Sermon 03.24.24 – In Remembrance of Her

Palm Sunday

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1–15:47

Mark 14:1–15:47

¹It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; ²for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”
 ³While Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. ⁴But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? ⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. ⁷For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. ⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. ⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
 ¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give Judas money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
 ¹²On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” ¹³So Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, ¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵The owner will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” ¹⁶So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
 ¹⁷When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve. ¹⁸And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” ¹⁹They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, “Surely, not I?” ²⁰He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. ²¹For the Son-of-Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son-of-Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”
 ²²While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” ²³Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. ²⁴He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the dominion of God.”
 ²⁶When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written,
 ‘I will strike the shepherd,
  and the sheep will be scattered.’
²⁸But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” ²⁹Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” ³⁰Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹But Peter said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.
 ³²They went to a place called Gethsemane; and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. ³⁴And he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake.” ³⁵And going a little farther, Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. ³⁶He said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” ³⁷Jesus came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? ³⁸Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹And again Jesus went away and prayed, saying the same words. ⁴⁰And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. ⁴¹He came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son-of-Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴²Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”
 ⁴³Immediately, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. ⁴⁴Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵So when Judas came, he went up to Jesus at once and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶Then they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. ⁴⁸Then Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? ⁴⁹Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰All of them deserted him and fled.
 ⁵¹A certain youth was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, ⁵²but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.
 ⁵³They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. ⁵⁴Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. ⁵⁶For many gave false testimony against Jesus, and their testimony did not agree. ⁵⁷Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, ⁵⁸“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’ ” ⁵⁹But even on this point their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?” ⁶¹But Jesus was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” ⁶²Jesus said, “I am; and
 ‘you will see the Son-of-Man
 seated at the right hand of the Power,’
 and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’ ”
⁶³Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? ⁶⁴You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death. ⁶⁵Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him over and beat him.
 ⁶⁶While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servants of the high priest came by. ⁶⁷When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” ⁶⁸But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. ⁶⁹And the servant, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” ⁷¹But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” ⁷²At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
 ^15:1As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. ²Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You say so.” ³Then the chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” ⁵But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
 ⁶Now at the festival Pilate used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. ⁷Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. ⁸So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. ⁹Then he answered them, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. ¹¹But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas for them instead. ¹²Pilate spoke to them again, “Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³They shouted back, “Crucify him!” ¹⁴Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
 ¹⁶Then the soldiers led Jesus into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. ¹⁷And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. ¹⁸And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. ²⁰After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
 ²¹They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. ²²Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). ²³And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. ²⁴And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
 ²⁵It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹Those who passed by derided Jesus, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰save yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. ³²Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
 ³³When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ³⁵When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” ³⁷Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. ³⁸And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. ³⁹Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way Jesus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
 ⁴⁰There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹These used to follow him and provided for Jesus when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
 ⁴²When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the dominion of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Then Pilate wondered if Jesus were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. ⁴⁵When Pilate learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Joseph then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

. . .

In Remembrance of Her

Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I have learned that our new Director of Evangelical Mission, Jason, who is gracing us with his visit today, has recently been intentional about asking the names of the strangers he meets in situations where he in the past wouldn’t. Would you mind telling me your name? He would ask. Apparently, this simple gesture of curious hospitality has elicited some incredible moments of mutual generosity as it signals to people they are seen despite the situation they find themselves. Names matter a lot.

Names tell stories. Sometimes, they tell us about the places where we come from, like Simon of Cyrene, Joseph of Arimathea, or Mary of Magdala. Sometimes, their stories are known only to a few, like Simon the Leper, Alexander, Rufus, or Mary, the mother of Joses. Other times, the names are instantly recognizable for the history behind them. Sometimes, they are known in infamy, like Judas Iscariot, Pilate, and Barabbas. Other times for notorious dedication to the mission like James and Salome, even if things were a little shaky initially, like Simon Peter.

There are a lot of names in the passion narrative that we just heard, but no more important than Jesus. He is the betrayed, suffering, sometimes scared servant who is anointed with the courage, faith, and power to endure and overcome the worst humanity has to offer. He is the hero of this story and the name we never forget. The one to whom we sing Hosanna with palms in our hands. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Jesus is Lord. Yet, there is someone else he wants us to remember. Someone not named.

We tend to not care much for those whose names we don’t know. In Jesus’s time, being unnamed symbolized low status, someone no one would pay much attention to. It would be very easy to ignore the lady with no name amid the dreads of the passion narrative if Jesus had not alerted us she actually meant good news for us. It is time to do this lady some justice.

Nobody seems to get what is taking place in this scene. The authorities are eager to get rid of the nuisance named Jesus. Judas is only worried about his silver coins. Peter and the other disciples prove uncommitted and end up fleeing the scene or denying their teacher. The ones receiving Jesus at a meal seem to be only going with the motions of hosting a person of honor and react to our lady’s actions with criticism and the old custom of giving alms on the eve of the Passover. When Jesus is perhaps most alone in the moments leading to his death, the woman with no name somewhat understands and sees Jesus for who he is, even before the cross and the empty tomb. He was priceless to her.

No wonder Jesus wants us to remember her as good news.

Things will be well when everything is well. But what about the times when we face uncertainty and steep challenges? What about the times of conflict and division? What about the times of fear and hopelessness? What about the times we feel our efforts are not bearing fruit? Can we practice the same level of lavish generosity that she does?

Perhaps it is exactly in difficult times that we have the opportunity to thrive. We have the script, and the lavish generosity of this lady is part of it. We were gifted with all that it takes. We have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit on our side. We know that collectively, we are the image of the goodness of our God and everything God made. We know that when we gather, day by day, with glad and generous hearts, God’s goodness responds in generous ways to us. We know that generosity is the measure of our love and the response to the richness of God’s grace. We know that all things are possible to God, that even the last, or the least, the unnamed, are created anew to shine through holy and amazing things. We know who our generous inspirations and unsung heroes are. In this case, we even have the names to remember and their stories to tell. And the best news of all is this: there are names yet to write to the story yet to be told. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Amen.