Holy Week: Spy Wednesday

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Close your eyes, and bring your attention to your breath. Inhale deeply, hold for two seconds, now breathe out all the tension, stress, or negativity in your body. One more time. Breathe in deeply, hold, exhale slowly all the way.

As your breathing returns to normal, gently turn your thoughts and attention toward the last week of Christ’s life, celebrated in many Christian traditions as the “Holy Week.” Although a precise chronology of Christs’ final days of mortality is not clear, most traditions place certain significant events on each of the days of the week.

Elder Gong describes the Holy Week this way: “The sacred events between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are the story of hosanna[, meaning “save now,”] and hallelujah[, meaning “praise ye the Lord Jehovah”]. Hosanna is our plea for God to save. Hallelujah expresses our praise to the Lord for the hope of salvation and exaltation. In hosanna and hallelujah we recognize the living Jesus Christ as the heart of Easter and latter-day restoration.”

Today, for the Wednesday before Easter, also known as Spy Wednesday, we will be pondering Christ’s anointings, and Judas’s agreement to betray Jesus.

Christ’s Anointing(s)

In the gospels of Matthew and Mark, we read that while Jesus is eating a meal in the house of Simon the Leper, a woman enters the house and anoints His head with very precious ointment.[1] His disciples think it is wasteful, considering how expensive the ointment is.[2] But Christ rebukes them, explaining that the woman is doing a good work in preparing Him for His burial.[3]

The gospel of John also tells of an anointing before Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. In John, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with costly ointment and wipes His feet with her hair.[4] Some believe that this is the same anointing as the unnamed woman in the gospels of Matthew and Mark. But if it is a second anointing, it adds beautiful symbolism in that last week of Christ’s life.

In ancient Israel, two figures regularly experienced anointing: the king[5] and the high priest.[6] These anointings in the New Testament highlight Christ’s two roles as the rightful King and the rightful High Priest. Mary’s anointing of Christ precedes the Kingly actions of Christ during his last week: his Triumphal Entry, his cleansing of and teaching in the temple, and his prophecies of his Second Coming where he will reign over the earth. The anointing by the unnamed woman signals the transition of Christ to a priestly role as he institutes the sacrament, suffers in the Garden of Gethsemane, and completes the atonement on the cross.[7]

Take a few moments to ponder the symbolism of Christ as king, a temporal authority, and as high priest, a spiritual authority.

In speaking of the unnamed woman who anointed Him, Christ said “She hath done what she could.”[8] He then prophesied that “this which she has done unto me, shall be had in remembrance in generations to come.”[9] “Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.”[10]

Take a few minutes to ponder this woman who Christ memorialized for her seemingly small act of ministering to Him—of doing “what she could” for Him before His death. Who do you think she was? What do you think were the thoughts and feelings running through her mind?

Who in your life has discerned your needs and “done what they could” for you when you needed it most? How can you honor them as Christ honored this woman?

Judas’ Betrayal

Judas was offended by Christ’s rebuke regarding the expensive oil.[11] He went to the chief priests and said “[w]hat will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you?”[12] And they offered him thirty pieces of silver, which was the price of a servant in ancient Israel.[13] That was supposedly enough for Judas, who then waited for an opportunity to “conveniently betray” the Savior.[14]

It is hard to imagine how a person who had been with Jesus as he performed so many miracles and taught so many powerful messages could turn around and betray him for a bit of money. But rather than asking “how could he do that?” maybe we should ask ourselves “how do I do that?”

We “betray” the Lord to some degree any time we do something we know we should not do. The story of Judas’ choice to betray the Savior is a powerful reminder to us that we are not ever immune from the adversary’s influence. That is why King Mosiah warned, “if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish.”[15]

Take a few moments to ponder the concept of betrayal and how you can avoid betraying Christ in your life.

When you are ready, take a final deep breath and slowly turn your awareness back to your body. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, take a moment to jot down any thoughts, promptings, or questions that came to mind while you were pondering. Continue to ponder the things that have come to your mind and your heart as you prepare for and celebrate the upcoming Easter Holiday.

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[1] Matthew 26:6, 7; Mark 14:3.

[2] Matthew 26:8; Mark 14:4-5.

[3] Matthew 26:12; Mark 14:6, 8.

[4] John 12:3.

[5] 2 Samuel 2:4, 5:3.

[6] Exodus 40:13; Leviticus 6:20, 22.

[7] Eric D. Huntsman, “The Anointing in John,” huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com, https://huntsmanseasonal.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-anointing-in-john.html (last accessed March 14, 2023)

[8] Mark 14:8.

[9] JST Mark 14:8.

[10] Matthew 26:13; see also Mark 14:9.

[11] JST Mark 14:31.

[12] Matthew 26:15; see also Mark 14:10; Luke 22:3-4.

[13] Exodus 21:32.

[14] Mark 14:11; see also Matthew 26:16; Luke 22:5-6.

[15] Mosiah 4:30.