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13 February 2017
READING: MARK13:32-14:11
‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: he leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.
‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
REFLECTION
Hi. My name is Liam and I’m on the staff team here at STC Sheffield. It’s great to be back looking at the Bible again with you.
This week, we will be moving towards the end of Mark’s Gospel. We’ll spend most of our week focusing on Chapter 14, which marks the start of the Passion Narrative.
In today’s passage we read of the plot to kill Jesus which is immediately followed by a story, recorded by Mark, where Jesus is sat reclining in the house of a man called Simon – a leper. An outcast of society. Someone on the very edge of community. A place we so often find Jesus in these accounts of his life.
It’s in this surprising setting that we focus our attention for today. A woman appears with an incredibly expensive jar of ointment (probably worth the equivalent of 300 days wages for a labourer). And she takes this huge bottle of ointment and breaks it open and pours it over Jesus head.
Some of the disciples respond indignantly – they can’t get their head around what she’s done but Jesus turns to them and says this, reading verse 8:
‘She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare it for burial.’
She did what she could. There’s something for us in what Jesus is saying here. She did what she could. It was her choice. She decided to do it. Because of that, her actions challenge us as much today as they did then for those who actually witnessed this.
Let’s look at what she actually does. This woman, identified in both Matthew and John’s Gospel as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, takes all that she has. I mean it had to be basically all that she had – it was worth over 300 days wages. She takes this tremendous amount of ointment and she gives it all to Jesus – literally pours it over his head. Essentially, she’s taking all of her things of earthly value and giving them over to Jesus. In doing so, Mary shows us that what she really values is not these possessions of hers – the money she paid to buy the ointment, but Jesus, and having a personal connection with him. Her actions can be seen as worship – the act of giving worth to someone. She places value and worth in a relationship with Jesus.
Her actions challenged those who were in that room. Some present said it was a complete waste and should have been used to feed the poor but Jesus says, ‘She did a beautiful thing’. The original Greek word indicates that she did a ‘good’ deed. She took what the world around her placed importance on – money and also her reputation – what she did was an act of total submission – and she takes these things and puts them to one side in order to draw closer to Jesus. To be near him. To honour him. To know him more closely.
The reason it challenges those in the room, and in turn challenges us as we read this today, is that when we become a Christian – there is the constant battle going inside us. When we choose to follow Jesus, we die to our old way of life and establish a new one with him. The things that previously mattered to us – money, reputation, our job, our exam results, our CV - become less important than our relationship with Jesus. The problem we all face is that the pull of the old life is so strong and so it’s a constant battle between the things of importance in our old life and the new life with Jesus. Mary’s actions are a declaration of her faith, and demonstrate her commitment to living this new life with Jesus. Jesus tells her that she has done a beautiful thing. She has done a good thing.
Our vision as a church this year is to ask others to ‘Join Us In Doing Good’. The implication being that we are called to lead by example. Mary did a good thing. So the question for us today should be: How can I follow her example? Do I recognise this battle in me between the old and new life? What do I need to put to one side so that I can focus on my relationship with Jesus?
PRAYER
Jesus – thank you that in you we find new life – a new way of living! Help us to follow Mary’s example and recognise where we need to give over to you things that have become more important than our relationship with you. Jesus – help us to seek first your kingdom and place you at the centre of our day.
Amen.
Want to get this podcast regularly? See http://stthomascrookes.org/podcast/
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By STC SheffieldREADING: MARK13:32-14:11
‘But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: he leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
‘Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: “Watch!”’
Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ‘But not during the festival,’ they said, ‘or the people may riot.’
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly.
‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus. ‘Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.
REFLECTION
Hi. My name is Liam and I’m on the staff team here at STC Sheffield. It’s great to be back looking at the Bible again with you.
This week, we will be moving towards the end of Mark’s Gospel. We’ll spend most of our week focusing on Chapter 14, which marks the start of the Passion Narrative.
In today’s passage we read of the plot to kill Jesus which is immediately followed by a story, recorded by Mark, where Jesus is sat reclining in the house of a man called Simon – a leper. An outcast of society. Someone on the very edge of community. A place we so often find Jesus in these accounts of his life.
It’s in this surprising setting that we focus our attention for today. A woman appears with an incredibly expensive jar of ointment (probably worth the equivalent of 300 days wages for a labourer). And she takes this huge bottle of ointment and breaks it open and pours it over Jesus head.
Some of the disciples respond indignantly – they can’t get their head around what she’s done but Jesus turns to them and says this, reading verse 8:
‘She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare it for burial.’
She did what she could. There’s something for us in what Jesus is saying here. She did what she could. It was her choice. She decided to do it. Because of that, her actions challenge us as much today as they did then for those who actually witnessed this.
Let’s look at what she actually does. This woman, identified in both Matthew and John’s Gospel as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, takes all that she has. I mean it had to be basically all that she had – it was worth over 300 days wages. She takes this tremendous amount of ointment and she gives it all to Jesus – literally pours it over his head. Essentially, she’s taking all of her things of earthly value and giving them over to Jesus. In doing so, Mary shows us that what she really values is not these possessions of hers – the money she paid to buy the ointment, but Jesus, and having a personal connection with him. Her actions can be seen as worship – the act of giving worth to someone. She places value and worth in a relationship with Jesus.
Her actions challenged those who were in that room. Some present said it was a complete waste and should have been used to feed the poor but Jesus says, ‘She did a beautiful thing’. The original Greek word indicates that she did a ‘good’ deed. She took what the world around her placed importance on – money and also her reputation – what she did was an act of total submission – and she takes these things and puts them to one side in order to draw closer to Jesus. To be near him. To honour him. To know him more closely.
The reason it challenges those in the room, and in turn challenges us as we read this today, is that when we become a Christian – there is the constant battle going inside us. When we choose to follow Jesus, we die to our old way of life and establish a new one with him. The things that previously mattered to us – money, reputation, our job, our exam results, our CV - become less important than our relationship with Jesus. The problem we all face is that the pull of the old life is so strong and so it’s a constant battle between the things of importance in our old life and the new life with Jesus. Mary’s actions are a declaration of her faith, and demonstrate her commitment to living this new life with Jesus. Jesus tells her that she has done a beautiful thing. She has done a good thing.
Our vision as a church this year is to ask others to ‘Join Us In Doing Good’. The implication being that we are called to lead by example. Mary did a good thing. So the question for us today should be: How can I follow her example? Do I recognise this battle in me between the old and new life? What do I need to put to one side so that I can focus on my relationship with Jesus?
PRAYER
Jesus – thank you that in you we find new life – a new way of living! Help us to follow Mary’s example and recognise where we need to give over to you things that have become more important than our relationship with you. Jesus – help us to seek first your kingdom and place you at the centre of our day.
Amen.
Want to get this podcast regularly? See http://stthomascrookes.org/podcast/