A reflection on the 80th Anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (9th April 1945- 2025) alongside the gospel reading for that day from John 12:1-11 telling of how Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus prior to his crucifiction.
We don’t know how Mary of Bethany procured the expensive perfume she poured out onto Jesus’ feet.
Perhaps she used her life savings to buy it, or maybe she had inherited it and was keeping it as an asset to sell if she became short of money.
Or possibly it had been given to her by her parents for her wedding night, to anoint the marital bed for her husband.
No one knows for sure how she owned such an expensive and exquisite fragrance.
But what we do know for sure is that she had this unique oil and willingly offered it to anoint Jesus’ feet with, then dried them with her hair.
This outstanding act of love for Jesus was incomprehensible to many there at the time, but not to Mary and not to Jesus.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran Pastor, Martyred 1945
Likewise, Dietrich Bonhoeffer offered all that he had during the radical times before and during WWII, because of his faith in, and love for, Jesus.
Dietrich was a German theologian, ordained minister, and Christian martyr who lived out his faith in the face of unimaginable adversity.
He was executed aged 39 on the 9th April 1945, 80 years ago today, because of his faith in Jesus and resistance to Hitler and his politics.
This was just days before the concentration camp he was held in was liberated by Allied forces, and one month before the end of the war in Europe.
Cheap Grace versus Costly Grace
Bonhoeffer was well known for preaching on the cost of Christian discipleship; of Cheap Grace and Costly Grace as he called it.
Cheap Grace he said, refers to grace that is accepted without real transformation or personal sacrifice.
It is a grace that permits people to live however they want without requiring repentance, obedience, or discipleship on their part.
Whereas Costly Grace, demands more of the believer.
It is the grace that calls Christians to true discipleship, which requires personal sacrifice, commitment, and unfortunately sometimes suffering.
This grace is costly because it reflects the deep significance of Christ’s sacrifice and leads us to a life following Him with conviction and action.
As his church faced the moral compromises of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s, Bonhoeffer chose Costly Grace.
He resisted an ideology of hatred and oppression, even when it meant his own eventual imprisonment and death.
Because he believed that true Christian faith was not just about belief, but also about action, commitment, and actively taking a stand for that belief.
Cheap Grace, he warned, is the deadly enemy of the Church, for it demands nothing and gives nothing in return, and so leaves those practising it spiritually unchanged.
Faith in Action
Through his courageous short life and untimely death, Bonhoeffer reminds us still today, that discipleship is not just a belief but also an action.
A daily decision to follow the voice of Christ wherever it leads, no matter what the cost is.
And this is not an easy path for anyone, not even for Bonhoeffer.
In Luke 9:23, Jesus said, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’
Dietrich echoed this call when he said; ‘When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.’
But he did not mean to die physically, rather to the death of our ego, meaning our longing and desire for worldly comfort and security.
This kind of death is the beginning of a new life—a life lived for God and others, a life that shines as a beacon of hope in a broken world.
Mary of Bethany …
had similar great faith as she offered what was, probably, the costliest thing she owned to Jesus; her expensive perfume.
This act of supreme love demonstrated to Him, and those watching, her belief in Him as the long awaited Messiah.
I don’t suppose she spent days and weeks planning this act of adoration out in advance, but rather carried it out according to an instinct she had on the day.
So too Deitrich Bonhoeffer listened to his heart and allowed his intuition, conscience and passion for Jesus to guide him.
Both Mary of Bethany and Bonhoeffer practised Costly Grace.
Today…
as we understand more and more what it means to be a Christian in the world today.
Perhaps we can listen ever closer to our hearts, conscience, and intuition to try and develop our faith along the Costly Grace model Bonhoeffer so often preached of?
This path might sound daunting, and it is possibly hard to imagine the extraordinary passion for Jesus that Dietrich had, and the goodness and courage he lived out in his final years.
But by reflecting on his life, ministry and example, perhaps we could all climb just a step or two higher up to the call of Costly Grace?
Because, Costly Grace is not as some might think, a burden; rather, it is a gift.
It is the gift of being freely able to teach others about God’s transformative grace; and how if offers the ultimate liberation to all who believe.
And perhaps that is what Mary of Bethany perceived as she anointed Jesus with her precious perfume. Amen.
