SUNDAY, MARCH 24 2024 - TEMPTATIONS & TRIALS
March 24, 2024
Deborah Laforet
Temptations & Trials
Temptations & Trials
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by
your Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
I often feel like I am one of the bumbling disciples from the gospel of Mark. They just
seem to make every mistake possible - misunderstanding or even ignoring Jesus’ words,
chastised constantly for going against what Jesus wants, vying to be first or to be the one sitting
at Jesus’ side, or even telling Jesus that he’s wrong. Then, of course, at the end of every gospel,
one betrays him, one denies him, and the rest of them abandon him.
People often mock the disciples or shake their heads in astonishment at their actions, but I
sympathize with them. I know that if I were following a person of such wisdom and purpose, I
would often feel a bit over my head, questioning what I just heard, second guessing what I was
being shown, fearful of what others might think, and tripping over myself to get it right, and
often getting it very wrong.
I honestly think the disciples represent most of us. Jesus was exceptional and as much as
we’d all like to be as humble, wise, and as wonderful as Jesus, I suspect most of us are more like
the bumbling disciples, just trying to get it right.
Maybe though, we’re not meant to be like Jesus. In fact, the story we heard today might
be a better example for us of someone we might imitate, this unnamed woman who poured a
very expensive ointment on Jesus’ head, this woman who Jesus said would be remembered for
her actions as part of the good news being proclaimed in the whole world. What did she do that
Jesus would praise her so?
First of all, yet again, we have a story with a woman as a central character but she is not
given a name. She is just a woman with an alabaster jar. We’re not told any details about this
person. Was she a wealthy woman to have had such an expensive ointment? Was she connected
with Simon, the owner of this house, or, as some have speculated, was she one of the women
followers of Jesus that Mark mentions later, those who “used to follow him and provide for him
when he was in Galilee.” (15:40-41) In this case, maybe she was one of the women of
independent means who followed Jesus and helped provide for him and the disciples. Maybe she
was someone who had been there from the beginning, hearing Jesus, watching Jesus, someone
who was maybe a bit more intuitive to what Jesus was trying to share with his disciples.
In a book that I find I’m always pulling off my shelf this time of year, The Last Week, by
Borg and Crossan, this woman is described as the First Christian. They write: “She alone, of all
those who heard Jesus’ three prophecies of his death and resurrection, believed him and drew the
obvious conclusion. Since (not if) you are going to die and rise, I must anoint you now
beforehand, because I will never have a chance to do it afterwards. She is, for Mark, the first
believer. She is, for us, the first Christian. And she believed from the word of Jesus before any
discovery of an empty tomb.”
They also write that this action by this woman was a clear demonstration of the kind of
upside down leadership that Jesus had been teaching. She models the child, servant, and slave.
She is not only the first christian; she is also the model leader. “The unnamed woman,” they
write, “represents the perfect disciple-leader.”
This story in Mark of this perfect disciple-leader is book ended with, as Jeff read for us,
the chief priests and the scribes who were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill
him and Judas Iscariot, who went to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them. Judas had
been one of the twelve, one of the inner circle, and he didn’t get it. Maybe he saw Jesus as a
threat, his message, his delivery, his very existence. Watch Jesus Christ Superstar for a nuanced
look at Judas. He, like the chief priests and scribes, must have seen Jesus as a danger to the
community and decided it was best to remove him.
As we move toward Good Friday and continue every year to explore the relevance of
these stories to our lives today and what they mean for us, I think we can safely assume that very
few of us can be fully human and fully divine, like Jesus. We are all fully human, and, I believe
we all have a divine spark within us, but striving to be like Jesus is probably beyond the reach of
most of us.
And I don’t think I’m alone in being able to relate to these disciples - like Judas,
believing we are doing the right thing but regretting his actions later - like Peter, in denial as fear
drove him to deny his friend - like all the disciples who ran and hid when their friend and teacher
was arrested, fearing the same for themselves.
This unnamed woman with the alabaster jar of expensive ointment - this is someone we
can model. She listened. She understood. She believed. She did not let her ego get in the way.
She didn’t allow herself to deny the truths that Jesus shared. She believed he was going to die
and found a way to be present for Jesus in a way the other disciples couldn’t. She humbled
herself, poured oil on Jesus, and served him. When the disciples complained about the expense
of the ointment being ‘wasted in this way,’ Jesus praises her. The oil wasn’t wasted. The poor
will always be there, but, as Jesus has told his disciples at least three times, he won’t be. She has
anointed his body for burial and she will always be remembered for doing so.
This is who we are to emulate. This is who we are to imitate, this woman, who knew
Jesus was going to die, very soon, and provided care and compassion for him, knowing it would
not be an easy death, but also knowing he would rise again, and that she would never have this
opportunity to prepare his body for burial. She listened. She believed. She acted upon that
belief. What more could we ask for in a disciple of Jesus, in a Christian, in ourselves?
May we find wisdom and guidance in the words and actions of Jesus, and may we also be
led to acts of compassion and service. May we be present for those in their struggles, and may
we, like the unnamed woman, believe in the power of life and death, and resurrection. May it be
so. Amen.
Mark 11:1-11; 14:3-9
(Introduce yourself.)
Today I have two readings for you and we’re starting with our Palm Sunday reading. I’m reading
from the eleventh chapter of Mark’s gospel.
11 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives,
he sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and
immediately as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and
bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this: ‘The Lord needs it and
will send it back here immediately.’ ” 4 They went away and found a colt tied near a door,
outside in the street. As they were untying it, 5 some of the bystanders said to them, “What are
you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They told them what Jesus had said, and they allowed them to
take it. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.
8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut
in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple, and when he had looked around at
everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
Last week, we read from chapter 13, which was a monologue from Jesus, sometimes called the
Little Apocalypse. He shared this with his disciples three days before he was put to death.
Earlier, I read the Palm Sunday story, which was five days before his death. Now, I will read a
story that occurred just two days before his death. I’m reading from the 14th chapter of Mark,
verses 1 to 9.
It was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and
the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him, 2 for they said, “Not
during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”
3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came
with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the
ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the
ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three
hundred denarii and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let
her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always
have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish, but you will not
always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its
burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has
done will be told in remembrance of her.”
May God grant us understanding of our sacred text. Amen.