John 12:1-11 (Monday)

Year A - Holy Week Monday or Clarification Week Monday

April 14, 2014

John 12:1-11

As a pre-Last Supper we find the guys at the table and the women waiting upon them. Read this into eucharist. Takes away some of the beauty, huh? Ritual is always culture bound.

As a pre-Burial (ironic with raised Lazarus there remembering his own anointing and the smell of it after the grave clothes were unwrapped) we find a first anointing by a woman (too often unfairly associated with sinner/prostitute) and at the official grave it is two guys who get the credit, who have the right credentials as morticians.

As a pre-Betrayal we find money at the heart of the breaking of relationships. You can’t serve G*D and Mammon continues to ring true. Western Capitalism has no replacement on the horizon and so a great crash is expected before a new economic paradigm can be implemented. Imagine the cost of the perfume to have been 30 pieces of silver to balance the story-telling.

As a pre-Crucifixion we remember the end of the previous chapter with a plot to kill Jesus and Lazarus (again). Finding the right chargeable offenses wasn’t easy to pull off, it took effort to set Jesus and the Roman up (depending on how anti-Semitic you want to be).

We are not at a pre-Resurrection as that can’t be anticipated.

A part of the work we need to do is post-Last Supper, post-Burial, post-Betrayal, and post-Crucifixion. In each case we have work to do, responsibility to change our interactions and express G*D-on-our-side by loving our Neighb*r.

There is news about pay equity as this note is being written. Progress has been made, but so much is yet to do. This has Eucharistic implications about how much food can be put on the table and shared. In addition to pay there is a job status gap with men still getting the credit for spicing Jesus’ burial as prelude to resurrection (Mary’s anointing gets misinterpreted and dismissed). We are all part of a system based on wealth and privilege that skews our values and are fearful of losing any part of our present and potential resources and scheming to get more at any cost. And who among us has not been part of a plot to do in one group or another (either passively or actively—both equally efficient at removing others)?

A heavy beginning to a heavy week.