Extravagance: that’s not something we usually associate with Lent. Yet, extravagance is key to understanding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. To be extravagant, to be lavish, to be imprudent, to be over the top and do something no one else would do — yes, these are all key to understanding the mysteries associated with Lent. Perhaps we can understand that best from one story found in all four of the gospels contained in the Bible.
In case you’re not a careful reader of the Bible, very few stories show up in all four gospel narratives. There are only two gospels with stories of the birth of Jesus and they are two different stories. Only three gospels recount Jesus breaking bread and sharing the cup at the Last Supper in what we know today as the foundation of the Christian ritual of communion. But stories found in all four? Well, there’s Jesus being baptized and then going to the desert, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and this one I’m going to discuss. On top of that, each gospel narrative tells all of those stories differently. The details don’t agree among the four accounts. Remember: The Bible isn’t written with an emphasis on the details like we expect from a newspaper today. The Bible presents stories of faith meant to inspire us. The details can be fuzzy, at best.
So, on to the story for today. There was a dinner. It was probably in Bethany. Perhaps the dinner was in the home of Lazarus. Or perhaps it was in the home of Simon the Leper. The details don’t agree among the accounts we have today. But it was a dinner. The cultural norm at a dinner would be for the men to eat first, to eat together, and for the women to stay out of the room where the men were eating. That’s very important for this story. In this home, in the middle of dinner, while the men were eating, a woman walked in and went over to Jesus. She got down at his feet and touched him. (Something else that’s important to know about this culture is that a woman never touched a man, especially in public. A man’s wife could touch a man, but that was generally in private.) Not only does the woman interrupt the men while they are eating but she commits a seriously taboo act and touches Jesus. And there’s more.
The woman has an alabaster jar for very expensive perfumed ointment. It was worth a year’s salary. She breaks the jar and the ointment flows out on the feet of Jesus. In public, she gives Jesus a foot massage with this incredibly expensive ointment. (Here’s another cultural tidbit: feet were something no one but servants touched because they are so very dirty, often dry, crusty, cracked, and, by our standard, very disgusting.) What this woman was scandalous. It would have been offensive to all the people in that culture. But she did it.
Predictably, the men tried to stop her. They were offended. She was bringing scandal on the teacher they admired. Why waste this perfume? Sell it. Give the money to the poor. Do something worthwhile!
Jesus response was far different. He accepts the love, the generosity, the comfort. He explains: her story will be included in the Good News wherever it is preached!
We don’t know for sure who this woman was. Perhaps Mary of Magdala. Perhaps another Mary (it was a very common name). So perhaps someone else. Again, the Bible isn’t good with details. But it’s a story that was clearly shared by the early Christian communities and it’s found in all four gospels. It was considered a very important story in the early church.
We still tell the story, but it usually doesn’t have a prominent focus in our telling of the stories of Jesus today. We focus on stories about men. This woman…well, we just don’t pay much attention to the women in the gospel narratives. But her story is of critical importance.
The gospels all share a primary theme which winds its way in each narrative: self-giving. The word used in Greek is kenosis. The Creator God whom Jesus calls “Daddy” poured self into human form through the life of Jesus. Theologically, this is the incarnation: God becoming human in the person of Jesus. Jesus gave himself for the life of the world through his teaching, healing, preaching…and yes, death on the cross. This woman gave all that she could by facing embarrassment and ridicule to pour out the ointment, the symbol of her love, devotion, and dedication. She’s the only one of the followers of Jesus who is recorded to demonstrate this level of self-giving. She extravagantly gave herself, all that she had, to show her devotion to Jesus much like Jesus would give himself to show his devotion to us.
During Lent, we focus on prayer, fasting, and giving money to the poor. But at the heart of Lent, well, at the heart of authentic Christian living, is extravagance: giving our all to share in God’s life and for the life of the world.
Photo by Glassholic on Foter.com/ CC-BY-NC-ND
I love this story–it reminds me of the Woman at the Well, who, openly against all taboos, speaks with Jesus. And he tells her to go back to her village and spread the news about him–he doesn’t say, go tell your father, your brother, your uncle to tell the news–you tell the news. Mary was a feminist I think, and she raised her son well.
The Real Person!
Author Lou acts as a real person and passed all tests against spambots. Anti-Spam by CleanTalk.
Cynthia: I agree — the story of the Samaritan woman is full of many layers of meaning. It’s very rich. Blessings! Lou