The Anointing at Bethany by Simon Brett
The Society of Wood Gravers http://www.woodengravers.co.uk
Friday, November 2, 2012
Mark 14:1-31
The final month of God’s year of grace is here. Leaves lie on the ground; days are getting colder and shorter. Autumn, as well as spring, is a prayerful time to ponder the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The plot to kill Jesus, woven beneath the fabric of the Gospel itself, now comes to completion with the co-operation of someone from the inside‐Judas. In the Anointing at Bethany, extravagant love for Jesus is literally poured out at the same time as extravagant hatred surges ahead.
Take the alabaster flask of your life and empty it out in love and abandon, as do the very leaves pour themselves from the trees. The anointing is a symbol of resurrection. Go inward and adore your Lord.
The Reading for Today
Version for Children and Families
This is the ninth of thirteen weeks in Kingdomtide, Year B.
See “Solar and Sacred Seasons” in the menu above.
Fridays from now until Advent are dedicated to the Gospel of Mark,in this season, chapters 10 to 16.