As part of Holy Week the following was my podcast. I was so impacted about it and felt the Lord gave it to me word by word. I was prompted to share the written words but didn’t, and then a friend this morning asked me to share it, so here it is. Wednesday of Holy Week is called Spy Wednesday, Great Wednesday, Silent Wednesday, Holy Wednesday. I didn’t grow up focusing on Holy Week celebrations in my traditional church. So, it has been so amazing digging deeper.
I wanted to share two characters that stood out. Both got a bad rap from others. One from her sister and others, and one from most of us. Most stories hold tension between Beautiful and brutal. We call it brutiful. Tragedy and triumph. They always seem to come together in our circumstances. I want to share some thoughts about Mary (Lazarus’s sister) and Judas. Mary prepared Jesus’s body for burial by anointing him. Judas played a part in his death. Mary acted out of love for Jesus and Judas acted out of love for himself. Or money maybe. I believe that both characters have something to teach us.
In scripture Mary anoints Jesus with 12 ounces of pure Nard. A very expensive oil. Probably costing a year’s wages which today is estimated about $10,000. It was an extravagant gesture. Some scripture accounts say she anointed his feet, and some say his head and most believe it was his whole body. Whichever it was the whole house was full of the grounding fragrance of spikenard. She sat at his feet which was inappropriate and wiped them with her hair. Even more of a no no to have her hair down. Judas was dismayed and said so. Basically, calling Mary out for being wasteful. He thought it was too high of a price to pay. He was whining about it to Jesus.

And here is what I thought. When was the last time I sat at the feet of Jesus, no matter the cost? No matter how busy I was or who was watching or who was making fun. When was the last time I left the dishes in the sink and the house a mess and sat at his feet until the fragrance of my prayers and worship filled the atmosphere? When was the last time I tried something new and broke away from old traditions to wipe Jesus feet with my hair? Sitting on the floor is a pretty humbling experience all on its own.
I can’t help but feel like this gesture of love was out of pure gratitude. That it was an act of worship. She adored Jesus. This was a walking out of her belief that Jesus was who He said he was. She believed him and believed in him.
Judas on the other hand betrays Jesus. He meets up with some priests and agrees on a price. Thirty pieces of silver was the amount. Probably worth a couple hundred dollars today. Seems kind of low. Makes us wonder about Judas. Doing some digging, it was speculated that maybe Judas never actually believed in Jesus. That he was looking for Jesus to be something He was not. He was looking for Jesus to be different than He was. He had unmet expectations of how He thought things should be. That was Judas’s choice to make. He was human. He was probably lacking faith. He most likely did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. His choices were a matter of life and death.
How does this relate to us? Do we fail to recognize Jesus and him working in our lives because we expect it to look different? Are we looking for the wrong thing and missing the real thing? We as well are responsible for our own choices. And how we choose may well be a matter of life and death. Are we found betraying or believing? Judas made a deal and was on the lookout for an opportunity to betray Jesus. Is giving our life to Jesus too high a price to pay and we settle for a life lost and tragic? Do we choose the $10,000 or the $200? How much is too much to pay for a man that crawled up on that cross himself for us?
What in our life betrays Jesus like Judah did? Even Peter betrayed him three times. We are not immune. We judge a lost man that was so broken after what he did that he hung himself. Do we ever fail to recognize God for who he is and if so how is that different than Judas betrayal? How have we lost our way without even recognizing it? How is it with our souls?
So here is the question: Could we stop right now and switch characters? Could we drop to our knees at Jesus’s feet and not care about the cost? It is time friends to believe with our whole hearts. To offer our lives in gratitude as worship. The plot twist is that Jesus died for us. It is our choice to receive or not. He came as a humble king to save us. He rode in on a donkey. Take courage friends. While most of us have schedules and lives interrupted could we take the opportunity and do some soul searching and ponder on these two main characters? Take some time to pray, fast maybe, sit with Jesus, journal. If you have been resisting the urge from him, today is the perfect day to surrender our hearts.
Two verses to share. One is about the cost of discipleship. Luke 14:33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own. Is that cost too high?
Isaiah 30:15 This is what the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength but you would have none of it. “
Take some time. Sit is silence. Make some choices.
Come Lord Jesus. Hear our prayers as we count the cost. We get the choice between life and death. I pray we choose life. Amen.