There is so much good stuff in Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus! The authors Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg explore how the Jewishness of Jesus can transform a Christian's faith—and it's so true!
In this post, I'm going to talk about something stood out to me from the first chapter, which builds on a topic I explored in this post, about what it means to have a king.
The authors open with a reference to the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus in John 12. This is a story that is studied a lot in churches, and I've personally heard a lot of teachings on it—on the expensive nature of the perfume (about a year's wages), of the rudeness of the host in not having Jesus' feet washed, in the shocking nature of Mary wiping His feet with her hair, that she was also preparing His body for burial (Matthew 26:12), of how she gave the greatest gift as an act of worship.
But I've never heard this before.
The authors clarify (what is also in Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus) that "Messiah" means "the Anointed One". They state: "The word 'Messiah' alludes to the ceremony used to set apart someone chosen by God, like a king or a priest. Instead of being crowned during a coronation, Hebrew kings were anointed with sacred oil perfumed with extremely expensive spices. Only used for consecrating objects in the temple and for anointing priests and kinds, the sacred anointing oil would have been more valuable than diamonds. The marvelous scent that it left behind acted like an invisible 'crown,' conferring an aura of holiness on its recipients..... In the ancient Middle East, the majesty of a kind was expressed no only by what he wore—his jewelry and robes—but by his royal 'aroma.'" (pages 20-21)
But it doesn't stop there, because the authors point out that Mary's perfume likely lingered on Jesus for days, and could possibly still have been smelled while He was on the cross.
And what about this Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16:
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?"
Knowing this important aspect of Jewish first-century culture definitely does what the authors claim: gives a much richer Bible study and understanding!
The authors open with a reference to the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus in John 12. This is a story that is studied a lot in churches, and I've personally heard a lot of teachings on it—on the expensive nature of the perfume (about a year's wages), of the rudeness of the host in not having Jesus' feet washed, in the shocking nature of Mary wiping His feet with her hair, that she was also preparing His body for burial (Matthew 26:12), of how she gave the greatest gift as an act of worship.
But I've never heard this before.
The authors clarify (what is also in Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus) that "Messiah" means "the Anointed One". They state: "The word 'Messiah' alludes to the ceremony used to set apart someone chosen by God, like a king or a priest. Instead of being crowned during a coronation, Hebrew kings were anointed with sacred oil perfumed with extremely expensive spices. Only used for consecrating objects in the temple and for anointing priests and kinds, the sacred anointing oil would have been more valuable than diamonds. The marvelous scent that it left behind acted like an invisible 'crown,' conferring an aura of holiness on its recipients..... In the ancient Middle East, the majesty of a kind was expressed no only by what he wore—his jewelry and robes—but by his royal 'aroma.'" (pages 20-21)
But it doesn't stop there, because the authors point out that Mary's perfume likely lingered on Jesus for days, and could possibly still have been smelled while He was on the cross.
And what about this Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 2:14-16:
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?"
Knowing this important aspect of Jewish first-century culture definitely does what the authors claim: gives a much richer Bible study and understanding!
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