Monday of Holy Week
March 30, 2015 8:30am
This gospel for Monday of Holy
Week really sets us up for the rest of the week.
And, very typical of St. John’s
entire gospel, the details here focus on Jesus – on who Jesus is and who he is
for us.
First, John begins by saying that
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came
to Bethany.”
John carefully links Jesus’ upcoming
death with the time when the lambs were slain for the feast of Passover.
The lambs were seen as a symbol
of God’s salvation.
You remember that the Book of
Exodus tells us that the blood of the lamb, smeared on the doorway of the homes
of the Israelites, saved them from the tenth plague in Egypt.
This is why the Old Testament
prescribed that the Jewish feast of Passover would be celebrated with the
cooking and eating of a lamb.
With this in mind, Saint John and
other New Testament writers see Jesus as the new and real Lamb of God.
He is the lamb who once and for
all time reconciles us with God.
He becomes the lamb as he
sacrifices his life for us on the cross.
All of this lies under John’s
statement in this gospel that “Jesus came
to Bethany six days before Passover.”
Second, John notes that Jesus is
visiting Mary and Martha and Lazarus, “whom
he had raised from the dead.”
In noting this, John is already
hinting at the end point or outcome of the Lamb of God.
He will be raised or he will rise
from the dead.
And third, Mary anoints Jesus’
feet with oil.
This foreshadows Jesus’ washing
the feet of the apostles at the Last Supper.
Jesus’ faithful servants, like
Mary, will do as he does.
They will be persons of service.
So, there is some real richness
in this short passage this morning.
As I said, it sets us up for the
rest of Holy Week.
