Jesus, after he washed the feet of his disciples, declared: “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” (John 13:12-15). In today’s Gospel Mary “washes” the feet of Jesus and dries them (John 12:1-11). Maybe Mary’s actions gave Jesus the idea or model to wash the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. John’s Gospel describes Mary’s actions in this way:
“Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”
Mary not only washes and/or anoints Jesus’ feet but dries them not with a towel but with her own hair! Jesus hails Mary’s prophetic action that anticipates his Passion and Death: “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial.”
Mary teaches us by her humble and prophetic actions the true meaning of discipleship. It is the way of service and sacrifice. Jesus shows us this way throughout his earthly life and especially in his Passion and Death. We as disciples of Jesus are called upon to follow this way of Mary and especially this way of Jesus. This is the lesson that Jesus taught the first disciples at the Last Supper and teaches us this most Holy Week:
I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do. Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:15-16)
You and I are invited this week to encounter Jesus in a new and perhaps surprising way. Jesus comes to wash your feet and my feet and then invites us to wash the feet of one another through service and sacrifice. Mary and Jesus have given us a model to follow.
Image: “NT148.Woman anoints Jesus feet” by pcstratman is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.