History is filled with accounts of royal coronations. Emperors, kings and queens ascend their thrones amid pomp and ceremony, all of it designed to celebrate the new rule and power over people. Sometimes the ceremony is meant to inspire fear, other times there were assurances of peace and prosperity, but all of it was focused on the new ruler’s power. Coronations of kings and priests run as a thread all through the Hebrew bible – and very rarely did the ruler placed on the throne do well with that power.

It all leads to Jesus – the King of kings and Lord of lords. If we had in mind the grandeur of history’s celebrations of new rulers, we’ll be deeply surprised at how this goes down in Jesus’ anointment as King.

This Sunday we’ll be examining John 12:1-11.

The scene that John describes is one that would have been awkward and uncomfortable in our culture to be sure, but in actuality it would have been weird in Jesus’ day too. Back in Luke 10, Mary upset her sister Martha by defying ancient protocol when she sat out with the men to learn as a disciple while her sister conformed to the domestic expectations of the day. Here again, Mary behaves in a way that for some people viewing it, might have cast her in an unsavory light. Letting down her hair to wipe Jesus’ feet, pouring out an entire box of oil when just a dab would have done…these were actions that were out of sync with the expected norm, and it created a reaction.

How do you think you would have reacted to Mary’s behavior? Who reacted negatively to this action? What seems to be the most important issue for him? What seems to be important to Mary?

All of the different characters and all of their responses. Who do we relate to the most in this section? The Chief Priests react with their one-note response…they want to kill someone. Let’s hope you don’t relate to that. Mary sacrificed a very expensive box of oil to pour out on Jesus. She also sacrificed her dignity and reputation. All because she wanted to demonstrate to Jesus her love for him. How much of Mary do you see in your approach to worship? How much of Judas?

Everything about Jesus disrupts and inverts the normal expectations of this world’s system, especially as it touches what it means to reign in power.

This should prove to be a challenging study this week! Hope to see you there!

Click here for a pdf of the teaching slideshow.