Anointed
Saturday. Jerusalem. Circa 33 AD.
Passover was near and the Jewish people were on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Jesus, too, neared the city. But His Jerusalem was to be unlike any other.
Along the way Jesus and His apostles stop in Bethany to visit long time friends, including, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Events unfold that foreshadow Jesus’s coming Passover experience.
While sharing dinner with friends, Jesus is anointed with expensive perfume. Some in the assembly think it an outrageous waste – 300 dinarii! Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:7-8 NLT
Jesus knew that His final journey to Jerusalem would begin the following day. Cue the donkey:
Rejoice, O people of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem!
Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey –
riding on a donkey’s colt. Zechariah 9:9 NLT
Easter2023, 3/42
This post makes me think of all the layers of anticipation wrapped up in this moment. The people anticipating Jesus coming into Jerusalem. The building crescendo of Jesus’ miracles and ministry. The tremendous amount of excitement and joy that so many people were feeling. Jesus must have been caught up in all of this in His human heart, but that was also intertwined with his anticipation of the cross. And the tomb. And Easter morning.
Should we anticipate the joy of Jesus’s ministry? Absolutely. Should we also feel the weight of the necessity of the cross? Yes.
The word advent means coming. The second look of Easter has so many elements of anticipation of His coming as well.
What does the 3/42 mean?