Mary: The Shamed, Silenced, but Resilient Disciple
John 12:1-11
Where Christians have routinely decided that the liturgical season of Lent is about “giving up” something—like sweets, soda, or some other element that is more closely connected with shrinking one’s waistline than with nurturing one’s spiritual health—the season is meant to put into perspective something quite different for people who claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ. When deeply engaged, Lent should provide for us a renewed and enlightened perspective about the minuteness of who we are in light of the limitlessness of God. It is a season where we are persuaded by the Holy Spirit to spend time in solitude and reflection, study the ancient texts that have formed our faith, and fervently pray as we examine our spiritual health and fruitfulness (or lack thereof). It is a season where we are urged by prophets like Joel, Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Jesus the Christ to repent—opting out of our fragmented ways for wholeness that can only of God, the wholeness that God desires for us to embody and exude with the very essence of our being.
The men featured in the Lenten lectionary texts use their deemed-worthy-to-speak-by-the-author voices to express to their audiences the need for people of God to repent, but what of the women who are present in some of these very same texts? Do we habitually pause to consider the power of their wisdom and influence for our spiritual renewal while navigating our Lenten journeys, or have we passively fallen in line with those who gloss over women’s significance in scripture to instead focus on the male centered narrative within the text? Is that male centered narrative more worthy of our attention, and if so, why? Where was it explicitly or implicitly impressed upon us as important? Whether or not we are prone to adhere to the fullness of women’s presence as it appears within the biblical texts, we would do well on our Lenten pilgrimages to pay attention to all of what the Mary of John 12:1-11 teaches us about authentic faith and devoted discipleship, especially in the face of opposition.
Lent is a season that should be steeped in the work of resistance. For all people, Lent is a time to resist the ever present temptation to widen the division between ourselves and the wholeness of God . Some must tend to the additional work of resisting the belief that we are more important than we really are due to any worldly power and privilege we possess. Others must resist believing what the powerful and privileged say or insinuate about us merely for existing in the world in ways that do not earn their seal of approval. In this story, Mary seems to be dealing with the latter of the three aforementioned realms of resistance work. Though this dinner party is being held in her home (the home she shares with her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus—you know, the one Jesus “raised from the dead”), she is likely under scrutiny from the onset by the majority of those gathered simply because she is a woman. We can almost hear the grumbles and side comments from the men as they make their way to their place of privilege at the table. “Why is she out here? Shouldn’t she be with her sister…oh, shoot…what’s her name? Martha? Right, Martha. Shouldn’t she be with Martha serving us?” Their objection and entitlement surrounding Mary’s existence is nearly palpable.
Yet, she does not seem to acknowledge any out-of-turn comments or disapproving looks from the dinner guests based on what little we are told about her in this story. It seems as though she goes into this dinner knowing exactly what she will do: worship her Lord as she sees fit. And the “as she sees fit” of Mary’s worship looks like taking some of the most expensive perfume money could buy (which, as we will hear, is deemed wasteful by those who think they have the right to say so), pouring an exorbitant amount of it onto Jesus’ feet (so much as to saturate the entire house with the fragrance), and wiping his feet with her hair (which would have been considered an inappropriately sensual act). Many around the table probably turn a disapproving eye on the scene as a whole, but only one of them works up the guts to say anything about it. Good ol’ Judas. We might wonder if he was jealous that Mary was sharing in such an intimate moment with Jesus. Was she connecting with him in a way Judas longed to but never would? Was he feeling insignificant—overshadowed by the ways in which Jesus was so beloved by all, leaving no attention for his pathetic self? Was he merely projecting his own greed and selfishness onto Mary as the time of his betrayal of Jesus drew near?
Maybe, who knows? Though I am confident he would have relished in being the one to whom we afford most of our curiosity and reflection in our Lenten reflections, MARY is the one who should be receiving our undivided attention in this text. It is Mary who points us—without saying a word, mind you…because, well, what could we possibly learn from what a woman has to say?—to what it looks like to resist the opposition we face when we embody discipleship in ways that are authentic and faithful as we have been created, called, and commissioned by God to do.
Mary is a powerful image for us of faithful resistance in the midst of opposition. She is the operator who connects us to the nature and mission of Jesus Christ with that very same existence that was called to question by those who believed they had the power and privilege to do so. Many scholars attest that Mary is (in her own right) a prophet. This perfume over which the dinner party guests are likely either openly or internally having a conniption is being used by Mary to prepare Jesus for burial because she knows the day is hastening on when others in power will take his life. “The way he’s talking,” she thinks, “this could happen at any time. The people who don’t understand him, the ones who are jealous that he’s taken attention away from them, those who want him dead…they could come at any time. I must make sure he’s ready in case there is not time to properly care for his body. This is one small thing I can do for him.” So, she does it. Where many of us might be concerned about what those gathered thought of our out-of-the-ordinary measures to communicate our devotedness to God, Mary was not. Or if she was, she did not let that stop her from doing what she knew needed to be done. Sooner than later, Jesus would no longer be there to fawn over, to communicate her adoration, to make known her unwavering belief in all of who he is as the Son of God. So, she must act—not hesitantly, not in ways that the men around her would deem appropriate. She must and does act boldly, assuredly, extravagantly. For how else could she possibly respond to the bold, assuring, and extravagant love of God poured into her by Jesus the Christ?
Mary’s resistance work in this text calls us to question our own discipleship demeanor in our everyday relationship with Christ. Are we willing to give up our comfort for Jesus? Are we willing to stand against the lies that people tell about us and others to distract us from our call to further God’s mission in the world? Whose existence are we deeming unworthy as they seek to be faithful in ways that make sense to them? Whose voices are we choosing to ignore as we follow the faith narrative that seems easier or makes more sense to us? Who are we excluding from the table to whom Christ has told us all are welcome and wanted? Let us earnestly and prayerfully consider these questions and others as we continue journeying through this season of Lent. By the grace of Jesus Christ, may we resist in the ways that are most faithful, and in so doing, may we return to the wholeness of God.
Reverend Mary Kate Myers is a pastor in the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church. She attended seminary at Methodist Theological School in Ohio and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in May of 2016. While a student there, Mary Kate had the privilege of learning under Dr. Valerie Bridgeman—President and CEO of WomanPreach!—who helped her understand the inseparability of the Good News of Jesus Christ with social justice, equality, and unconditional love intended for all people. Mary Kate joined the WomanPreach! Inc. team as a cohort leader in the summer of 2018.