The Gospel of John has 21 chapters. Almost half of these are devoted to the six days before Passover, crucifixion, resurrection and its aftermath. It begins in chapter 12, where Jesus is a guest at his friends, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus' home, where Martha hosts a supper in his honor, and Mary pours out that expensive perfume over which Judas gets so upset. As I sit among them it seems that ever since Mary poured that perfume a tension has started to build. A crowd has gathered because they had heard about Lazarus' resurrection from the dead and that Jesus had come. More than ever the chief priests were squabbling about all the attention Jesus was getting and the power they felt they were loosing. The very next day, Jesus is being hailed King by the crowd as he rides on a colt into Jerusalem, and the atmosphere grows ever more tense. The Pharisees are getting more and more angry - but listen to Jesus; do you hear the urgency in his voice as he tries to ever more open his disciples' mind to understand who he and his father really are, how they relate to each other and how they want to relate to the disciples and everyone who ever after will come to believe on them?
Holy Spirit, open our hearts, help us hear and see more clearly! We believe - help our unbelief!
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