Wednesday’s snow day for the Duluth Public Schools was such a bummer. The snow day canceled the field trip for the Lincoln Park eighth grade music students to see “Footloose” in the Twin Cities. I was going along with two of the students I work with as a paraprofessional. This trip was a big deal, especially for one of the students who struggles at times with anxiety. He had agreed to go if I was his bus buddy. At times during the school day he will check in by quietly touching my shoulder or arm. The teacher and I agree that this is simply one way he grounds himself throughout his day.
We all need buddies. We too need people to touch base with as we ground ourselves in the reality of our days. The need for human touch is emphasized in Jesus’ story, especially toward the end of his life. In his last days, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. He takes the role of a servant and wipes off the grime from the feet of those he loves. As he does this he tells them over and over again to love one another. And Jesus feet are anointed with costly perfume by Mary in the town of Bethany which is just outside of Jerusalem.
Jesus had stopped at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus many times during his ministry. In fact, he had been there just days before when he found out that Lazarus had died. Jesus wept in grief and then shouted, “Lazarus come out”. Incredibly, Lazarus rose and walked out of his tomb. The people gathered unbound Lazarus from the linen clothes of death. This resurrection upset the religious leaders so much that they now sought to kill Jesus. It wasn’t Lazarus who was the dead man walking now, it was Jesus.
Mary is the only one who seems to grasp this fact when Jesus visits her home one final time. Mary joins the men at a meal with a clay jar in her hands. Wordless, she kneels at Jesus’ feet and breaks the jar’s neck. The smell of spikenard fills the room. It is a sharp scent halfway between mint and ginseng.
She pours this perfume on Jesus’ feet. This is a strange act for you only anoint the feet of the dead. And yet, Mary knows how far his feet have carried him, and how far he has yet to go. She sees his death is near. Mary let him know that she understands and that he is not alone.
Mary pours out a pound of nard and the fragrance fills the room. Judas is angry about the extravagance, “This money should have been given to the poor.” But Jesus tells him to leave her alone. “The poor you will always have with you, but you do not always have me.” In this Jesus saying quotes Deuteronomy 15: 11 which states there will always be poor, because of our disobedience to God’s call for justice. Jesus is not denigrating the importance of caring for the poor, justice and compassion were central to his message and life. But Mary has acted in a way of mercy and her love will never forget the poor.
Mary understood the moment as sacred and she marked it with a touch, a fragrant smell, a caress of her hair. As Joyce Hollyday wrote in Clothed with the Sun, “Mary is the poet who whispers of life’s generosity, even while looking into death. Jesus gratefully accepts her precious gifts, her awareness of their relationship. And then he moves on to Jerusalem. In part through her love, he is able to trust the rest of the journey.“ Jesus was grounded in love, and would not stayed buried.
Our God comes to us so often with human hands, in fragrant odors, and in the soothing warmth of another person. We all need touch points to ground our days. May you find some bus buddies too for life is quite a field trip.
Comments are closed.