarus –
two sisters and a brother.
Here is something of an oasis for Jesus, a safe house,
right close to the city but just far enough outside.
Throughout his final week, Jesus will come and go –
Jerusalem by day, Bethany by night,
until that night when he’s arrested in the olive grove.
Jesus has been aiming for this for a long time.
A long time back, he “set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
Repeatedly, he’s tried to tell his friends that he will die in Jerusalem –
die and rise again –
but his words can’t seem to penetrate their terrified hearts.
Does anyone hear him, really hear him?
Does Mary, this friend who has sat at Jesus’ feet and listened –
does she hear him?
Does she understand?
Jesus has been bearing the weight of his approaching death.
He’s known it for quite some time.
And no one seems to be able to share it with him.
Later in this same chapter, Jesus will cry,
My soul is troubled.
What shall I pray:
4
John 12.1
March 13 |4
“Father, save me from this hour”?
But no – this hour is the very reason I came.5
Jesus knows that the authorities are looking for him,
and want to kill him,
so he’s been staying under the radar –
not exactly in hiding,
but staying out of the public eye.6
But he can’t stay under the radar forever.
And all the while, he has his eye on the cross that’s looming ahead.
And no one else can share this burden with him.
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary: good friends!
A safe home.
The last time he was here – not long ago –
Jesus had brought his friend Lazarus back from the dead.
The sisters had both been crushed, disappointed in Jesus:
Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died!7
And Jesus had experienced the throes of his own grief as well.8
And then, Lazarus, come out!
And Lazarus had come out!
Now Jesus is back in Bethany again.
How can the siblings show their gratitude and joy?
They throw Jesus a party, of course!
They invite all their friends.
Jesus is the guest of honor,
and Lazarus is there as Exhibit A.9
There is Mary:
Once again, Martha is caught doing the serving,
while Mary has something else in mind.10
In Matthew and Mark, the anointing woman is not named.
In John, we know her name,
5
V. 27
11.54-57
7
11.21,32
8
Vv. 33-38
9
12.1-2
10
See Luke 10.38-42
6
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and because we know her name,
we have a better guess as to her motive:
Mary, sister of Lazarus.
Mary, who has loved to sit at her teacher’s feet.
Mary, who listens to the word.
Mary, whose brother died,
but her teacher brought him back to life.
And now Mary takes action.
This family must have had some means.
They have a home large enough to house such a dinner.
They have room to house Jesus and the boys
whenever they’re passing through.
They have friends among the Jerusalem establishment.11
And Mary has the means to buy this expensive perfume –
imported from India -worth nearly a year’s wages for ordinary folks.
Without any warning, without announcement or fanfare,
Mary comes up behind Jesus
and begins to pour the precious oil on his feet.
The house is filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Why does she do it?
What’s this all about?
The story doesn’t tell us in so many words,
but Jesus has just brought her brother back to life!
Is this gratitude? Of course!
Is it love and devotion? Absolutely!
Are there other motives, too?
We don’t know.
Perhaps she doesn’t know.
Has she heard Jesus’ word – that he’s headed to Jerusalem to die?
Does she understand?
Has she believed what Jesus told her sister?
Whoever believes in me, though he die, will live.
And whoever lives and believes in me will never die.12
11
11.19,31,etc.
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We don’t know what all is in Mary’s mind and heart.
This is love -- love and devotion and gratitude:
Mary anoints Jesus’ feet,
and then she wipes them with her own hair.
With her hair?
Surely a household this well off can afford a towel!
But Mary uses her own hair:
She makes herself Jesus’ maidservant.
She binds herself to her Lord.
And now the fragrance of the ointment on Jesus’ feet
will also be in her own hair.
This is tender and intimate.
And the house is filled with the fragrance of the perfume.13
Does Mary think at all about the scene she’s creating?
Is she at all embarrassed at demonstrating her love so openly?
Is she oblivious to the reactions of others?
Or does she simply not care?
How does Jesus feel?
What does he think of this intimate attention he’s receiving?
He knows Mary’s heart.
And he himself –
carrying the weight of the cup he must soon drink,
misunderstood by everyone,
unable to share this burden with anyone who will understand –
what does it mean for him
to come into the warmth of this safe house,
into this home of dear friends,
and receive this expression of intimate love and gratitude?
What does it smell like to Jesus?
Does Mary understand?
And if she does,
does Jesus know that she understands?
The house is filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
12
13
11.25-26
12.3
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And now, Judas.
What does this ointment smell like to Judas?
Personally, I wish John had not added that parenthetical remark
about Judas being a thief.14
The truth is the truth,
but I prefer the version of Matthew and Mark:
Mark puts the objection in the mouth of “some who were there.”15
Matthew says it was “the disciples.”16
John puts it in the mouth of a thief,
so I can pretend that this is not about me:
Oh, well, of course:
Judas was a thief, so of course he would say this.
The other gospels don’t let me off the hook:
The reaction of “some” is my reaction.
The objection of “the disciples” is our objection.
So, thief or no thief, let’s let Judas speak for us:
Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii
and the money given to the poor?17
What is our objection?
Is it the waste?
Nearly a year’s wages:
O Mary, O Mary, O think of the poor.
This ointment, it could have been sold.
And think of the blankets and think of the bread
You could buy with the silver and gold.
Is that our objection?
Or is it something else?
The house is filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Are we embarrassed?
Are we embarrassed for Mary?
Are we embarrassed at her public-yet-intimate
14
V. 6
Mark 14.4
16
Matthew 26.8
15
17
V. 5
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demonstration of devotion?
Are we embarrassed for Jesus?
Are we embarrassed for ourselves?
That aroma – it’s filling the house!
Are we confused?
Are we wondering whether Mary understands something that we don’t?
Are we jealous?
Are we wondering why all this attention to the person of Jesus himself?
Yes, he’s wonderful.
He’s amazing!
We’ve been following him for three years, and he is captivating!
But always before – almost always –
Jesus has redirected the attention away from himself:
To the Father.
To the coming kingdom.
To the needs of people.
How often, after one of his healings,
has he commanded us not to tell?
Typically, Jesus has avoided publicity.
But now – to welcome this public display of affection –
this very expensive display of affection –
Jesus, what’s gotten into you?
Jesus, you should be the one saying,
This should be given to the poor.
In the rock opera, JC Superstar,
Judas complains,
You’ve begun to matter more than the things you say.
The house is filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
What does salvation smell like?
What does grace smell like?
When that aroma of the ointment of pure nard fills the house,
what does it smell like to Judas?
The stench of fear and greed and impropriety?
What does it smell like to Mary?
The aroma of devotion and gratitude and love?
What does it smell like to Jesus?
March 13 |9
The fragrance of trust and shared understanding?
So now Jesus speaks, for the first and only time in this story:
Leave her alone,
so that she might keep the ointment
for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you,
but you do not always have me.18
I beg your pardon?
Jesus, can you mean what you say about the poor?
You’ve been focusing our attention on the poor and the vulnerable
for three years now!
You won’t let us forget the poor!
And now – the poor can wait,
but you’re here right now?
And what’s this
about Mary’s keeping the ointment for your burial?
Do you mean that?
Literally?
Will she be among the women at your tomb?
Or is this some kind of metaphor?
Does Mary understand where you’re going?
What does grace smell like?
Do you recognize the fragrance when you smell it?
And do folks around you recognize the aroma on you,
after you’ve been with Jesus?
Mary of Bethany,
Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus,
Mary, friend of Jesus –
Mary has smelled the fragrance of grace.
Who is this Jesus?
He is the face of God in this world,
the One who comes to make God known to us,
to show us the Father’s heart,
to live out the Father’s heart –
18
Vv. 7-8
M a r c h 1 3 | 10
in his life and his teaching
and on the cross he’s heading for.
Mary sees grace.
Mary smells grace.
How can she not pour herself out?
How can she not pour herself out in costly, intimate devotion?
She will not forget the poor.
She has sat at the master’s feet, and soaked up his word.
She will not forget the poor.
But today – here at her home in Bethany,
today here is Jesus in the flesh:
Tomorrow he goes to the city.
Thursday he shares his last meal.
And there in that upper room,
Jesus will do what Mary did first:
He will kneel and wash the feet of his disciples,
bathing them in the fragrance of grace.19
Friday he goes to the cross
and bathes us in grace completely.
Sunday morning – will Mary be among those women at the grave,
ready with her ointment –
only to be shocked by an empty tomb –
or perhaps not shocked at all?
What does salvation smell like?
What does grace smell like?
Do we recognize the fragrance?
Do others catch that fragrance on us?
Amen.
19
John 13