Infinitum Lent JourneySample

Today we consider Surrender & Me in the context of Lent.

Previously, we considered Jesus and surrender. Now, we’re turning the table and looking in the mirror. This week, we’ll focus on the happenings just before the occasion we studied previously (in John 13).

John 12:1-3:

“Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from the essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance” (NLT).

Verse 5: “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.” (NLT)

Or, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (NRSV)

What is denarius? ‘Latin, literally ‘containing ten,’ from the phrase denarius nummus ‘coin worth ten asses,’ from deni ‘in tens,’ from decem ‘ten.’’ Now, in case you aren’t up to date on the market for donkeys (we searched online for you), “You will usually spend as little as $100 to adopt a more mature donkey, while a younger one, which is considered high-quality and properly trained, can cost you $3,000 or even more.”

Whether we’re talking the expensive colts or the modestly priced ‘mature’ donkeys, 300 of them totals quite a substantial price!

So, Martha is kicking up dust in a flurry of activity (that’s a definition of the word diakone typically rendered ‘ministering’ [or variations] = ‘to serve, minister, to be an attendant; Strong’s—wait at table; HELPS—kicking up dust because on the move, actively serve’). Lazarus is reclining at the table, just being ‘raised back to life.’ And here’s Mary, doing what she does.

What does Mary do? Well, she only appears a couple of times in the New Testament.

In Luke, Mary famously turns up sitting at Jesus’ feet:

“Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her”” (Luke 10:38-42 NRSV).

Mary is at her Rabbi’s feet as a good disciple, and here Mary is also connected with Jesus’ feet.

All three siblings are surrendering something here. We’ll tune in tomorrow to consider what each surrendered.