Part 19a – John 12
In John 12 I want to draw your attention to a few points rather than connect the narrative as before.
As we begin chapter 12 we find that Jesus has just arrived back in Bethany, the place where he had raised Lazarus, and back with his friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. He is attending a meal that has been prepared in his honour. John, the writer, takes great care in telling us exactly what each of his hosts are doing. Martha is busy making sure that everyone of the guests are fed and watered, ensuring that everything is happening, she is so preoccupied with service, appearance and protocol that she misses out on the presence of Jesus. Lazarus was reclining at the table that Martha was busy waiting at, I want you to note that this was quite normal and not out of place at this time in history, but more importantly he was revealing how steeped in tradition he was and therefore blind to the real person of Jesus, that of “God in their midst”. Mary, on the other hand, was preoccupied with Jesus, to the extent that she took an expensive oil and anointed the feet of Jesus. Mary had recognised that this Jesus was both Saviour and Lord and He was worth making this sacrifice for. It appears she was oblivious to the fact that this ointment could have been sold and the money donated to feeding the poor, a point that Judas Iscariot made and in so doing revealed his heart, he was more inclined to appearance and self pretence rather than worship. We read that he stole from the money purse for his own ends, he was living a lie, a lie that ultimately cost his sanity, peace and his life.
The point is that before any of us can serve the poor, who will always be there, we first have to fall at the feet of Jesus and recognise Him in our midst.
Martha was pre occupied with serving, Lazarus was content to recline and eat what was served but Mary went straight to the heart of the matter and anointed the feet of Jesus and demonstrated her love, respect and reverence for a man who she realised was the Messiah, the “God in the midst” who’s life was sent to demonstrate another way.
As we move through this chapter we find many things to pass comment on and in John 12:9-11 we read that many Jews knew he was in the house with Lazarus and so dropped by in order to observe Lazarus, a man raised from the dead, a phenomenon worth seeing. We read that many people believed in Jesus on account of Lazarus and this angered the chief priests, those in authority in the synagogue. How sad it is when one great act of mercy on a fellow human becomes the object of division and destruction and in this story results in a plot to even kill Lazarus. Surly the answer is to explore and accept that “God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform” and to acknowledge that Jesus is the messiah and has come to save us all and requires us to bear witness to who he is.
