This Sunday, the lectionary invites us to reflect on John 12:1-8. The English Standard Version supplies the passage with the heading “Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany.”
Jesus and his twelve disciples were in the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha. Probably, many more people were present. It was a joyous occasion. A party. A celebration.
John may want us to recall the story of the wedding in Cana with which he introduced Jesus’ public ministry. That too, was a joyous occasion. There too, women featured. That too, was a time when something expensive was in abundance. Then, it was wine. Now, it’s perfume.
John doesn’t explicitly say what the occasion was. What he wrote is ambiguous enough for us to think that it could be a reception for Jesus, or a reception for Lazarus, whose life Jesus had restored.
Each gospel has a story of Jesus being anointed a few days before his crucifixion. Matthew, Mark, and John say it was in Bethany. Luke doesn’t say where. Matthew and Mark say it was in the house of Simon the Leper; Luke says it was in a Pharisee’s house. John says it was in Lazarus’ house.
There are some other differences. Scholars have made many suggestions to explain the differences. Some suggest that Lazarus lived in the house of Simon the Leper. Others suggest that there was a second anointing.
I’ve observed much eye-witness testimony during hearings in courts, and I’ve read much about such testimony. It’s clear to me that if testimony is authentic, there will be differences. Especially if the interval between the event and the testimony is long – in this case, a few decades.
Also, the writing standards of those days differ from those of ours. So, I’m drawn more to the purpose of the story than to the differences.
What’s the purpose of the story? Why does every one of the evangelists include it? What ideas does John want to convey to us?
I’ll point out what I think are John’s purposes.
John shows us a “renewed” Mary. Earlier, in his account of the raising of Lazarus, John presented Mary as disappointed with Jesus, somewhat accusing, falling at his feet, and saying: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Now, he presents Mary as waiting on Jesus.
All the evangelists point out the high quality, very expensive perfume. This indicates that Lazarus and his family were members of the rich, elite class of society.
Also, the house was filled with the fragrance. Quality fragrance is not only pleasing to the nose, it also lingers for long.
Matthew and Mark say a woman anointed Jesus’ head. Luke tells us “a local woman, a sinner,” anointed Jesus’ feet. John says Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. Touching the feet of another is a very humbling thing to do. In the next chapter, John will tell of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.
John purposefully highlights the contrast between Mary and Judas. Mary saw Jesus rarely. Judas had spent three years with Jesus. But Mary showed so much more honour to Jesus than Judas, who indirectly criticized Jesus for accepting Mary’s anointing.
Perhaps John’s chief goal in telling the story is to point out that Mary did something which she didn’t fully understand. Her anointing of Jesus with the perfume prefigured his death, because anointing with perfumes was part of the preparation of a body before burial.
When Judas spoke critically of Mary, Jesus responded. He told Judas to “leave her alone.” This was a public rebuke to Judas. This rebuke may have strengthened his resolve to betray Jesus to the chief priests.
Judas’ argument was that the perfume could’ve been sold for a large sum of money – 300 Denarii, which is one year’s wages for a labourer; and the money could’ve been used to assist poor and needy members of society.
Jesus’ response was “the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” By these words, he wasn’t saying that we should stop working to reduce the misery of the poor. He was saying that there are times when we should celebrate. He valued the honour given to him.
We cannot end a reflection on the anointing without recalling the jeopardy Jesus faced after he raised Lazarus from the dead.
This miracle was the last straw for the Jewish leaders. It confirmed their decision to kill Jesus. You can read about it in John 11:45-54. Because Jesus raised Lazarus, he couldn’t move about freely.
Mary’s act, Judas’ response, and Jesus’ counter-response, led to the crucifixion of Jesus. And the crucifixion spread his fragrance throughout the earth. Do you smell like him?
Peace be with you.
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