TUESDAY

John 12:1-8

Sometimes we are selective listeners. We tend to hear what fits our expectations and filter out what doesn’t. How often have you looked back on a situation and thought, “How did I miss that?” We often see and hear what we expect to. This seems to have been true for the disciples as Jesus drew closer to His final days in Jerusalem. Jesus spoke openly about His coming suffering, but their messianic expectations were so different from what He was saying that they failed to truly hear Him—or dismissed what they did hear. Except, it seems, for Mary. Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet when Martha wanted her in the kitchen. Mary, who had just lost her brother and then received him back again. Mary, who listened to what Jesus said about what was coming and held it in her heart. When Mary sensed that those events were near, and that Jesus was carrying this knowledge largely alone, she took the perfume normally used to anoint a body for burial and poured it on His feet. It was a quiet but powerful way of saying, I hear you. Mary may not have fully understood, but she listened. And sometimes, the simple act of listening well, and letting someone know they are heard, is a ministry God calls us to offer.

• Can you think of a time when you had something significant and important to share, but people were not really listening? What was that like?

• Can you think of a moment, perhaps like the one in the previous question, when you actually were heard, and the difference it made? What was that like?

• What are some of the ways that our own frames of reference may keep us from really hearing what someone else is trying to say? What are the ways that this can happen within our families or churches, or our friends and communities?

• Where are some of the places, or who are some of the people, where or with whom you genuinely feel heard?

• What do you sense God may be inviting you to as you reflect on this passage?

Once again, take a few moments to share with God in prayer what is on your heart.