The Supper At Bethany

"Six days before the Passover, JESUS came to Bethany, where HE had raised Lazarus, the dead man, to life.  Now they gave a dinner for HIM, and while Martha waited on them, Lazarus sat at the table with JESUS.

Then Mary took a pound of costly perfume, made from genuine spikenard, and anointed the feet of JESUS, wiping them with her hair.  And the whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Judas Iscariot--the disciple who was to betray JESUS--remarked, 'This perfume could have been sold for three hundred silver coins, and the money given to the poor.'  Judas, indeed, had no concern for the poor; he was a thief, and as he held the common purse, he used to help himself to the funds.

But JESUS spoke up, 'Leave her alone.  Was she not keeping it for the day of MY burial?  [The poor you always have with you, but you will not always have ME.]'

Many Jews heard that JESUS was there, and they came, not only because of JESUS, but also to see Lazarus whom HE had raised from the dead.  So, the chief priests thought about killing Lazarus as well, for many of the Jews were drifting away because of him and believing in JESUS." - John 12:1-11 

(Matthew and Mark also relate the incident at a supper when Mary showed her passionate love for JESUS.  She loved HIM with all her strength, and her love, far from blinding her, made her sense and respect the mysterious personality of JESUS.

Not all the apostles understood her gesture, because they still had much to learn about loving CHRIST.

Like Judas we often speak of giving to the poor.  Yet the LORD's command is not to give but to love.  To love the poor is to reveal to them their call from GOD, and to help them grow as persons by overcoming their weaknesses and divisions and by fulfilling the mission GOD entrusted to them.  The poor will live the Gospel and witness to it in the world.  If we are not among them, we need conversion and true poverty to discover with them the kingdom.  How can we really love the poor unless we have passionate love for JESUS?  When we do not, we prefer to speak only of giving to the poor.)

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