Mark for Lent 33
Today we have the story of a plot to kill Jesus, the story of the woman pouring perfume on Jesus’ head. Judas meets with the chief priests and the disciples prepare for the last supper and share it together.
A Plot To Kill Jesus (Matthew 26.1-5; Luke 22.1,2; John 11.45-53)
1It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were planning how they could sneak around and have Jesus arrested and put to death. 2They were saying, “We must not do it during the festival, because the people will riot.”
At Bethany (Matthew 26.6-13; John 12.1-8)
3Jesus was eating in Bethany at the home of Simon, who once had leprosy, [a] when a woman came in with a very expensive bottle of sweet-smelling perfume. [b] After breaking it open, she poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. 4This made some of the guests angry, and they complained, “Why such a waste? 5We could have sold this perfume for more than three hundred silver coins and given the money to the poor!” So they started saying cruel things to the woman.
6But Jesus said:Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7You will always have the poor with you. And whenever you want to, you can give to them. But you won’t always have me here with you. 8She has done all she could by pouring perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. 9You may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done. And they will tell others.
Judas and the Chief Priests (Matthew 26.14-16; Luke 22.3-6)
10Judas Iscariot [c] was one of the twelve disciples. He went to the chief priests and offered to help them arrest Jesus. 11They were glad to hear this, and they promised to pay him. So Judas started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus.
Jesus Eats with His Disciples (Matthew 26.17-25; Luke 22.7-14,21-23; John 13.21-30)
12It was the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, and the Passover lambs were being killed. Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?”
13Jesus said to two of the disciples, “Go into the city, where you will meet a man carrying a jar of water. [d] Follow him, 14and when he goes into a house, say to the owner, `Our teacher wants to know if you have a room where he can eat the Passover meal with his disciples.’ 15The owner will take you upstairs and show you a large room furnished and ready for you to use. Prepare the meal there.”16The two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal.
17-18While Jesus and the twelve disciples were eating together that evening, he said, “The one who will betray me is now eating with me.”
19This made the disciples sad, and one after another they said to Jesus, “You surely don’t mean me!”
20He answered, “It is one of you twelve men who is eating from this dish with me. 21The Son of Man will die, just as the Scriptures say. But it is going to be terrible for the one who betrays me. That man would be better off if he had never been born.”
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
April 7th, 2006 at 4:42 pm
” 3Jesus was eating in Bethany at the home of Simon, who once had leprosy…” I never realised before that Simon HAD BEEN a lepor… was it Jesus who healed him, or what? Makes his house as the scene of this event very telling!
April 10th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Two Days and counting!
Translation Note: “festival of the thin bread” - I would have called it “festival of the flat bread” does anyone else call it ‘thin bread’?
While Jerusalem’s temple has lost its status as a place of prayer and become home to robbers, the counter community out at Bethany with feasts for ex leppers and extravagant women sounds more fun. And there is that great line where Jesus describes the location of his church - his followers have the poor with them. How often do we see the opposite these days? (shakes head)
But even here it is not all fun and games. Jesus is still talking about his imminent death. It is ironic that the annointing which was once a sign of being prepared to take the throne is in this case a sign of being prepared to take the cross/grave.
While one disciples shows what she can give to prepare Jesus for his death, another shows what he can get out of preparing Jesus for his death. Once more, nice dramatic irony Mark.
One day and counting!
And Jesus is still sharing bread - even with the very ones who will see to it that he is killed. How terrible for them. How gracious and fearless of Jesus.
April 10th, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Interesting point Todd. I too hadn’t seen that detail before.