God does not so much cite the person, but the qualities of this servant — this suffering servant.
And one of the qualities of this servant, if not the most important one, is that this servant, through his teaching, will bring about justice, open the eyes of the blind, free prisoners, and all of this and more without any violence or dominion.
Isaiah speaks God ‘s desired plan most eloquently as he describes this suffering servant ‘s way of bringing about this justice. He (the suffering servant) will bring about this justice —
“He will not cry out, nor shout, nor make his voice heard in the street.”
Then the most incredible description or image of this servant ‘s strong yet supremely gentle manner is described —
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.”
And it is clear that this servant will be this and be able to do this, because he has God ‘s very Spirit within him. And although this servant is not named, he is promised. And we can ‘t help but see all of this fulfilled in Jesus the Christ.
But then in today ‘s Gospel, we see Jesus at the house of his dear friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The intimacy of a meal is described; and at this meal, Mary lovingly anoints the feet of Jesus with some costly oil and dries Jesus ‘ feet with her hair. The love Mary had for Jesus was palpable.
When Judas complains about the waste that was happening — suggesting the oil would have been better served had it been sold and the money given to the poor (although as the story unfolds it suggests that Judas himself was a thief who held the purse, and who helped himself to the funds when he chose to do so).
But Jesus saw her actions as loving actions and defended them as such. Jesus even connects this anointing with his burial anointing.
John, in his Gospel, is tying things together and giving us a hint of just what is coming about slowly but surely.
And the final two sentences from these verses intensify the events to come shortly in just a few chapters. Since a large crowd had come to see Jesus and Lazarus whom he (Jesus) had raised from the dead, the chief priests were bent on killing not only Jesus but Lazarus, too, since Jesus ‘ powers and signs were realized and proclaimed by the resurrected Lazarus.
Their jealous hatred of Jesus and Lazarus, too, was summed up in their belief that Jesus was drawing many Jews away from them (the chief priests and leaders) as they were beginning to believe in Jesus and the miracle of the resurrected Lazarus who confirmed this growing faith among many of the people.
What do the details of these two stories provoke within us? And since Jesus will show the way to love and forgiveness and gentleness on the scale of the Isaiah passage — and his gentle yet clear defense of Mary ‘s loving actions toward him — do we, and can we, absorb all of that as we come closer this very week to the horrible yet miraculous saving events we are about to witness in the word, and celebrate prayerfully and liturgically?
