And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head....
And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept.
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We will finally be unashamed in our love for our Savior when we realize how little we have to lose in ourselves and how much we have to gain in Him. The verses quoted above put two of Jesus' followers in stark contrast: one was a woman of no reputation, adoring the man who had looked past all of her shame and called her a daughter of God; the other was Jesus' best friend, who had proudly advertised his willingness to die for the cause, but ended up calling down curses on himself in denial of ever knowing this man. One put herself beneath Jesus; the other thought this denounced prophet was beneath himself.
Mark 14 takes us on a tour of how humanity finally responds when the truth about Jesus emerges. He was not the triumphal king they expected. He was not willing to fight back against the Roman oppressors and take the throne by force. He was instead arrested, unjustly accused, defamed, humiliated, spit upon, beaten, mocked, and condemned to death.
When our heroes fail, we quickly become fair-weather fans. The disciples foreshadow their waning devotion by sleeping through a midnight prayer meeting at the hour of greatest need. Then they flee openly when the going gets tough. Mark includes a seemingly random verse about a young man fleeing naked (v 51-52), but this may be merely to accentuate the depth of our shame when confronted with the foolishness of Jesus and the true nature of his kingdom. We would rather go naked than be associated with this apparently failed messiah.
The story of human shame starts in Genesis. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they realized they were naked and hid themselves from their Maker. After God confronted them, he made clothes for them from animal skins - a foreshadowing of the bloodshed that would be the price for humanity's corruption from that point onward. Throughout the story of God's fallen people, clothes would be a symbol of God's grace in response to human shame. Ezekiel 16 is but one graphic description of God's heart to restore his shameful bride to a place of honor, complete with new clothes of purity, righteousness, and grace. Ultimately, it is the book of Revelation that casts a vision of our final renewal and the robes of righteousness that await us in eternity.
But the robes only await those who realize their shame and trade it in for a heart that gives glory to our suffering savior. Like the harlot who ignored those who reproached her, we must bring our offering of faith and give our lives to Him before a watching world, no matter how foolish it may appear to them. Otherwise we will respond to this mocked and denounced prophet like Peter and curse ourselves for ever knowing him. Which path will we choose?
Lord, I pray for more faith. Give me faith that gives you glory, not because of any good in me, but because you took all of my shame upon yourself and in exchange gave me the robes of righteousness that restore my relationship with my Maker. Let me pour out words and actions of praise that point to the One who made this exchange for me and, by his grace alone, was not ashamed to call me his child. Amen.
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