Lent 39: Jesus, the social revolutionary

Jesus said, "Leave her alone."  John 12: 7 (Story also in Matt 26: 6-13, Mark 14: 3-9, Luke 7: 36-50)

In the story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet, which is present in all four gospels, Jesus rebukes men (in some stories, the apostles, in some, the pharisees) for criticising and crushing a woman for her actions.

In my opinion, this story is as much about oppression and equality as is it about the poor and/or preparing Jesus for his death.

A group of strong, probably powerful men, make a woman who is already at the bottom of society (the suggestion in most gospels is that she was a prostitute) feel even smaller.  They see her taking Jesus' attention and making a spectacle and cannot cope with it, probably partly because she is a woman and partly because she is 'sinful'.  They preach about giving to the poor and wasting money, and, as I imagine it, try to take Jesus' attention back for themselves.

This woman let go of all inhibition and showed her deepest emotion and commitment to Jesus.  She did something extravagant, raw, earthy and undignified.  This was everything the pharisees weren't (and, probably, the disciples too) and they couldn't stand it. She humiliated them by her very presence, and her actions made this so much worse.

Then Jesus, who they all wanted to pay them attention, drove the whole thing home by backing her rather than them.  He saw the beauty in what she did and in who she was and turned everything upside-down by criticising the men for their words.  She understood what was needed, Jesus told them, not them.  She honoured him more with this action than they had done with all their ritual and pomp.

Wow.

In the society Jesus lived in, backing a woman's actions over mens' will have been almost unheard of.  Jesus time and time again lifted up those who were crushed by society and gave them their dignity back.  It is truly mind-blowing stuff. 

Are we surprised that a lot of people had it in for Jesus when he did this sort of thing?  He made people (mostly men) feel very uncomfortable indeed.

We have come a long way with gender equality, but there is still a long way to go, and there are many other issues of equality to be addressed.  I wonder who Jesus would be lifting up in our society today.  Who would Jesus be protecting from the crushing words of those who think they know better?  Who would be crushing them?