Sermon for April 6, 2025: How Much Does It Cost? based upon John 12:1-8

​John 12:1–8 Mary Anoints Jesus

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not 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; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

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 few days ago, I learned that Mass General Brigham in Boston is laying off six full-time chaplains. Most have already been laid off. One, who trains student clergy in the Mass General part of the system, will be laid in August when the current class of students finishes their program. This kind of program, called Clinical Pastoral Education, is a part of the training that many religious leaders receive before they can be ordained. That program is being closed completely. The program in the Brigham side of the system has been reduced from two trainers down to one. What this means is that the whole system is not only losing the six full-time professional chaplains, they are losing chaplain interns and residents as well.

Counting the student chaplains with the professional chaplains, this is a lot more than 6 front-line patient and staff support positions being cut. And, that doesn’t even take into account the staff from other departments that have been laid off, like the director of domestic violence programs at Brigham and Women’s. That person is gone, too. I’ve watched similar patterns to this happen across lots of healthcare systems during my professional life. When money is tight, even when they are doing their jobs well and provided the standard of care in their discipline, spiritual care staff is often among the first staff to be cut. When crisis is looming, attention to matters of the Spirit can go by the wayside.

This story came to mind while I was reading today’s scripture because I think you can make the argument that what Mary is doing for Jesus is spiritual care. And, at least one person in the story thought it to be unnecessary and wasteful in the moment. This was the day before Jesus would finally enter Jerusalem for the last time in his earthly life. People are already talking about ways to get rid of Jesus, some even planning his demise. I can’t image that the tension would have escaped the disciples. It certainly didn’t Jesus.

A version of this story is shared in Mark, Matthew, and John. Emerson Powery, in his commentary on this text, points out that John is the only one who describes the woman anointing Jesus as being Mary, one of Jesus’ close friends (not Mary his mom). This is Mary, the sister of Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead just a few chapters earlier in John, and Mary, devoted disciple who sat at Jesus’ feet to learn in Luke. Mary and Lazarus’ sister Martha is present, too, and her actions are described as “serving.” The Greek word for the verb “serve” is the root-word for our modern word “deacon.” It would be fair, I think, to consider Martha an early deacon. The siblings’ household was a deeply faithful one, likely celebrating Jesus’ miraculous return of their brother.

Lindsey Jodrey, in their commentary on this text, notes that anointings like the ones described in today’s reading usually happened for two reasons: coronations and burials. We who know the rest of this story might understand this moment to be a bit of both. Brave and devoted Mary is preparing Jesus for whatever comes next. The perfume she’s using nard, or spikenard, is expensive, especially in the amount she uses... she spent a year’s worth of a day laborer’s salary. And, the anointing itself was quite a production, with her using her own hair as a towel. It is not small thing to offer love and care so publicly and so lavishly.

In his commentary on this text, Eliseo Pérez-Álvarez also points out that, with coronations in particular, powerful men usually did the anointings. Mary was from the countryside, a common woman with an uncommon faith who had saved enough money to offer vital care to a friend who was in a precarious spot. Gail R. O’Day, in her commentary on John in the Women’s Bible Commentary, compares Mary’s actions to the men’s actions that follow.   In washing Jesus’ feet, she foretells of Jesus’ own action of washing his disciples’ feet as an act of service and invitation to mission. Jesus will also tell his followers, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” This anointing is a sign of the power of Mary’s love and a model of how to love without limit. And, finally, after his death, the men who will anoint his body will do so in secret because they are afraid to announce their faith. Mary anoints Jesus in the daylight, for all to see. O’Day argued in her commentary that Mary, here, is the model disciple. I’m inclined to agree.

So, what do we do about Judas? Is he making a valid point about the money? Couldn’t they have used the money for other things, like helping the poor, which is one of the lynchpins of Jesus’ ministry. The author of John seems to think we should disregard Judas because Judas was not making this point in good faith. Generally, disregarding critiques that aren’t made in good faith is a pretty good idea. Interestingly, Jesus does respond. He defends Mary’s actions. Maybe Jesus knew he needed some care that day. Also, this is John. Jesus loves signs that make greater points about his identity in John. Mary anointing him as though for a coronation or for a burial is a pretty complex sign of what is to come. Either way, she needed to do this, and Jesus needed it done.

The last line of the reading, though, can be tricky. Some use to justify cutting aid to the poor or ignoring impoverished people altogether. Lindsey Jodrey points out in their commentary that sentence could just as easily be translated from the Greek as “have the poor with you always” or “Keep the poor with you always.” If that is a better translation, then Jesus is saying “it’s not either love the poor or love me... it is love the poor AND love me.”  I think it’s an interesting point, though I’m not sure that makes more sense in context than the translation we heard read today.

Jodrey also notes that Jesus could be offering a paraphrase of Deuteronomy 15:11: “there will never cease to be some in need on the earth…. I therefore command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’” Pérez-Álvarez’ references that Deuteronomy passage in his commentary, too. Whether or not Jesus was referencing Deuteronomy, I think it would be a poor reading of the Gospel as a whole to read this one line as a dismissal of care for the poor. Instead, I’m inclined to read with Pérez-Álvarez: this is a kind of farewell. This is Jesus making sure his friends know that he may not be with them much longer. He is recognizing the confrontation that is on the horizon and accepting the care that will help him face it. He’s accepting help offered him in a hard time. I hope it lifted his Spirit.

As someone who is dealing with lay-offs in a different hospital system that are affecting my medical care, I hope the administrators of Mass General Brigham assure that their patients get the holistic spiritual care they need. In challenging times, like hospitalizations and scary diagnoses, spiritual care is an important tool for healing. Even Jesus needed his spirit tended to sometimes.  May we not forget the value to tending to the Spirit in the midst of a crisis. May we not fall into the trap of thinking we have to choose between loving Jesus and loving the people Jesus loved. The road into Jerusalem will be dangerous. Tending to our Spirit will prepare us for the road ahead.

Resources consulted while writing this sermon:
The article about the staff cuts: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/02/business/mass-general-brigham-layoffs-patients-chaplains-counselor-abuse-smoking-specialist/ 
Gail R. O'Day, "John," The Women's Bible Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998)
Emerson Powery: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-john-121-8-5
Lee H. Butler, "Fifth Sunday in Lent," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year C Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Dale P. Andres, Dawn Ottoni-Wilhelm, and Ronald J. Allen, editors (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012).
Lindsey Jodrey: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-john-121-8-4 
​Eliseo Pérez-Álvarez: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-in-lent-3/commentary-on-john-121-8-3