Isaiah 50:5-10; 1 Peter 2:21-24; St John 12:1-43
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Jesus it in the house of His dear friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. It is six days before the Passover. The day before yesterday. That is, the day before Palm Sunday. Martha served, as is her custom and domain. And Mary approaches and anoints our Lord’s feet for burial. Judas resents her action and resolves upon his evil course.
These two noteworthy characters: Mary of Bethany and Judas Iscariot, produce a powerful effect by way of contrast. Together they typify our relation to Christ: He gives His body to Marys to be anointed and worshiped. And He gives it likewise to Judases to be kissed and betrayed. Jesus gives Himself to good persons who receive Him in faith and respond in love and obedience and service. And He gives Himself to foes who betray and mock and crucify.
We, of course, have been - and still are! - both. We are Mary. We are Judas. We are faithful. We are scoundrels. We are saint and we are sinner.
How well this is proclaimed in the reading from the prophet Isaiah: I gave My back to those who strike, and My cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. This is not the prophet speaking. It is our Lord. It is Jesus’ confession of His Passion and the attitude of the crowds to His person.
In all of this, He does not become discouraged or despair. He does not wail and complain. He does not revile or strike back against those who betray, revile and hurt Him. He entrusts Himself to His God and Father. He enters the Holy City as it has been written of Him. He proceeds in faith and love to His voluntary suffering and death. No one takes His life from Him. The disciples did not understand these things at first.
We cannot make that mistake. We must apply all of this to ourselves. This is not a story about other people. This is the account of our lives. In all Christian hearts dwell these two: Judas and Mary, sinner and saint, old man and new man. The old man must be beaten down and subdued by daily contrition and repentance; drown anew in Holy Baptism and buried with Christ, so that the new man may emerge by grace to live before God in the forgiveness that declares you pure and holy.
The old man is as described in the Psalm: he flatters himself in his own eyes. He plots trouble while on his bed. He does not reject evil. Sin speaks deep in his heart. Mortify him. Repent.
But the new man longs to anoint and kiss the feet that bring good news from God. The feet that are nailed to the Tree of Life for us. The new man is encouraged and strengthen by God’s Word and Blessed Sacrament.
Like Mary, he rejoices in the path that the Lord has chosen and the chalice that He drinks for her. Indeed, His hour has now come. The Son of Man is glorified by being lifted up from the earth. If you would see Him, if you would behold Jesus, behold Him there. There and there alone, upon the Cross, you might gaze upon God’s glory and not be destroyed, for you gaze upon where and how He was destroyed for you. There you might look into things that the prophets longed to see and kings desired. There you will know the love God holds for you and the worst He was gladly paid to make you His.
We do not speak only metaphorically. For we believe that the blind see by hearing. Hear the Word of God. Hear the account of His holy death and resurrection this week and therein see Jesus. There, in the inspired account of His suffering and death, God reveals Himself to His children. This is how He makes Marys out of Judases, how He justifies sinners and forgives saints.
His death fills His holy House with a fragrance hated and abhorred by the world and all its Judases. But the sacrificial death of Christ is the sweet smelling aroma in the nostrils of God, by which He delights in you and gladly receives the worship and adoration of all you Marys.
Would you see Jesus? Would you anoint and kiss His feet? Then come up to His Feast and worship. Hear His holy Passion and see Him upon the Cross. Receive His Body and Blood in the Sacrament where He gives Himself to you and for you. Worship Him in the confidence that you have been raised with Him to recline at His Table forever. There with Him, though you die, yet shall you live.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Jesus it in the house of His dear friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus. It is six days before the Passover. The day before yesterday. That is, the day before Palm Sunday. Martha served, as is her custom and domain. And Mary approaches and anoints our Lord’s feet for burial. Judas resents her action and resolves upon his evil course.
These two noteworthy characters: Mary of Bethany and Judas Iscariot, produce a powerful effect by way of contrast. Together they typify our relation to Christ: He gives His body to Marys to be anointed and worshiped. And He gives it likewise to Judases to be kissed and betrayed. Jesus gives Himself to good persons who receive Him in faith and respond in love and obedience and service. And He gives Himself to foes who betray and mock and crucify.
We, of course, have been - and still are! - both. We are Mary. We are Judas. We are faithful. We are scoundrels. We are saint and we are sinner.
How well this is proclaimed in the reading from the prophet Isaiah: I gave My back to those who strike, and My cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. This is not the prophet speaking. It is our Lord. It is Jesus’ confession of His Passion and the attitude of the crowds to His person.
In all of this, He does not become discouraged or despair. He does not wail and complain. He does not revile or strike back against those who betray, revile and hurt Him. He entrusts Himself to His God and Father. He enters the Holy City as it has been written of Him. He proceeds in faith and love to His voluntary suffering and death. No one takes His life from Him. The disciples did not understand these things at first.
We cannot make that mistake. We must apply all of this to ourselves. This is not a story about other people. This is the account of our lives. In all Christian hearts dwell these two: Judas and Mary, sinner and saint, old man and new man. The old man must be beaten down and subdued by daily contrition and repentance; drown anew in Holy Baptism and buried with Christ, so that the new man may emerge by grace to live before God in the forgiveness that declares you pure and holy.
The old man is as described in the Psalm: he flatters himself in his own eyes. He plots trouble while on his bed. He does not reject evil. Sin speaks deep in his heart. Mortify him. Repent.
But the new man longs to anoint and kiss the feet that bring good news from God. The feet that are nailed to the Tree of Life for us. The new man is encouraged and strengthen by God’s Word and Blessed Sacrament.
Like Mary, he rejoices in the path that the Lord has chosen and the chalice that He drinks for her. Indeed, His hour has now come. The Son of Man is glorified by being lifted up from the earth. If you would see Him, if you would behold Jesus, behold Him there. There and there alone, upon the Cross, you might gaze upon God’s glory and not be destroyed, for you gaze upon where and how He was destroyed for you. There you might look into things that the prophets longed to see and kings desired. There you will know the love God holds for you and the worst He was gladly paid to make you His.
We do not speak only metaphorically. For we believe that the blind see by hearing. Hear the Word of God. Hear the account of His holy death and resurrection this week and therein see Jesus. There, in the inspired account of His suffering and death, God reveals Himself to His children. This is how He makes Marys out of Judases, how He justifies sinners and forgives saints.
His death fills His holy House with a fragrance hated and abhorred by the world and all its Judases. But the sacrificial death of Christ is the sweet smelling aroma in the nostrils of God, by which He delights in you and gladly receives the worship and adoration of all you Marys.
Would you see Jesus? Would you anoint and kiss His feet? Then come up to His Feast and worship. Hear His holy Passion and see Him upon the Cross. Receive His Body and Blood in the Sacrament where He gives Himself to you and for you. Worship Him in the confidence that you have been raised with Him to recline at His Table forever. There with Him, though you die, yet shall you live.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed