Monday, April 6, 2020


Today’s Gospel: - Monday of Holy Week


ΚΑΤΑ  ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ

121Ὁ οὖν Ἰησοῦς πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα ἦλθεν εἰς Βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν Ἰησοῦς.

2ἐποίησαν οὖν αὐτῷ δεῖπνον ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἡ Μάρθα διηκόνει, ὁ δὲ Λάζαρος εἷς ἦν ἐκ τῶν ἀνακειμένων σὺν αὐτῷ.

3Ἡ οὖν Μαριὰμ λαβοῦσα λίτραν μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμου ἤλειψεν τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἐξέμαξεν ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ· ἡ δὲ οἰκία ἐπληρώθη ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς τοῦ μύρου. 

4Λέγει δὲ Ἰούδας ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης εἷς [ἐκ] τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ὁ μέλλων αὐτὸν παραδιδόναι·

5διὰ τί τοῦτο τὸ μύρον οὐκ ἐπράθη τριακοσίων δηναρίων καὶ ἐδόθη πτωχοῖς;

6εἶπεν δὲ τοῦτο οὐχ ὅτι περὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ἔμελεν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ’ ὅτι κλέπτης ἦν καὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον ἔχων τὰ βαλλόμενα ἐβάσταζεν.

7εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἄφες αὐτήν, ἵνα εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ μου τηρήσῃ αὐτό·

8τοὺς πτωχοὺς γὰρ πάντοτε ἔχετε μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε.

9Ἔγνω οὖν [ὁ] ὄχλος πολὺς ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐστιν καὶ ἦλθον οὐ διὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἴδωσιν ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν.

10ἐβουλεύσαντο δὲ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἵνα καὶ τὸν Λάζαρον ἀποκτείνωσιν,

11ὅτι πολλοὶ δι’ αὐτὸν ὑπῆγον τῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ ἐπίστευον εἰς τὸν Ἰησοῦν.  [NA 28]



This lesson from John is a compilation of many familiar stories, from Mary washing and perfuming Jesus feet, to raising Lazarus from the dead. But that aside, I would like to concentrate on Judas and his admonition to sell the perfume, not waste it, and give the money to the poor.  Judas was the accountant/treasurer for the disciples as we are told.  But Jesus replies: “τοὺς πτωχοὺς γὰρ πάντοτε ἔχετε μεθ’ ἑαυτῶν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε.”



I fear those of us who are wealthy or middle class often quote this passage to justify our neglect of poverty and those who suffer from it.  Curiously, Jesus is right, we will always have poor among us, and giving to the poor is merely a salve for the wound of the impoverished, and perhaps a salve for our consciences too.  Unfortunately if we give some meager sum to the poor they are still poor, and in a very important sense become dependent on our generosity, rather than on their own resources regardless of how meager those resources may be. It’s simple mathematics really. We might, and often do say, that the poor need to pull themselves up from their bootstraps, but then again, their boots must have straps in order to do that.  Now of course if we give the poor employment the situation differs.  The employed have dignity, at least to a measure.  That’s why our politicians keep speaking about “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” And then again employment may just be the straps for the boots. But then there is a second part to Jesus’ reply: “you will not always have me.”  Now it may seem egotistic for Jesus to say this, but there is a lesson here, it’s like Jesus is telling us “after I’m gone, you are on your own.”  And if that is so, we are left to our own devices as to what to do about poverty.



I find this remark of Jesus particularly interesting to occur in the Bethany- the raising of Lazarus from the dead story.  Perhaps John is sending us a message here about the raising up the impoverished, just as Jesus raised Lazarus, after all poverty is a kind of death – a death of self worth and dignity. Anyone who has ever been unemployed, even for a short while, realizes this. The Philosopher in me wonders about the message being sent, not so much the messenger, but the divine wisdom that we all may tap into, some two millennia post Jesus.  Resurrection is not just about being raised from the dead, but being raised up to a new life, and newness of life.  Perhaps we can think about giving the impoverished some straps for which to pull on their boots.  This is particularly important today and tomorrow because of the vast numbers of unemployed due to the plague (virus) now infecting our world.



We ARE on our own; the judgment as to what to do is up to us…




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