lenten blog | April 14, 2025

Holy Monday

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for Holy Monday, April 14th:  Psalm 36:5-11; Isaiah 42:1-9; Hebrews 9:11-15; and John 12:1-11.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

Something must have happened in Jesus’ life that was subsequently remembered differently.  Such differences do not imply fabrication.  Rather, we need to keep in mind that neither Jesus nor His disciples kept a written record of His daily life.  This coming weekend marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the beginning of the Revolutionary War.  Different articles have been appearing as this milestone anniversary approaches.  One included mention of the correspondence later in their lives between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.  They both commiserated that no one would be able to tell the history of the founding of our nation because so much had taken place in secret, and so many speeches and debates were extemporaneous and unrecorded.  It is not difficult to imagine how much more difficult the situation would be among a rabble rousing band of a wandering preacher/teacher and His often confused students as they randomly encounter peasants and outcasts. 

Furthermore, the eyewitnesses of Jesus’ ministry shared His life through the oral stories of what they considered Jesus’ most momentous moments.  There was an expectation that Jesus’ Second Coming was imminent, and as such there was no need to write these accounts down for future generations because they did not expect future generations.  Finally, as the eyewitnesses began to pass onto their reward, believers finally realized that the Jesus-stories needed to be recorded, and thus our four canonical Gospels.  The earliest of the Gospels dates to circa 70AD, a full four decades after Jesus’ ministry, and the latest to between 90 and 100 AD.

This is why we are able to assume that something significant and memorable happened in Jesus’ life, and that it was remembered differently.  The oldest Gospel tells us that an anonymous woman anointed Jesus’ feet at the home of Simon the leper in Bethany a couple of days prior to the Passover.  (Mark 14:3)  This account is repeated in Matthew. (26:6-7)  Luke tells us that an anonymous sinful woman anointed Jesus’ feet in the home of a Pharisee. (7:37-38)  And then there is today’s Johannine account where Mary, Lazarus’ sister, anointed Jesus’ feet at Lazarus’ house.  These different accounts may reflect a single extraordinary act, the details of which became blurred with the passage of time. 

What I find intriguing about John’s account today is its linkage with the raising of Lazarus from the dead only a chapter earlier.  That a connection is intentional is found right in the opening verse of today’s Gospel selection.  When Jesus does not arrive soon enough to heal Lazarus, His friend dies.  When Jesus does finally arrive, Martha, Lazarus’ other sister, goes out to meet Jesus.  Mary, however, “stayed at home.” (11:20)  Mary was angry with Jesus for His failure to rush to Lazarus and heal him.  She resents Jesus and will not go out to meet Him.  She is finally cajoled by Martha to go out to Jesus, I think, ready to yell at Jesus.  Instead, when Jesus sees the grief of Mary and the others, in the Bible’s shortest verse, Jesus weeps.  (11:35)  And as we all probably know, Jesus then raises Lazarus from the grave.

Short verses later it is this same Mary who anoints Jesus’ feet with perfume that would have cost an ordinary worker almost a year’s wages.  I think this is Mary’s attempt to erase the guilt of her earlier behaviour.  Its extravagance reflects her gratitude toward Jesus and her sorrow at treating Him the way she had.

As Holy Week begins to bring Lent’s 40 days to a close, I ask that we think about Mary’s example.  Have we ever been disappointed with Jesus?  Angry at Him?  Stayed away?  Is it possible that Jesus wept with us in our time of distress?  If Jesus was there for us but unrecognized, may we seek in our own way to repair the rift in our relationship.  Lent is not a time for religion per se.  It is a time to ignite or stir the flames of the passion of our relationship with Christ.  This is a time for faith to be wholeheartedly personal.

If you would like to join us for our online Bible study, please send an email to [email protected] for the Zoom logins.
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If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.