The Aroma of the Passion of the Lord At the early Eucharist on Passion Sunday, 2022 John 12:1-8 “For the day of my burial.” The words of Jesus in the Gospel reading for this Passion Sunday starkly tell us that the focus of Lent is shifting. Shifting from the forty days in the wilderness to the journey towards Jerusalem ... The journey towards the crowd and the trial, betrayal and denial, Cross and Tomb. Jesus talks of his burial after one of his disciples, Mary of Bethany, anoints him with incredibly expensive perfume. The Gospel notes, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume”. The aroma filled the air, a sign of the deep significance and rich meaning of what was about to unfold. We also get more than a hint of that deep significance and rich meaning when we consider that this is at the beginning of only chapter twelve of John’s Gospel, with its twenty-one chapters. Eleven chapters have reflected on the three years of Jesus’ public ministry. The next te...
Protestant Episcopalian - Burkean - clerk in holy orders