“Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3
I woke up early today, and I said my morning prayers. Once the rest of our family woke up, we went to the Temple for the morning services. We read the Scriptures, and we shared the Word. I noticed that Jesus and His disciples were not present at the services today. In the afternoon, we headed to Bethany to visit Mary, Martha and Lazarus. It was a total of fourteen of us plus three children. I felt bad showing up with so many people, but they had insisted that I brought the whole family. We took food to share with them, and some wine stored in wineskins.
It took us about thirty minutes to arrive in Bethany, and we found their house right away. We noticed that it was already packed with people. We learned that a lot of people had come to see Lazarus when they heard that he had been raised from the dead.
Their house had a central courtyard with rooms all around it. The courtyard was large enough so there was room for everyone, and that’s where the majority of the persons had gathered. I saw Martha running back and forth serving everyone. I guess some things would never change. I told the men in our family to go find a place to sit down. Sarah, Mary, Salome and me went to what I figured was the kitchen to find Martha and give her what we brought. There were a few women in the kitchen helping out. Martha saw me and came to hug me:
“Did you see Jesus?”
“No, I haven’t. Is He here?”
“Yes, He’s in one of the rooms.”
“I’m sure I will see Him soon. Do you need any help?”
“No, don’t worry. I have plenty of help. You are my guest. Here, I’ll take you to Jesus. This time, I am also going to choose ‘the better part.’” I smiled at her words.
We left all the food and wine that we had brought with the ladies that were in the kitchen who seemed to have everything under control, and we followed Mary to a room that looked like a smaller courtyard. We noticed that Clopas, Luke and Samuel had found a table to sit down in that area. And in another larger table nearby, I saw Jesus with His disciples. “Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him.” (1)
I was on my way to Him with Martha, when all of a sudden, Mary came over and sat at Jesus’ feet. “Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (2) Everyone stood in silence, watching her. Then, I recognized Judas Iscariot. He was one of Jesus’ disciples whom I had met one of the times that Jesus had come through Nazareth. He stood up and said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” (3)
“Jesus said, ‘Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.’” (4)
I did not understand what He meant when He said “for the day of My burial.” What was He talking about? I felt a fear grow within me, but I did not have time to dwell on it, because all of a sudden, Jesus saw me and His face turned first into sadness and then He smiled His beautiful smile. If I had not known Him so well, I would have missed the sadness because it was such a quick gesture. But I knew Him better than I know myself, and I knew something was worrying Him. I went over to Him, and Mary stood up and hugged me. Jesus then stood up as well, He kissed me, and He introduced me to everyone.
His aunts and Sarah then came over, and after that, everything got mixed in my mind. They made room for us at their table. We ate more than I have eaten in a long time. We drank wine. I don’t drink much because it goes to my head right away, but I got carried away with the joy of the people around me who were celebrating that Lazarus had resurrected. Everyone wanted to know how Jesus had managed to raise Lazarus from the dead, but He played it down.
I would have liked to have some private time to speak to my Son, but it was impossible. I did not have an opportunity to be with Him alone. He stayed that night in Bethany. Martha invited me to stay in their house too, but I could tell that she was exhausted and she had enough guests already as it was.
We said our good-byes with a promise that they would join us on Passover for the meal in our tent at the foot of the hill near Jerusalem.
We walked towards Jerusalem in silence. We were all exhausted. It had been a long day. I carried in my heart a mixture of joy at having seen my Son and sadness because even though I sat next to Him, I felt Him very distant.
Before I closed my eyes, I said a prayer to the Father: “Lord, whatever it is that is bothering our Son, please make it better. I noticed an air of sadness that reminded me of when He was little and something was bothering Him. Whatever it is that is making Him so sad, please resolve it for Him. If it is your will, bring joy into our Son’s heart once again. Lord, I trust in You.”
Reflection:
Jesus was experiencing sadness because He knew that His hour was near. We are all experiencing sadness now because we are in isolation, away from our loved ones, and we are scared of this coronavirus that we don’t know if it may affect a family member or how long this quarantine will last. To whom should I turn to in order to find strength and hope? Is my faith growing stronger or getting weaker during this time? Why?
References:
1. John 12:2
2. John 12:3
3. John 12:5
4. John 12:7-8
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