What She Has Done

 Over the past few weeks we have been in the last week of Jesus' life. At the beginning of the service, we read the story of Jesus entry which is found in chapter eleven. To confuse us we have been in the narrative lectionary which jumped to chapter twelve three weeks ago. To follow the traditional seasons and times of the church calendar year, Holy Week begins with our story of Jesus riding in on a donkey. However, Mark is only 16 chapters long and the last five are just about Jesus' last week before the resurrection. So the stories of Jesus of who should Jesus pay taxes to, the great commandment and the widow's might, and last week's story of end times all took place within a week. 

In the gospel of Mark, this story is probably happening Wednesday, the day before Passover. Jesus is going into the Temple each day to teach and interact with the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, temple priests, and lawyers. This story begins by telling us Jesus is in Bethany, it is about two miles outside Jerusalem and Jesus was visiting and eating with Simon the Leper. If you remember anything about kosher in their temple religion about clean and unclean. Simon the Leper would not be allowed to enter into the temple because he has some type of skin disease. Leprosy is a catch all description for any type of skin disease with could be a bad case of acne to eczema to leprosy. Jesus just visiting Simon's house, much less eating with him, is technically violating the Temple laws, by contaminating himself and making the Temple unclean with his presence. However, Jesus is the teacher and the liberator and the healer and it is his calling and ministry to heal not just the physical, but also the social, emotional, the mental, and the spiritual parts of humanity and the world. 

At some point in the history of Christianity, particularly in the Roman Catholic branch, the sacrament of healing became just the sacrament of last rites. It became just another check to help people get into heaven and avoid purgatory or hell. Though with all the hospitals and other care-giving ministries that the Roman Catholic Church has founded and funded, they didn't turn their back fully on caring for the person and not just the soul. It is now making a slow, but growing part of their church again. There were many ways that anointing was used in Jesus' time and throughout God's relationship with humanity. Healing, burial, and also for God's special purpose. Kings and prophets were often anointed, as well as those who worked in the temple. Jesus says those at the table that she is anointing him for his burial, but we know it is more than that. And if we remember, the Hebrew word for anointed is ? "Messiah" and the Greek word for anointed is "Christ", Jesus the Anointed. Jesus  becomes anointed by a nameless woman in preparation for his betrayal, trial, death, and, well, wait for next week. She does this because Jesus' time is short as he soon will be gone.

We are a church that proclaims that Jesus is the sole head of our church. And we also proclaim and affirm that we are a priesthood of all believers. It isn't just the ordained ministers who do the ministry, but all who are a part of the church are ministers, each with their own gifts and talents and responsibilities. "Love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love our neighbor as ourselves." We can follow Jesus in this way, not perfectly, however, we can do this with love. We don't have to give a year's wages to make a difference. But we do have to work for justice for the poor, to welcome those who society deems unworthy, and to use our gifts as the Spirit blesses us to bless the world. We do have to pay attention to where the Spirit is leading us to love, to heal, and to bless. 

We don't know her name. This woman who anointed the one whom we follow. What she has done is carried with us today and, I hope, inspires us to find Jesus in our world today and help them on their journey. Amen.