Conversations on the way to the Cross 4: The Anointing

Judas goes to the High Priest

"My name's Judas Iscariot, my lord. Zach.. Zach here said you might... you might be interested in some, um, some information about Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth."

"Jesus of Nazareth! Yes, indeed! And tell me, young man, what kind of information might you have?"

"Well, I'm... I was one of his friends. His disciples. The Twelve, he called us. I know where he's staying, what he's doing. He trusts us. Me. It would be easy."

"He trusts you. I see. And why, Mr Judas Iscariot, should I trust you? What makes a trusted disciple of Jesus come running like a rat to his enemies?"

"He... I told him! He could have had this city in the palm of his hand, and he knew it! I saw his eyes light up, and I knew. And then there was that dumb donkey, and then tonight... tonight there was that woman... no better than a common whore..."

"Your revered teacher has been consorting with prostitutes? I didn't think he was that type."

"No!! Yes! Well, no, not consorting with, not like that, but she poured perfume on him! Nard! Pure nard, can you imagine? Three hundred denarii down the drain, and oh yes, she can afford it, but the rest of us have been living hand to mouth these three years, giving up everything to follow Jesus, believing.. trusting him when he says he's going to bring in a kingdom, and what does he do?"

"I take it he didn't ask for a receipt."

"A what? No. No, he sat there, expensive perfume dripping down his beard, and said he'd been anointed for his burial. His burial. He's given up. He was the only person in this whole damn world... the only one... he could have changed everything, and now... now he's given up. I should never even have hoped in the first place."

"Well, Mr Iscariot, there's no use crying about it. All our idols fall in the end. And you've earned yourself a little pocket money in coming to us, anyway. Not quite three hundred denarii, but I think we can run to... hmm, thirty pieces of silver. There you go.

"Now, dry your eyes and let's talk details. I think you will be very useful to us..."

Mark 14: 3-11

Other Conversations from the Cross
1: The Donkey
2: The Commotion
3: The Authority

5: The Betrayal
6: The Burial
7: The Precaution
8: The Resurrection

Comments

Trent Valley: the march of the pylons

In the 1980s, the River Trent supplied the cooling water for fifteen coal-fired power stations, each one gobbling up coal from the local mines and quenching its heat with gallons of river water. The area was known as Megawatt Valley . As the 20th century gave way to the 21st, the mines closed, the coal trains stopped running, and the iconic cooling towers, one by one, fell to the ground. The high-voltage electricity lines which connected the stations to the grid are still there, however, and they dominated the walk I did today. The stately silhouettes of pylons stalked across the landscape, carrying fizzing power lines which sliced up the sky. At one point, I was within view of two of the remaining sets of cooling towers. Diving further back into history, I parked by Swarkestone Lock on the Trent & Mersey Canal, walked past St James' Church, and arrived at Swarkestone Bridge, a 14th-century causeway which still, remarkably, carries traffic today. It was famously the southernmos...

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...

Trent Valley: Twyford, both ways

To complete my loop along the Dove Valley from the mouth at Newton Solney up to Dovedale at Thorpe, across to Matlock on the Limestone Way , and back south along the Derwent Valley , I needed to walk one last section along the River Trent from Derwent Mouth to Repton. Originally I planned to do it in that direction. But for various reasons I ended up doing it the other way. The walk from Repton to Ingleby was completed weeks ago, at the beginning of June, and, for the sake of completeness, I also, later, walked from Findern to Twyford, on the other bank of the river. If I had done the walk sixty years or more ago, I could have crossed the river by ford or ferry at Twyford, and that would have been my most direct route home. the Trent at Twyford Walk 1: Repton to Ingleby Starting from the centre of Repton, I made my way out of the village and crossed the fields to Milton. Wystan Arboretum Milton The Trent Rivers Trust has been busy establishing the Trent Valley Way . This sect...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog