A Holy Week Pilgrimage at the National Gallery London: Day 3
Except the Gallery really doesn't represent the midweek events very well at all
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Holy Week Events Attributed to Day 3 (Holy Tuesday):
Jesus teaches in the temple
Pharisees and Sadducees confront and challenge Jesus and the conspiracies to trap Him escalate. Jesus responds with questions of His own or with parables.
Olivet Discourse (Teachings on the Mount of Olives) with parables to the people
Possibly anointed by Mary in Bethany (but Matthew and Mark were less concerned with chronology and this really may have happened before Jesus entered Jerusalem, before Palm Sunday. Many do attribute the spikenard oil and the alabaster bottle to Holy Tuesday, though.)
The fig tree is dead
The widow’s two mites.
Judas agrees to betray Jesus
Holy Tuesday was a Temple and Mount of Olives day, and maybe a Bethany day where he was anointed by Mary. Jesus gave a scathing smackdown to Pharisees, Sadducees (who don’t believe in resurrection and this makes them “sad, you see”?), Herodians, and elders, all of whom publicly challenged Him on this day and got their lunch handed to them in return. But they were looking for a fight and, possibly in embarrassment and certainly with escalating malice, they started to hone in on how to destroy Jesus and the plot to kill him thickened. And Judas agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
As I reviewed the scriptures for today, I realized that quite a few of the well-known parables of Jesus happened today, on Holy Tuesday. He gave and gave and gave of Himself on this day, teaching the people, instructing and prophesying to His disciples, and directly facing the jealous and hypocritical leaders in truth and fearlessness knowing full well that they were hashing plans to kill him.
And, in the midst of everything, he noticed a widow.
I’m a widow.
“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all, for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Luke 21:1-4 (NKJV)
In the afternoon, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives with His disciples and taught the people. I wonder if He just wanted to not only teach them but simply wanted to be with them…to love them up close one last time. One of my favorite passages of scripture occurs at this time:
“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Then the righteous will answer Him saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Matthew 25:34-40
As Andrew Wommack says, “This passage, among other lessons, teaches us just how deeply the Lord feels our hurts. When a kind act was done to someone in need, He said it was done unto Him. When someone was neglected, He said He was the one being neglected. We have a High Priest who is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. (Hebrews 4:15) When we hurt, He hurts. When we are blessed, He is blessed. The God of the entire universe is intricately involved with every detail of our lives.”1 He wanted the people around Him, sitting there on the Mount, to know this before He left.
Now, let’s just say that Matthew and Mark are correct in their chronology and, in addition to facing the evil intent of the leaders in the temple all day and then hanging out with his disciples and the people on the Mount of Olives in the afternoon, He also went to Bethany and had a feast at Simon the Leper’s house where Mary anointed Him with oil of spikenard from an alabaster bottle. I want to talk about the spikenard and what I found out today about it botanically and commercially:
Spikenard (Nardostachys Nardostachys jatamansi): a fragrant rhizomatous plant native to the Himalayas, growing at an elevation from 11,000-17,000 feet. “The roots [rhizomes] in Jesus’s day were used to make an aromatic and costly perfume and ointment. It was used by Hindus as medicine and perfume for centuries and was an actively traded commodity. Its great cost stemmed form the fact that it had to be transported over 6,000 miles to reach Palestine and sold for as much as 400 denarii per pound (or about $750 an ounce today). It was more valuable than gold. It was worth at least two and a half times more than the 30 pieces of silver that Judas received for betraying the Lord, which is why Judas was so upset when it was used to anoint Jesus. This perfume was worth two and a half times more than what Judas thought Jesus was worth.”2
That was really interesting to me—hadn’t a clue that spikenard came from the Himalayas!
My apologies for entitling this particular post “A Holy Week Pilgrimage at the National Gallery” when no works at the Gallery were found depicting Day 3. I suppose, when one embarks on a pilgrimage, not everything one is looking for is found. Because I couldn’t find anything at the Gallery, though, I went on a hunt for something and am now discovering James Tissot and his “Life of Christ” watercolour paintings, many of which are housed at the Brooklyn Museum. This French artist has a fascinating story and one day I shall visit his collection in Brooklyn and share what I learn.
Today’s Bible Passages
Matthew 21:20-26:16
Mark 11:19-33; 12:1-44; 13:1-37; 14:1-11
Luke 20:1-47; 21:1-36; 22:1-6
P. S. I was curious if the North Doors of the Florence Baptistery had anything for today, but no.
Andrew Wommack. Free Online Bible Commentary. awmi.net/reading/online-bible-commentary (Notes at Matthew 25:34-40)
Andrew Wommack. Free Online Bible Commentary. awmi.net/reading/online-bible-commentary (Note at Mark 14:3)
It's wonderful following you down these unexpected pathways. Tissot. Spikenard. 😁