Without the benefit of hindsight, the disciples gathered in Bethany six days before the Passover, where a meal was given in honour of Jesus.  They did not realise the suffering He would undergo on behalf of them and all of us, they had not fathomed the work of power and love that would occur on the third day. Openly criticising Mary in front of the gathering for pouring out such expensive perfume on Jesus' feet, Judas missed the point, and Jesus' response to him poses some interesting questions to us all.

This meal held in Jesus' honour in John 12:1-11 was the scene in the Gospel reading at this week's Chrism services, held in Wellington, Carterton and Feilding.  We all gathered as the Bishops blessed the oil of anointing and of Chrism for the year ahead, as those of us who are ordained recommitted to our ordination vows, and as all of us recommitted to our baptism vows.  

Bishop Eleanor gave a reflection on the power of Jesus’ defence of Mary in this scripture: saying "leave her alone."  +Ellie highlighted how Jesus openly defended Mary's right to come to Him as his disciple, regardless of her position in the society of the time. Mary, in "the poetics and physicality of her love," showed a level of devotion for Jesus that testified to His coming death and resurrection, and our need for His power. Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, was also present, which offered a further signpost to our need for God's power and strength as we undertake our commitment to follow.

But +Ellie reminded us that that our "yes" to Jesus can't be done in our own strength.  She spoke of having gone on a run far longer than she anticipated, and having been extremely exhausted afterwards - realising she had not taken any water.  "It's easy to keep going on our own strength, and not drink from the waters of life," she told us.  The gift of this feast in Jesus' honour is that it gives personal testimony to Jesus' resurrection power and our need of it. 

L-R: Rev. Andy Eldred and the Hadlow School Choir lead worship, Bishop Eleanor and Bishop Justin bless the oils, Rev. Judith Wigglesworth distributes the Eucharist, Bishop Eleanor presents a Bishop’s Medal to Stuart Patterson from our Greytown whānau.

As we enter into Holy Week, this passage of scripture us that in our communities and in our lives, God's power has a purpose.  In the reading, Jesus responded to Judas' feigned concern for the poor: "You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."  +Ellie spoke of the beauty of the Jewish tradition of inscribing sacred words on walls, and how many of us have similar decals on our walls today - the ones that say "we do laughter, we do forgiveness," and other honourable and beautiful expressions. But she wondered why there was no decal that said "are the poor with you?" We are invited to imagine what the last 2,000 years of church history would have been like, “if every building built in Christ's name and every cathedral in the world had these words inscribed upon it.”

As we said yes again to Jesus this week, we look forward to celebrating His resurrection power. We long to be people who undertake radical acts of love and devotion for Jesus. We lay down our own efforts to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, and we say yes to God’s power to bring it about - in our lives, in the lives of others, and in all creation.