In Remembrance of Her

Mark 14:1-11

It 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; for they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”

While he 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. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 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.”

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

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“For what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

In remembrance of her…

This passage is interesting. It is a few days before the Passover dinner. The passage opens with the dark plot to kill Jesus and it ends just as dim with Judas’ agreement to the betrayal. And because of this surrounding darkness, the tensions were high and their tempers were short. Jesus is in Bethany surrounded by his disciples and his other followers at a table, probably for conversation and a meal. But then, an unknown woman comes in carrying an expensive jar of oil. I’m sure the conversation subsided pretty quickly as the disciples stared at her waiting for her next move. When the woman breaks the jar and pours the oil onto Jesus’ head – oil that cost an entire year’s wages - the conversation quickly resumed as the people surrounding Jesus became angry. Like I said, the tensions were high and their tempers were short.  They argue that the oil could have been sold and that the profits could have been given to the poor. They scolded and rebuked the woman – thinking this act of hers was nothing but a waste. That this was no great act. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

But as always, Jesus takes this opportunity as one to teach his followers a new lesson – one on risk and compassion. He kindly but firmly tells his disciples to leave the woman alone. He explains, while yes, she could have given the money to the poor, she chose to anoint Jesus instead. She gave what little that she had – in this case, one expensive Jar of oil – to Jesus. She took a risk – a new approach – to glorify her Holy Teacher.

And so, because of this great act, whenever this story is read and “wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

When I first read this passage, the line “in remembrance of her” stuck out to me. I instantly made the connection to the Lord’s Supper. When we eat the bread and drink the wine, Jesus told us to do so in remembrance of him. But here, Jesus takes the focus off himself – he doesn’t tell a parable or he doesn’t perform a miracle – instead, he lets a woman anoint him and then he says that act will be done in remembrance of her. Yes, even this unnamed woman has made a name for herself. And she did this by pouring a jar of oil – probably the most expensive item she owned; maybe even all she has ever owned – onto the head of Jesus.

Now I started thinking that if I were in this woman’s shoes, what could I give to Jesus that would best glorify God? Unfortunately I don’t think my $10 cologne would suffice.

So I thought harder – what is the most expensive thing I have in my life? And then it hit me and it’s one I’m sure we can all relate to – the cost of attending Princeton Theological Seminary. Our future Master of Divinity degree is our jar of oil.  It is what God has called us to give.

Here at seminary, we have all sorts of different gifts and talents. We have seminarians whose lives are rooted in scripture. We have those filled abundantly with kindness, compassion, and love.  We have the charismatic preachers and we have the theologically intelligent. We have it all here at Princeton Theological Seminary.

However, the problem, once we find our place – once we find our calling here at seminary – we stick to that and only that. And by doing so, it’s like we are only giving to the poor. Yes, it’s great and all, but it’s not always what God has called us to do. As we see in the passage, Jesus says we will always have the poor to give to – or in our case, we will always have our gifts to excel in. But if we don’t get out and explore what else God has given us, then we have doing nothing in the name of Jesus.

As Christians – as true followers of Christ – we need to give our time and our talents. And the nice thing is, God has gifted us each of us with both. God wants us to succeed – to push hard and to push forward. God wants us to take risks in the ways that serve. God has called us here to seminary – to this point in our lives – and God will continue to lead us where to do. So go out there; cradle and nurture your gifts and watch them flourish, but also, go out and take risks and explore your weaknesses; do all that you can to glorify God.

So what will you give up to God? 

What will be done in remembrance of you?

Amen.