The Political Passion: Wednesday

In Mark, the road to Jerusalem has been littered with failure. Beginning with Peter, and continuing throughout the book, no one seems to understand that the way of Jesus means a way of death, rather than a way of power and authority, like the "gentiles."

One might think that Jesus was getting ready to toss all of those teachings aside. After all, he just spent the last two days tearing into the temple authorities with strong words of condemnation. However, in Chapter 14, we encounter a woman who, unlike the disciples, gets it. She "gets it" because she knows that Jesus has come to die, not to seize power. He will stand against the powers that be, on the side of God's kingdom, but he will not use the methods of conquest to achieve his ends. Instead, he will willingly give up his life for the sake of the kingdom of God. And, as we will see in a few days, he will leave it to God to vindicate him.

Fittingly, the story is surrounded by verses which make it clear the temple authorities are looking for a way to arrest Jesus. They think they will have to wait until the festival is over and then, astoundingly, one of Jesus' own agrees to turn him in to them. What more could they ask?

The clouds begin to gather.

[Other posts in this series: Palm Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday]

Related Tags: passion week, easter