Holy Week: Preparations

Read: Mark 14:1-9

Many people are now preparing for family gatherings on Easter, and there is much work to do: hams to buy, rolls to bake, house to clean. Big gatherings and big events mean big time work getting ready. Holy Week, then and now, is really no different. In our day, churches prepare through a well trained altar guild which does all the behind the scenes work for smooth and meaningful worship services on Thursday, Friday, Saturday (for some), and Sunday, with each service requiring special arrangements. It was not too dissimilar in the first Holy Week as Jesus prepared for his journey to the cross, grave, and resurrection glory.

The anointing at Bethany is a truly beautiful and remarkable story. An unnamed woman, presumably part of the disciple group, pours expensive ointment on Jesus' head. The ointment was so expensive it cost 300 denarii or almost a year's worth of wages. The disciples are shocked and appalled by this extravagant "waste" of money, and go so far as to scold the woman. Jesus rebukes the disciples saying:

⁷⁸⁹"But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 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. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 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." Mark 14:6-9

Jesus reminds the disciples that while caring for the poor and meeting people's basic needs are vitally important, his primary mission is the cross. The unnamed woman provides care for Jesus and helps prepare his body "beforehand for its burial" (spices were used to anoint a body for burial). So what seemed like wasteful exuberance is affirmed as an important act of service which recognized the primary importance of Jesus' journey to the cross. sidenote: ironically Jesus commands that she always be remembered for what she did and yet no one bothered to remember her name.

So what do we take from this story? For me, it speaks to the importance of preparation for important events. Jesus was being prepared for his journey to the cross, burial, and resurrection. There was nothing more important to Jesus, the disciples, and the world than Jesus' mission. The woman spent time and considerable resources in an act of loving service to prepare Jesus.

Questions to consider
-What are you doing to prepare for Jesus' journey to the cross?
-Have you taken time in prayer to make this week Holy? Have you prepared your heart and mind?
-At what price does your preparation come? (time, sleep, energy) What does the cost we willing to pay in preparation, say about our commitment and priorities?

Prayer: Lord, prepare me today and in the days to come to receive the gift of your love and grace. Help me to take the time to spend in prayer and devotion this week, so that this week might be more meaningful and holy, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Holy Week: Palm Sunday

When Jesus enters Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, he enters with a horde of people with massive expectations. Jesus had been traveling throughout the entire region sharing the Good News about God, healing many, and performing miraculous signs. Everywhere Jesus went the crowds went with him, and they kept getting bigger and bigger. By the time Jesus comes to Jerusalem during Holy Week people had begun to figure out the Jesus was the Son of God, and the long awaited and promised Messiah. Jesus reinforces this belief by riding into town on a colt that had never been ridden to fulfill an ancient prophesy about the Messiah:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he,humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
(Zechariah 9:9)

Jesus rides into town and is received as a king and as a son of David, with all the expectations of the messiah: political, social, and military liberation. The people were excited, enthused, and ready for their lives to change. It won’t take long however for those Palm Sunday expectations to be dashed as Jesus travels to the cross in a matter of days. The people expected libration from the Roman invaders, and the renewal of the reign of King David. What they got instead was spiritual liberation and renewal from the Kingdom of God. Many of the same people who hailed Jesus on Palm Sunday as their Messiah and king, called for his crucifixion and death on Good Friday. Jesus didn’t come to be popular and fulfill the expectations of the people, he came to fulfill God’s mission.

Questions
-As you consider the popularity, praise, and projected expectations heaped upon Jesus, what expectations do you have for God? Are they realistic or unrealistic?
-How do your expectations of God either prepare you or hinder you from fulfilling God’s expectations of you?
-What does it mean to have Jesus as our king and messiah? How can we balance our healthy expectations of God’s role in our lives, with being obedient to God’s will?

Prayer: Lord, help me rejoice and give thanks for Jesus being the king of my life. Lord, help me submit my will to you so that I might begin asking your expectations of me, rather than demanding my expectations of you, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.