Monday 29 March 2010

Background

In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus celebrated theJewish festival of Passover before his arrest. However, in John'sGospel, Jesus' own death is presented as though he is the lambslaughtered for Passover. Just as the Hebrews in Egypt (Exodus12:21-27) were instructed to mark their doorposts with theblood of a lamb so that the spirit of the Lord would pass overthese homes and not strike down their first born, so the timing ofthe Passover in John's Gospel suggests that Jesus' blood has powerto avert disaster in the face of the sins of the world.

This theological point is reinforced by John's setting of the storyof the anointing of Jesus in the home of Lazarus. Although it is astory about anointing for burial, this is not a house of death - itis instead a house of resurrection, for it was here that Jesusraised Lazarus from the tomb after three days (John11:1-44).

Here, then, John places two more examples of an "illness that doesnot lead to death but is for God's glory" (see John11:4). According to John, both the sick desire of the Jewishleaders to contrive Jesus' death (John11:53) and the sickness of Judas Iscariot, thief and betrayer,whose cynical plans involved using the poor as an excuse for hisown greed, would not in end in the death of all that was good, butwould rather be caught up in God's purposes of life andredemption.

In this light, spending half a year's wages on anointing Jesus wasnot about ignoring the poor as this passage might seem to imply. Itwas about closely following the life and death and resurrection ofJesus. Those, like Mary, who perceived this, had the poor's realinterests at heart for they had learnt how to walk in the light (John12:36).

To Ponder

How helpful do you find the image of Jesus as theslaughtered Passover lamb?

What images help you best to grasp the importanceof the death and resurrection of Jesus?

What do you think Jesus meant when he said, "Youalways have the poor with you, but you do not always have me"? Whatimplications does this meaning have for the life of Christiandiscipleship today?