Good Shepherd Sermon. April 5 – 6, 2025. John 12. 1-8
“Fragrance of Extravagant Abundance”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God, the Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Do you remember “seeing” radio shows portrayed with the announcer cupping a hand behind his ear, and announcing something to this effect? Here goes…
“In our previous chapter of John’s gospel – Chapter eleven- we saw what we thought was the impossible, become possible, as Jesus brought his friend, Lazarus, back to life after four days of death. Yes, four days dead…now alive…all because of Jesus.”
“Let us join in the conversation of today’s reading from John’s 12th chapter, as the gospel writer tells us that Jesus has returned to Bethany, and who, but the dead man-now alive, was lounging at the table with him!”
(Pause)
Regardless of how long it’s been since you’ve read that account in Chapter 11, most people stop in a kind of disbelief, and wonder. Not because we don’t believe Jesus didn’t resurrect his friend, but because that kind of thing just does not happen. Period.
Unless you hang out with Jesus…
I mean, we just never know what kind of “sign” or miracle will come about with Jesus around. And you know what? I really believe we would do a gross injustice to our understanding of today’s text by not keeping the Lazarus resurrection in mind.
Here’s why. When I read Chapter 12 earlier this week I had to turn a couple pages back to be reminded of the reaction of Mary and Martha to their brother now alive again. Do you remember how people reacted?
Yeah!
John shifted from the miraculous to tell us that, “Many of the people who were with Mary and Martha believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.”
That’s it! An apparent simple narration. No exclamation point! No fanfare! No, “Wow, Jesus! You’re the man!” No high fives or fist bumps; no celebration whatsoever. Our gospel writer shared that piece of extravagant information as if he was writing a manual on how to grow a Chia pet. “Just put it in water.” Come on, this deserves sooo much more!
And today’s text we return to life-and-death again. So, I wonder if the tenderness of Mary’s attentive anointing of Jesus, and Martha doing the usual, wonderful service work, isn’t in thankful response for the life-saving measure Jesus did for their family. Furthermore, Lazarus was reunited with the Savior, his dear friend. After all, it was due to Lazarus’ death that prompted Jesus’ tears.
Maybe I was a bit harsh on John, the gospel writer. I really think he wants us to recall the fact there was no fanfare, as he reminds us what was written at the beginning of the Lazarus story in Chapter 11. It’s right there in the second verse, that Mary is “the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair.” I think it’s kinda brilliant to tie these ultra-important life-and-death events in these two chapters together.
Mary anoints Jesus as the one in whom death becomes life. Yes, in Christ, death becomes life. Here’s the thing – the act of anointing Jesus’ feet is symbolic. Whereas kings are anointed on the head, the dead are anointed on the feet as part of their preparation for burial.
I wonder – did Mary know that Jesus was going to die soon, or was she proclaiming what she knew to be true: that Jesus is the one in whom death becomes life—the conqueror of death proven with the resurrection of her brother? Perhaps it was both: that Jesus is the King who conquers death and he is preparing to die as part of establishing his Kingdom.
What Mary is showing us is there is nothing too extravagant or too much for the One who gives us life – and abundant life at that! The nard she is using to anoint Jesus is incredibly expensive – to the tune of 300 denarii! Does that sound like much? If it does, then you’re right! One denarius is equivalent to one day’s pay. Simple math tells you 300 of those is close to a year’s pay, for one jar of ointment! Want abundance? This expensive nard was not purchased at some equivalent to Neiman-Marcus or Macy’s at a 1st Century Palestinian mall.
No – it was imported from India.
Absolutely nothing is too good or too costly for Jesus. After all, he would pay the cost of our sinfulness with his own life!
But there, at the table with the one who has already been brought back from the dead, adjacent to the One destined for a brutal death, to become alive again, sits the smug, little thief, stating that Mary could have used that money in the treasury to purchase items for those who do not have. How noble of Judas. NOT! He probably wanted to line his pockets some more, like he had been doing as the treasurer, the keeper of the common purse. Thus, his comment, “What a waste.”
As Judas was scheming to help end the life of the One who had already raised Lazarus, retired ELCA Pastor Phil Heinz of Calvary Lutheran, in TX, wrote in a commentary** I resurrected from 2019:
“Jesus not only raised the two women’s brother but has a date with death himself. But instead of the stench of four days dead, the fragrance of expensive perfume filled the house.
Just like Lazarus, Jesus will be lost for a time, but when he is found again death itself will be defeated and everything will change and even what is the same will be different. The poor who you will always have with you, will be made rich to sit at the table, as bread baked, and wine poured ushers in food and fellowship and feasting like has never been before and will be forever and ever.”
Is that what what “Eternal Life” looks like? It could very well be – the kind promised you and me, to live eternally in “extravagant abundance” with the very One who defeated death in the first place. God in the flesh – Jesus Christ.
AMEN.
** Posted on, “Living the Lectionary,” April 6, 2019. Pastor Phil Heinz, Calvary Lutheran Church.