Triduum Preparation

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 

Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 

The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him. (John 12:1-11)

Quite a bit is happening in these passages.  Mary [not Magdalene] washes Jesus’ feet with expensive oil, and she dries his feet with her unbound hair.  She loves him.  Martha and Lazarus are onlookers.

Judas is a hypocrite who thought the value of the oil should have been given to the poor.  However, he waits to steal that value because he is a thief.  Apparently, Jesus did not know Judas was a thief.

The chief priests, who were not present at the table, plotted to kill Lazarus because his rising from the dead by Jesus was convincing Jews to believe Jesus was the hoped-for Messiah.

These three incidents continue to set the stage for Holy Week and the Triduum.  We watch the washing of feet on Holy Thursday as a way to remind us of the need to bend down and help the poor who Jesus images.  We are to be the Mary’s who are extravagant in our willingness to “dry” the feet of the poor with service and financial support.

Judas’ behavior reminds us that we can be hypocrites by saying we will help the poor and needy, but we do not.  In a way, we keep our promised donations in our own money bags for ourselves.  We betray those in need by reneging on our commitment to help the poor/needy.  The Passion readings remind us of Judas’ betrayal and our own.

The plot to kill Lazarus because he rose from the dead forecasts what Jesus will experience on Good Friday, and then on Easter.  He will be sentenced to death by the chief priests who see him as a threat to their status and those who exploit the poor for the benefit of those who collaborate with the Roman Empire for influence and power.  

This Holy Week we are to prepare ourselves for the Triduum.  These readings and those to come serve this purpose.

Deacon David Pierce