A Wild Young Under-Whimsy

Easter thoughts. I am not a Christian, although I have a culturally Christian background. But I have always been struck by the story of Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion, when the friends who are meant to keep him company instead fall asleep, and so he feels utterly alone as he fills with existential despair and begs his God and Father if there’s any way to spare him the suffering to come.

Up to this point in his story, Jesus is described as a leader, a teacher, an activist, a shepherd of men. Someone who has the answers and doesn’t hesitate. But to me he is at his most relatable and human in this moment in the garden, when he desperately wants someone else, not him, to take the wheel.

I'm also musing about the story of Mary of Bethany, the woman who poured a jar of hugely expensive spikenard perfume on Jesus' head at a party. I just love the image of this. The room suddenly flooded with luxurious powerful scent. Jesus' hair, dripping. His feet, glistening. His mates, like "WTF bitch".

This perfume was worth a year's wages, and there's speculation that it was Mary's dowry. It was The Best and she poured it on Jesus so nobody's nostrils could doubt that he was The Best (cf. 'The Best' by Tina Turner as Christian anthem). 

Also, what if Jesus is quietly freaking out about his impending death? None of his friends have noticed this, and Judas in particular is like "Ummmm, you could have sold that and given the money to the POOR, i.e. uh, to ME, who is in charge of handing out charity donations." 

But Mary notices. She pours the perfume as a reminder to Jesus himself, so that every time he gets a waft of the scent on his body he'll remember the plan.

There's something literary to this story, as well – a kind of foreshadowing – because this perfume is also used to anoint the bodies of the dead.

Jesus tells his disciples, "Get off her case about selling the perfume and donating the money to the poor, because poor people will always be with us, whereas I won't – she is anointing my body for burial."