Lessons: Psalm 126; Philippians 3: 7-14; John 12: 1-8

Jesus said, 'You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.' (John 12:8)

We don't know what to make of this strange saying at the end of an episode involving Jesus, Mary and Judas.

Measured by reasonable standards, Mary’s actions are wasteful and immodest. Instead of anointing Jesus’ head, the customary way to honour an important guest, she wipes his feet. She abandons all sense of decorum by using vast quantities of costly perfume, about one year's wages, unselfconsciously ‘wiping his feet with her hair.’ As such, she represents humility and gratitude in Christ's service.

Judas, though, represents those who are appalled by the behaviour of Mary - and Jesus. He is livid that Mary should use expensive perfume for an unnecessary and extravagant show of affection. How dare she fritter away a valuable resource that could have been sold and used to help the poor! He is incensed that Jesus not only allows her to act in this way but commends her and callously ignores the plight of the needy.

Jesus responds to Judas by saying: ‘Leave her alone. She bought it to that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me’ (vv7&8).

Clearly, this saying embarrassed John. Knowing that helping the poor is a good thing, John condemns Judas because he is insincere and deceitful. He doesn’t really care for the poor but wants to steal the money that could have been used to help them (v6).

We must understand Jesus’ perplexing saying in the light of the impending crisis. He is about to be arrested, brought to trial and crucified. Remember that in his ministry, Jesus is not indifferent to human suffering. He feeds the crowds (Mk 6:30-44; 8:1-10) and requires us to pray for 'daily bread' for ourselves and others (Mt 6:11; Lk 11:3). Neglect of the poor is judged harshly in the Parables of the Rich Fool (Lk 12:13-21) and the Beggar at the Gate (Lk 16:19-31). The point, as Mark makes even clearer (Mk 14:7) is that, while there is always time to show kindness to the poor, there is little time in which to lavish extravagant love on the One who is about to be crucified.

There is a profound difference between what is of primary importance and what is of secondary importance. Concern for the poor is a binding obligation. But it is not to be confused with the central event in history where God’s costly love for humanity is singularly displayed.

It often happens that a commitment to just and compassionate treatment of the poor often takes the place of faith in God’s redemptive act of grace in Christ. Social justice, not God’s costly love for all, becomes the faith of the church. When that happens, a very important task takes the place of what is essential!

Judas, like many good, devout people, makes this mistake. Like the elder brother in last week's Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32), he doesn’t see that, in Christ, the magnificence of God’s grace to sinners is embodied. He doesn't see that in Christ's costly life, death and resurrection God’s mercy is extravagantly poured-out. If he had, he would not have begrudged Mary her spontaneous act of love.

By grumbling about Mary's uninhibited devotion to Jesus, Judas has betrayed him already. Alarmingly, we learn that being a close disciple of Jesus, perhaps a life-long member of the Church, is no guarantee of seeing the fullness of God’s reconciling love for our broken world in him!

It is regrettable that our most humane, just and charitable actions can blind us to the reality of grace and prevent us living with a deep and overflowing sense of joy and gratitude for what God has done for us. Our concern for the poor may be a smokescreen to hide our resistance to God's undeserved love towards us.

Mary, however, shows gratitude befitting God’s grace. She goes way beyond what was expected, or permitted. ‘To anoint the feet (of a guest) was exceptional. For a woman to loosen her hair was considered an

act of considerable immodesty.’ (J. Marsh, St John, p 455) This is the act of a humble woman of faith who is so overwhelmed by Christ’s love for her that she cannot contain herself. Knowing what it is to receive God’s grace, Mary’s love for Jesus is expressed unselfconsciously, extravagantly, sensuously. …

There is still more to this story than meets the eye. John and Mark show us that the encounter between Jesus and Mary is intimately connected with his death. She anoints his body and loosens her hair – acts which also signify death and express deepest grief. ‘She has bought the perfume for the day of my burial’ (v7); ‘She has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.’ (Mk 14:8) ‘She comes forward to perform a deed which is both the expression of the utmost possible humility, love and devotion, and a sign … of that which lies before Jesus.’ (L. Newbigin, The Light has Come, p 150)

This moving story is inextricably linked to the destiny awaiting Christ. This very personal story of God’s grace and exuberant faith is a foretaste of the great cosmic story of God’s costly love for all that reaches its climax in Jesus’ death and resurrection. …

The universal scope of this local incident is suggested in seemingly trivial details. After Mary has anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and wiped them with her hair, and before Judas enters the scene, we are told that ‘the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.’ (v3)

On one level this is stating the obvious. But John wants us to see a deeper meaning.

 The Greek word for ‘house’- oikos - is in the same family as ‘ecumenical’ - oikoumene - which means ‘the whole inhabited earth.’ (The Ecumenical Movement encompasses the global church whose mission is to the whole world.)

 The Greek word for ‘filled’ - pleroma - is used in the Gospels to say that ‘in the fullness of time God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him.’ (3:16)

In this subtle way, John tells us that, where Christ is received with unbounded joy, the immediate surrounds - this particular house - and the world as a whole - the global house - are filled with the ‘fragrance’ of God’s costly grace. The ‘stench’ of self-righteousness, deceit and betrayal represented by Judas is overpowered by the ‘sweet smelling scent’ of mercy and unrestrained joy . …

This is true, too, of the event to which it points - Jesus’ crucifixion and burial where the foul smell of evil and death hangs like a pall over God’s eternal purposes and humanity’s future. Yet, the presence of the Risen One, who was ‘crucified dead and buried,’ will fill the earth with the fragrance of grace!

As we hear this moving story, may we not mistake our binding obligation to the poor with faith in God’s triumphant grace. May we be so overwhelmed by the sweet smelling scent of God’s forgiveness in Christ that we, too, will be moved to extravagant adoration. May our eyes be opened to the incomparably costly grace of God in the crucified-and-risen Christ so that, like Mary and unlike Judas, we will respond in lives of uninhibited joy and gratitude.