Word to the Wise
Monday, March 29, 2021 - 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. A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. [Isaiah]
When the four evangelists set out to tell the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, they began with the events in Jerusalem that we commemorate in Holy Week. But how were they and their audiences (which includes us) to understand the "WHY?" of the whole thing. On one level, the level of the ordinary Jew in Jerusalem at the time, Jesus was just one more religious/ political figure who irritated the authorities, both Jewish and Roman, so they got rid of him in a gruesome way as a warning to everyone else. Life went on with the celebration of Passover. End of story? Not for those who believed in Jesus. But how to preach about this, especially to one's fellow Jews, but later on to non-Jews? One resource for people of faith was, and still is, the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah, especially his beautiful and haunting "songs of the Suffering Servant." These four songs are featured on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and, most graphically, on Good Friday! They envelop us in the world of God's plan while touching on the sorrow and joy of Holy Week and Easter.
In the gospel scripture for today, there is a kind of "first" Last Supper in Bethany on the way to Jerusalem. This is where Lazarus was raised from the dead and he is a guest at the banquet!!!! His sister performs an extraordinary gesture of anointing Jesus with extremely expensive aromatic oil. Her gesture is prophetic, because she would be bringing the rest of it with her to anoint Jesus' in the tomb!
If we enter in faith into the events of Holy Week, we sit today at this dinner with the Palm in our hands. We are looking from Lazarus to Jesus and then to Mary and the irritating figure of Judas. We may not hear the echoes of Isaiah in the background until much later. But we are part of this. We are not re-enacting a past event, but living it now in faith, from "Hosanna!" on Palm Sunday, to "This is my Body, this is my Blood..." on Holy Thursday, to "Crucify him!" on Good Friday, to "Alleluia!" on Easter Sunday. This is not a story we are simply telling, it is one we are living. AMEN