Pure nard

Laura Digan April 11, 2022 0 1

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John 12: 1-8 (NRSVA)

1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

Let us imagine the atmosphere that night in Bethany, at the dinner in honour of Jesus. Outside, the air is pungent with tension and impending doom. But inside the house in Bethany, there is joy, friendship and celebration. 

The three siblings put on a lavish meal for Jesus. Martha serves, as she so wonderfully does. We can imagine that the house is filled with the amazing aromas emanating from her cooking pot. We can imagine Jesus relaxing and enjoying the delicious flavours and textures of the food Martha has prepared. We can imagine him relaxing and revelling in the company of his friends – a welcome respite for what he knows is ahead of him.

And then at some point after the meal Mary does something remarkable. She has acquired a bottle of precious perfume. It’s pure nard, imported all the way from India. It is outrageously expensive. It is so intuitive, has she been given a message from God? Does she know this is Jesus’ last week on earth, that he will soon be arrested and put to death? 

Whatever her thinking and motivations, Mary breaks the normal flow of the dinner party. She enters the dining area and kneels and pours the entire contents of the jar of perfume on Jesus’ feet. Then she unbinds her long hair and wipes his feet. It is a shocking scene of remarkable intimacy and love. A woman of that time would not have let down her hair in front of men, and she certainly would not touch a man, let alone his feet. But that night Mary is offering comfort to Jesus the man. The smell of the perfume and her touch I’m sure gave Jesus strength and comfort throughout all he faced in the coming week.

The scent would have been so strong, so strong that I think it would have stayed on him throughout the week ahead.

At the last supper he shared with the disciples knowing he was to be betrayed. When he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he was taken in front of Pilate, when he was whipped, stripped and mocked. When he carried the cross, when he was nailed to it, when he hung on it in agony. Each time he caught a scent of that perfume he would have been comforted.

Comforted by the memory of the sound of his friends’ chatter, fellowship and laughter. He will have been strengthened by the memory of the love shining from Mary’s face as she knelt at his feet, He will have been comforted by the memory of the warmth and the tenderness of her touch. Comforted and strengthened that she would without embarrassment or shame give her full self to him. Comfort and strength to sacrifice himself in order to give us God’s ultimate gift of love.

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus,

Thank you that you pour out your love and grace on us

Thank you that you fill our lives with the fragrance of forgiveness and friendship

We ask Lord that you help us to be like Mary, to give fully of ourselves, 

to give the best of all we have and are, wherever there is need. 

Amen