Who is Your King?

On Perfume, Scandal, and Upside-down Kingdoms

Mark 14:1-15:47

This Palm Sunday many of us find ourselves at home once again, without a palm to wave, at least not in company with others. The Palm Sunday processions at Episcopal Churches are among my favorite liturgical moments of the year. We cram together in the church hall or gather in the parking lot and then shuffle out following the ministers of the service singing “All Glory, Laud, and Honor” while waving our palms, trying not to trip over our neighbors kids, and find our pews at the same time. It’s chaotic, it feels a little a little silly, and it’s totally glorious. 

And then at some point in the service we switch from the palms and the celebration and we read the passion narrative out of one of the gospels. This year’s lectionary has it from Mark, and it opens with the story of Jesus being anointed by an unnamed woman, who pours costly ointment on his head. My New Interpreter’s Study Bible (NRSV) tells me that the cost of this ointment was about one year’s wages, so it wasn…