Wednesday of Holy Week

Intro:

Wednesday of Holy Week begins with the conspiracy against Jesus. Matthew 26 tells us: Jesus had now finished all he wanted to say, and he told his disciples, 'It will be Passover, as you know, in two days' time, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified'. Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, and made plans to arrest Jesus by some trick and have him put to death. They said, however, 'It must not be during the festivities; there must be no disturbance among the people'.

Let us begin in the name of the Father…

one

The anointing at Bethany

Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, when a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of the most expensive ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table. Then Judas Iscariot - one of his disciples, the man who was to betray him - said, 'Why wasn't this ointment sold for three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor?' He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief…

Jesus said, 'Leave her alone; she had to keep this scent for the day of my burial. You have the poor with you always, you will not always have me.' When she poured this ointment on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you solemnly, wherever in all the world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told also, in remembrance of her.' (Matthew 26 and John 12)

We may feel that we are not enough…not good enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, that we have not achieved enough…I am not enough. In this scene Mary Magdalene knows she is being watched and judged by all those in the room. To them she doesn’t measure up. But there is one in the room who knows her, he understands her, His eyes behold her heart, not her appearances and not even her past reputation. And Mary is not disturbed by the judgment in the room. In fact, she doesn’t care anymore. In the past she tried to prove her worth through her beauty, through ability to have power over others. All of that ended when she met Jesus. Now she knows her value, her worth. It comes from Him. He made her, He loves her, and He is about to die for her. So she breaks the costly oil and anoints him with her love for his burial.

As the all-seeing gaze of Jesus penetrates the hearts of all in the supper room of Bethany, he sees many things that displease him. He sees worldliness, self-interest, even treachery, but there is one heart that is true and desires only to let him know how much his presence means to her. While others are busy chatting and filled with distractions, Jesus looks into the depths of Mary’s heart and finds something of what he has found in the heart of his Mother; he finds attentiveness to his presence, the attentiveness of love. He finds adoration.

two

Judas betrays Jesus

Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, 'What are you prepared to give me if I hand him over to you?' They paid him thirty silver pieces and from that moment he looked for an opportunity to betray him.

30 silver pieces was the value of a slave. Not only is this the price of a slave but the money made Judas a slave since he was a thief.  But Judas is not alone – we are all slaves to sin which makes us saves to death. Yet, for our sake, Jesus became a slave, he traded places with us, to ransom us from sin and death and the power of the devil, to give us eternal Life. There is nothing we can ever do to repay him, but we should at least try. I want to do something great for God in return. Too often what I want to do for God is mixed up with what I want to do for myself.

But if the perfume of the love for God is to remain pure, it must be surrounded by the airtight alabaster jar of much silence. Too many distractions and worldly desires make our love for God evaporate. Mary did something beautiful for God because she first sat in silence at his feet listening to His Word. If we want to do something great for God, rather than doing it for ourself, then we must first sit with Him in silence.

three

The next night while at supper with his disciples, Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, ‘I tell you most solemnly, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, wondering which he meant. The disciple Jesus loved was reclining next to Jesus; Simon Peter signed to him and said, ‘Ask who it is he means’, so leaning back on Jesus’ breast he said, ‘Who is it, Lord?’ ‘It is the one’ replied Jesus ‘to whom I give the piece of bread that I shall dip in the dish.’ He dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas… At that instant Satan entered him…As soon as Judas had taken the piece of bread he went out. And it was Night.

four

The Heart signifies the will. In this passage there are three heart beats on which to focus: That of Jesus, Judas and John. The heartbeat of Jesus is always in rhythm with the will of His Father.  Then there is the heartbeat of Judas, whose heart is set on his own will; it beats to its own drum. Judas represents all of us when we want our will more than the will of God. Basically - Judas says: I want it done my way and this is how the Messiah should act. Judas expects God to sync with his heart. And if God does not, then Judas becomes angry; so disturbed that he betrays Jesus. Today, when we become disturbed, we may want to take a step back and ask: Is my heart, my will in sync with the heart and will of God?  

five

How do we get our heart back in rhythm with the Heart of God?

Well, here we look to John, the Beloved Disciple, whose heart was not in perfect sync with that of Jesus. At first John was confused that Jesus said that one of them would betray him. So what did he do? He reclined his head upon the chest of Jesus. Now he can literally hear the heartbeat of Christ - now his heartbeat can be in time with the heartbeat of Jesus.

Once John brings his heart, his will in sync with Jesus, then he can withstand the storm that made all the disciples abandon Jesus. John didn’t do it perfectly, he fled when Jesus was arrested. However, John was the only Apostle to be with Jesus on Calvary. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who loved Jesus perfectly; and John, whose heartbeat in harmony with Christ, and Mary Magdalene, who loved Christ above all things – they persevered with Jesus to the Cross. Why is this? Because they had set their heart in harmony with Jesus by the habit of silence and prayer.