Word to the Wise
Monday, April 6, 2020 - Holy Week - Mon
[Isa 42:1-7 and John 12:1-11]Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my Spirit, he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.....[Isaiah]
The great English writer, Samuel Johnson, once wrote: “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” It is the preoccupation of theological and scriptural scholars to know what might have been going on in the mind of Jesus during this week. The best most of us can do is to know what is going on in OUR mind this week as we follow Jesus during his last days. The early Christian community, in its efforts to understand the significance of the events of these days, turned to the only scripture they had, the law and the prophets. Isaiah, especially in what we have called the Songs of the Suffering Servant, seems to have eerily described the future person and events of this time we call Holy Week. The first scripture for today is taken from the first of those "songs." We will hear others this week, culminating in the one on Good Friday, which for its eerie accuracy in describing Jesus' suffering, can leave us trembling! These "songs" can provide the background music for or even a filter through which we can recall and join the last days of Jesus.
The scene in the gospel scripture for today at the home of Mary of Bethany could qualify as another "last supper." Can we imagine being at table with Lazarus? He becomes a warning figure that there is another prospective "risen one" (albeit in a different way) at table with us. The figures of Mary who anoints and Judas who condemns add to the poignance of the occasion. In this time of the scourge of the COVID-19 virus, the debate over the value of a human life against the economic value of the resources hits me. I am constantly amazed at the dramatic qualities of the Gospel According to John!
The prospect of Jesus being crucified this coming Friday can "concentrate our minds mightily" and enable us, even if our churches are closed, to find in the scriptures the experience of Holy Week with Isaiah to accompany us in the background. AMEN