Loving God, you did a new thing when your Son, Jesus Christ, came to live among us to love and to serve. Help us to perceive the new life that you continue to bring to us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Not so long ago, Lazarus was dead. His sisters, Mary and Martha were beside themselves with grief and couldn't understand why Jesus hadn't come in time to heal Lazarus before he died. By the time that Jesus arrived, of course, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. However, death is no obstacle for Jesus. He knew that God's power would be made known in this way. And so he looked up towards heaven in prayer, and then he simply raised Lazarus from the dead.

Many believed in Jesus when they saw what he had done for Lazarus. The religious leaders knew that if all this were allowed to continue, pretty soon everybody would believe in Jesus and would want to make him their leader. And so, fearing Roman reprisals and the destruction of their nation, already a plan had been hatched to get rid of Jesus and put him to death (Jn. 11:47-53).

Some time later, Martha and Mary and Lazarus put on a dinner for Jesus at their home in Bethany. For Mary and Martha's part, they want to thank Jesus for giving their brother Lazarus back to them again. Lazarus, however, has no discernible reaction. Did he really want to be raised from the dead? Was he off in some better place and then forced to come back? Did he really want to be the center of attention, with people stopping by just to see him for themselves? Did he really want to be brought back to life, only to become the subject of death plots (Jn. 12:9-11)? We don't know for sure, but one can only imagine!

Meanwhile, Martha and Mary are true to form. Martha still seems to be the one in the kitchen, doing all the work. She shows her gratitude to Jesus by serving - making the food and serving the guests at dinner. It is her way of giving thanks. It is the role in which she seems most comfortable.

Mary, on the other hand, is most at home at the feet of Jesus. In the past, she sat at his feet as a disciple - listening to his teaching and learning from him. She had gone where no women before her had been allowed to go - at least until Jesus arrived on the scene! She had been allowed to be a disciple! And now, she also wanted to show her love and gratitude to Jesus. After all, Jesus had given her brother back to her again.

We can only imagine the shocked looks on the faces of all the house guests as Mary brought out this extremely expensive perfume and began to anoint Jesus' feet with it. Those who were afflicted with allergies immediately headed for the exits. Those who knew the financial situation of the family started calculating how long it would have taken to get enough money to even buy the perfume. Those brought up with good social graces sat there, horrified, as Mary anointed Jesus' feet as if he were a corpse. And Judas, of course, was only seeing dollar signs and wanted to take that perfume right out of her hand and go sell it for a hefty profit!

You can almost feel the tension in the room as Judas voices his pious-sounding objections. However, Jesus feels no tension at all. He sees what the others do not. He sees that Mary is being prophetic in preparing his body ahead of time for burial. He sees the tremendous love that Mary has for him and the generosity that leads her to spare no expense in order to show it. He sees Judas' heart and knows that Judas only wants to steal the money. He sees this one-time opportunity for Mary to show her gratitude to him versus the many times in her life when she and her family will be able to give to the poor.

Jesus accepts this act of love and devotion calmly and lovingly. We don't hear him saying, "Oh no - you shouldn't have!" We don't see him pulling away. We don't see him storming out of the room in a spasm of embarrassment. Instead, he basically says, "Leave her alone and allow her to anoint my body for burial." Jesus not only knows how to give love and how to serve. He also knows how to receive loving service graciously. He knows his own worth and identity. He knows that this opportunity will not present itself again.

Did any of the people there notice the new thing that was happening right before their eyes? Jesus simply did not act as other teachers and rabbis acted. He allowed women and children to occupy his time. He ate with tax collectors and sinners - people who would have been shunned by any self-respecting rabbi. He allowed women to anoint his feet with expensive perfume. He put a thief in charge of the common purse for the disciples. He stooped to wash his disciples' feet like a common servant. He touched people who were unclean - those with diseases and those who were dead. No other Jewish teacher at that time would have been caught dead doing these things! But Jesus wasn't just any teacher.

He acted and spoke with a thorough knowledge of God and a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. Yet, when people tried to drag him into arguments or get him to say something wrong, his focus was never on the finer points of the letter of the Law. Instead, he always pointed to the bigger picture and the over-arching principles that were to be found in the Law. People always wanted to focus on the minutiae of how to cleanse things just right or what taxes were okay to pay and which were not. And Jesus always responded with those over-arching principles like, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (Mt. 9:13) and "give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mk. 12:17).

Jesus lifted out of the Scriptures the things that were most important and showed people what God is like by how he healed and how he loved and how he had compassion on the ones who needed it the most. Just as Isaiah spoke about the "new thing" that God was about to do, Jesus came and did a "new thing" and blew everybody's pre-conceived notions right out of the water.

A rough translation of some of Isaiah's message would go something like this: God says to you, "Do you remember how amazing it was when I rescued you from Egypt? Do you remember how I led you through the wilderness and cared for you and gave you food and drink along the way? - Well that's nothing compared to the new thing that I'm about to do." For Isaiah's first listeners, that new thing was being released from their bondage and exile in Babylon and being led back to their own land.

However, Jesus could easily have said the same thing, both to his first listeners and to us. Jesus says to us, "Do you remember all that amazing stuff that God did in the past in order to set his people free? - That's nothing compared to the new thing that I am doing right now!" That new thing consisted, first and foremost, of Jesus' life of loving service. Yet, it also consisted of his death and resurrection.

We are not led out of slavery in Egypt or in Babylon. Instead, the language of the Scriptures talks about being set free from slavery to sin and to death and to the law. We are led from death into life, from darkness into light, from fear into love. It's not always easy for us to picture concretely what this means for us, yet today's gospel gives us a good glimpse.

There was plenty of opportunity at the dinner in Bethany for worry and for fear. What will people think? Why is Jesus letting her do that? How can she possibly afford it? Shouldn't she be helping Martha in the kitchen? How embarrassing to commit such a faux pas! Doesn't Jesus know that he's a marked man? How can he be so calm? If I were him I'd be hiding out, and not creating a scene like this! These are the worries and the fears of people who are enslaved by sin and death and the law.

However, the freedom of the gospel is to be seen in the calm love and acceptance of Jesus and in the generous expression of devotion by Mary. The thoughts and judgments of others - impending arrest and death - what the social rules say - none of these matter to those who have been set free to live in love for God and for others. May we find that same freedom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lent 5(C) John 12:1-8

March 25, 2007 Isaiah 43:16-21

St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

? 2007 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved