John 12:1-11
Yesterday, Palm Sunday, I quoted a writer who talked about how the liturgical use of the great narratives of Holy Week implicates us in the stories. That word “implicate” really caught my attention. The etymology of the word “implicate” refers to “entwine” or “entangle.” The liturgies of Holy Week entangle us in these stories. We are entwined in them. We cannot stand apart from the stories; we are entangled and entwined in them.
The word “implicate” now means “to bear responsibility” or “to be involved.” We hear the word on TV on crime procedurals like Law and Order. The eyewitness implicated the subject in the crime. The evidence implicates her. Someone or something else does the implicating. It takes someone or something else to show our responsibility or our involvement. Especially when we may resist implicating ourselves. So it makes sense to talk about the liturgy implicating us in the story.
So how are we implicated in today’s Gospel story? It’s a relatively familiar story. Jesus is visiting the home of Mary and Martha in Bethany. Lazarus, whom Jesus has already raised from the dead, is there. Mary anoints Jesus feet with a very costly perfume, applying it with her own hair. Judas complains that the expense of the perfume might have been better spent on the poor, although the Gospel writer suggests that Judas’ interest is more avarice than compassion. The crowds clamor after Lazarus. The chief priests plot against Jesus.
How are you implicated in this story? Whose hands are yours? Whose voice is yours? It may be more than one…
It could be Mary. Her extravagant, personal generosity towards her Lord. The implication in the story is that she was lovingly preparing him for burial. Especially we, who know the meaning of his death, may offer deep personal generosity to Jesus. It’s good to remember that our hands may be Mary’s hands.
Or is your voice one in the crowd, more interested in the spectacle of Lazarus than in being a disciple of Jesus. “Work a miracle Jesus! Show me your stuff! But don’t ask anything of me.”
Or are you implicated as one of the chief priests. They were afraid. Afraid that they were losing power. Their status, their personal and professional security in society were threatened. I think there’s a lot of that in our broader society now. Fear of the other. Feeling threatened that someone out there is going to undermine our security.
Then there’s Judas. Can you imagine being implicated as Judas in this story?
For millennia there has been speculation about his motives. Did God predetermine Judas to be the traitor? God’s story needed a betrayer, and Judas was the one tapped by God. I don’t think that’s how it worked. If it had not been Judas, it would have been someone else. All it took was someone who—for a time—was interested in something else more than Jesus. Today’s Gospel reading, along with the descriptions of the money he received for the betrayal, suggest it was money that was his higher priority. Did he know Jesus would be crucified? We don’t know for sure. He turned away from Jesus. He was willing to betray Jesus to the authorities for money. He was someone who, for a time, was more interested in money than being a disciple of Jesus.
Are we implicated in Judas’ action?
In his book on the sacrament of reconciliation (Reconciliation: Preparing for Confession in the Episcopal Church), Martin Smith challenges us to look at ourselves in light of Jesus’ Summary of the Law, where we are commanded to fully love God, the one true God.
What are the big things in your life, and how does your care for God stand in comparison?
In your heart of hearts, do you think there are some areas of life where the ways of Christ crucified are futile and unreliable?
Are there areas of your life where you have carried on as if God had no say or interest?
Where in you life is there fear, cynicism, defensiveness… What are ways in which you are basically a conformist to the unconverted “powers that be” in society, allowing secular pressures to mold your behavior and define your goals and override the Lordship of Christ?What are the big things in your life, and how does your care for God stand in comparison? Are you implicated in Judas’ action?
