Title Preparation for Funeral/Mark 14:3-9
Contents
The four Gospels record the deeds and words of Jesus at the time of Jesus. If you read the Gospels, you will see that the evangelists tried to convey the account of Jesus in relatively detailed and accurate way. When the evangelists wrote articles about Jesus, it can be assumed that they must have struggled very hard to obtain information about Jesus in their own way.
Among the four Gospels, the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke often deal with stories about Jesus relatively in common. That is why these three Gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels. However, there are not many synoptic Gospel accounts recorded even in the Gospel of John. The account of the woman who poured perfume on Jesus' head recorded in today's text is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels as well as in the Gospel of John. It shows that the evangelists gave this article that much importance.
However, not all four Gospels deal with this article in the same context. What is clear and certain is that at the time of Jesus, a woman brought expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus' head. However, in all four Gospels, except for Mark and Matthew, they are treated differently.
In the Gospel of Luke, this unknown woman appears as a sinful woman, and the place is recorded as the house of a Pharisee. And the focus of this case is on the forgiveness of sins. On the other hand, in the Gospel of John, the place where this event took place is the house of Lazarus, whom Jesus resurrected, and the main character who poured perfume on is Mary, Lazarus' sister, and focuses on his love for Jesus.
Considering that the Gospel of Mark is the oldest among the four Gospels, it can be thought that the account recorded in the Gospel of Mark is close to the original version. In such a conclusion, I think it is reasonable to focus on the Gospel of Mark as to what the original meaning of this article is.
The Gospel of Mark deals with this article in the context of the Passion of Jesus. When that happens, this event takes on a very theological significance.
A closer examination of this text reveals that this incident is inserted between the plot of the high priests to arrest and kill Jesus and the peek of Judas Iscariot looking for an opportunity of betrayal in order to hand Jesus over to the high priests. The plot of the high priests is shown in the first half of this event, and the plan of Judas Iscariot is shown in the second half of the text. This composition of the text tells us that this woman's event is closely related to the Passion.
Bethany, home of Simon the leper, where Jesus stayed, is a small village located at the eastern foot of the Mount of Olives, about 3 km from Jerusalem.
This is also the home of Martha and Mary, well known to us. While Jesus was eating here at Simon's house, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfumed oil, pure nard, broke the jar and poured it on Jesus' head. The perfume nard brought by the woman was made from plants growing in the Himalayas of India, and was known as a very expensive perfume at the time. These ointments were used only for very honorable guests.
In Jesus' day, the eating ritual was to lie on the left side when eating, so it would not have been difficult for this woman to come up to Jesus and pour perfume on Jesus' head.
At that time, the people sitting around were very indignant when they saw what the woman was doing. Their indignation is that expensive perfume is wasted needlessly. The estimated value of perfumed oil by those sitting around in the text was about three hundred denarii at that time. Three hundred denarii was a large sum, equivalent to the annual wage of a worker at that time.
When Jesus saw their indignation, he said that what the woman was doing was a very good thing that money could not count. The good thing Jesus said was that what the woman did was to prepare for Jesus' own burial. And he said that what the woman had done would be shared with them where the gospel would be preached in the future.
Mark, the author of this Gospel, suggests through the woman's case that a very important and serious problem began for Jesus in Bethany. The important event is implied by the act of a woman selling all she had to buy perfume and pouring it on Jesus' head. It is a very important event that cannot be counted in terms of money. The important event is the Passion of Jesus, and it is said that the Passion began in Bethany.
The text emphasizes that time in particular, ?쏪esus was eating at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany.??In the original Bible, the word ?쏿t that time??is included twice in verse 3 in one verse. In other words, emphasizing those times such as 'when you are sitting' and 'when you eat' implies that a very important work has begun.
It reveals the concrete form of the suffering that Jesus will face in the future, by the act of the woman pouring perfume on Jesus' head and Jesus himself revealing the hidden meaning of the action. The woman pouring perfume on Jesus' head is a prophetic event foreshadowing the death that will come upon Jesus.
After that, after Jesus died on the cross and was placed in a tomb, some women went to the tomb early in the morning with spices to apply on Jesus' body, but they did not find the dead Jesus lying in the tomb. Instead, I met the resurrected Jesus, who broke the power of death and rose again.
After anointing the body of Jesus lying in the tomb, after confirming the dead body of Jesus, the women who came back and tried to announce the fact were surprisingly, on the contrary, the witness of the resurrection who was the first to announce that he was not in the tomb but that he was resurrected. has been
After that, in the early church, wherever the news of the resurrection of Jesus was delivered, what the woman did according to the words of Jesus was not communicated. Instead, among those witnesses of the death and resurrection of Jesus, there were women who brought perfume to apply to the body of Jesus lying in the tomb, and then witnessed the risen Jesus, not the dead Jesus lying in the tomb.
There are several important messages that Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, alludes to through the incident of the woman who poured perfume on Jesus' head.
First, the death of Jesus has the meaning of announcing the end of the mission of the old religious practice.
In the text, when the woman brought expensive perfumed oil and poured it on Jesus' head, the people present resented that they had not sold it and helped the poor. Jesus did not agree with their anger, but rather emphasized his own burial. It has a very important meaning. According to the original Jewish tradition, almsgiving, fasting, and prayer were included in important religious ceremonies. The anger of those sitting with Jesus at Simon Bethany's home was a conflict over their disregard for such religious ceremonies.
The fact that Jesus mirrors the problem with his own death means that his death on the cross is the end of all old religious missions and the beginning of a new era of the gospel to be preached. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "From now on, the gospel will be preached everywhere in the world, and what she has done will be told."
In the old religion, religious forms and religious duties take precedence, but in the new age that begins with the death of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus take precedence.
The second crucifixion of Jesus Christ is an event that fundamentally changes human destiny. The woman who poured perfume on Jesus' body went to the tomb with other women to anoint His body after Jesus died on the cross and was placed in the tomb, but he did not find Jesus lying in the tomb. They met the risen Christ and became witnesses of the resurrection. If Christ had remained in the tomb, these women would have been people who would regularly visit the dead body of Jesus, anoint it with ointment and weeping, and living in pity. However, they became witnesses of the resurrection who were participating in God's new creation, not women taking care of the dead. The Gospel of Mark tells the reader these facts concerning the woman.
Third, the death of Jesus, implied by the incident of the woman pouring perfume on Jesus' head, is an event that shows the new cosmic order that renews all things. God's creation is beautiful and perfect in itself, but it is directed towards the ultimate goal of God's glory.
Nothing created by God is eternal in itself. They are all perishing. Christ's death and resurrection were not only due to human sin, but also for the completion of this natural death and creation. In this sense, in the death and resurrection of Christ is implied the death and consummation of the cosmic order.
Finally, in the event of a weak woman breaking an alabaster and pouring perfume on Jesus' head, we discover another very precious and hopeful prospect of life. It opens our eyes to the fact that the precious things we have as an individual cannot solve the difficult problems of our reality, but they can be used as a suggestive event pointing to the cross and resurrection of Christ.
An artist spends part of his time and talent for a poor girl of exceptional talent. Investing his talents in such a time to make money would make him a lot of money, but it seems too stupid. But the foolish-looking artist's action is an action of life that alludes to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The life of the crucifixion and the hope of the resurrection, which is being shown in his life, is a part of God's new creation.
We fall into the exhaustion, meaninglessness, and emptiness of life because we are making a huge investment in seemingly great things, but in the end there is a life that doesn't hint at anything hopeful without a cross and resurrection.
Dear saints,
The hope and joy of our lives lies in the fact that even if our lives do not change the course of history or change the world, each small event in our life can be an event that hints at the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Such a life may go beyond the common sense of the world, and may seem foolish to the world. But such things cannot be counted in money.
We are sometimes tempted to give up our Christian life, frustrated when we realize that we are too alienated, our strength is too small, as followers of Christ in this world. That's why, sometimes, we get caught up in the desire to make the world bigger and surprise the world with a dinosaur-like figure. We actually try to do that, but strangely, we are experiencing that the more our communities are corporateized and bulky, the more powerless we feel, and the more we are incapacitated.
Not for money, not for volume, then what the hell is that? He also asks desperate questions. Today, we find a hopeful answer in the simple case of a woman. The answer is a life that implicitly points to the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What is it specifically? It is to break the alabaster jar and pour out the precious perfume for the sake of Christ. Its value can be different for each of us. To some it could be riches, to others his talents, to others it could be his life itself. If we can give for the kingdom of God what we hold most dearly as our own, we are already participating in the hope of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.