WEDNESDAY of PASSION WEEK – The Calm Before the Storm

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.  She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold and the money given to the poor.”  And they rebuked her harshly.

-- Mark 14:3-5

Wednesday was the day of silence.  There is nothing recorded about Wednesday. It’s as if the day just dropped off the calendar.  No movement from Jesus.  No words from his lips.  Just silence.  It was the calm before the storm.  It must have been anything but calm for Jesus.

The last thing we know about Jesus before the mysterious silence of Wednesday happened Tuesday evening.  Jesus was reclining at the supper table in the home of a friend, Simon the Leper.  A mysterious woman slips into the scene, breaks open a jar of very expensive perfume, and pours it over Jesus’ head. 

The pungent aroma of pure nard must have quickly filled the room.  Those who missed the action must have been asking, “What’s that smell?”  When the disciples realize what has been done, they are stunned.  Their first thought is, “What a waste.”  There are so many ways the perfume could have been leveraged for good.  The perfume could have been sold for a handsome price and the money used to help the poor. 

Apparently, Jesus had taught them well.  They knew that their primary responsibility was for others.  Their reasoning was sound. If the woman wants to donate the expensive perfume to the Jesus ministry, the best use of the gift would be to liquidate it and use the cash to help the poor. After all, isn’t that what Jesus taught us to do?  It was sound reasoning – but, on that day, it was wrong.  Any other day the gift should have and would have been used to help the poor.  But not that day … that day was different … that day the most pressing need was to anoint Jesus for his burial (14:8). 

And there’s the clue we have been looking for.  What was Jesus thinking about Tuesday night when he went to sleep?  His own death and burial.  And what did he spend Wednesday doing?  I don’t know for sure.  But, I suspect he was preparing himself for crucifixion and burial.  Maybe he talked to Joseph of Arimathea – a man of some wealth and a secret follower of Jesus.  Maybe he spent time with his mother and his brothers, trying to explain the trajectory of his life.  I don’t know.  Maybe he spent it with The Twelve, trying to prepare them for the firestorm that was coming.  I don’t know.  Surely, he spent some time talking to God.  Maybe he spent the whole day talking to God.  I don’t know.  Silence bothers me.  I don’t like it.  That’s why I fill my life with constant motion and noise – so that I won’t have to deal with silence and the insecurity of not knowing. I don’t like not knowing.

That’s what Wednesday stands for.  It stands for not knowing. It stands for waiting silently on God, not knowing what comes next, only that it will be hard and require more than what you have.  It stands for doing the hardest thing possible – stopping the constant movement and noise of your life to listen for God.  And then … when you hear nothing … trusting anyway, that God knows what he is doing.

Reflection and Action

Why do you find it hard to make time for quiet reflection?  What really keeps you from moments of prolonged silence?

Take time to listen for God.  Wait for him and if he asks you to do something … do it!