John 12:1-8

This story takes place before  Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus has stopped at his friends’ house for one last quiet evening with faithful trusted friends, before entering Jerusalem. And then, seemingly out of the blue, Mary does something truly remarkable. She takes a pound of costly perfume, and pours it on Jesus’ feet, and wipes his feet with her hair. No words. Just this amazing, even shocking act of love.

To love or not to love. That is the question in today’s gospel. Friends - It is always the question. Every minute of every day we answer that question. Our answer shapes how we live, determines what we do, and chooses the words we speak. Ultimately, our answer reveals whether our life is aligned with Jesus’ life.

Mary and Judas answer this question very differently. In silence Mary anoints Jesus’ feet and fragrances the entire house. Judas keeps to himself, questioning, criticizing, and scheming. To love or not to love.

We often understand love as an emotion, a positive feeling. But emotions cannot be our only guide.  Whether or not we love does not depend on emotions but on seeing. Despite the old saying, love is not blind. It is our emotions that can blind us and keep us from loving. 

Now, my tutors at college will tell you that ancient Greek has never been my strong point, but here are two ancient Greek words that are worth remembering.

The first is agape – meaning the highest form of love, and the second is apatheia – meaning freedom the obsessions, compulsions, and the emotional agendas that often determine our life choices.  How interest that our English word apathy means suppression or absence of emotions, but the original Greek means freedom from  emotions. A small but infinitely important difference

Evagrius, a monk in the fourth century said, “Agape – the highest form of love -  is the child of apatheia – freedom.  ” The highest form of love is born from freedom.  Love is always born from freedom.

Apatheia is the difference between Mary and Judas. Mary is free of the emotions. She is apatheia. The pouring out of her perfume is the pouring out of agape love. Judas, however, is filled with and possessed by emotions -  Self-interest, greed, fear - Whatever emotion grips Judas makes him blind and unable to love.

How we see determines how we love. Look at the world. If you simply see impersonal stuff, or material objects chances are you will not love the world. If you see beauty, the wonder of creation, and the manifestation of God’s self, you will love. Look at a stranger. If all you see is another nameless, faceless individual in the crowd of life you will likely not love. If, however, you see a unique person, a brother or sister cherished by the same God who cherishes you, you will love.

To practice agape love, we must see, not with ‘these’ eyes (face), but with ‘these’ eyes (heart) 

That’s what this whole season of Lent and its Sunday gospel readings has been about. It is a season of learning to love. To be Mary, or Judas.    

To paraphrase our passage from Isaiah…

See, love does new things!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
Love makes a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

To love or to not love. That is the question

Throughout the story of Mary and Judas,  we can begin to see patterns of who and how we love. We can discover what gets in the way, and prevents us from loving. We are reminded that wherever we go, whoever we are with, whatever we are doing, there is a choice to be made. Apathy or apatheia, To love or not to love, that is the question.