Mary Anoints Jesus - Matt 26:6-7;Mark 14:3; John 11:54-12:3

It is the week before the Passover and Jesus and company arrive in Bethany “in the house of Simon the Leper.” Usually when Jesus goes to Bethany, he stays with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and indeed, they are all at the house of Simon the Leper preparing and serving a feast. Preparing and serving food is usually the responsibility of the host family and JTC speculates that “if (Simon) was living at the time our Lord was entertained in the house known by his name, and if he was present, he must have been previously healed of his leprosy, as otherwise he could not have been allowed within the town, far less to be one of the festal company.” If he previously had leprosy and now he didn’t, we can probably guess that Jesus had healed him and given him his life back. Because Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were at Simon’s house preparing for, serving, and entertaining the guests, “many have assumed that the house of Simon the Leper was the family home of the two sisters and Lazarus, in which case it is possible that Simon was the father of the three; but of such relationship we have no proof.”

While the men were eating, “the took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” Mark tells us that she “having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.” There are a few reasons why this is important.

First is the preciousness of the ointment. An article entitled, “The Anointing at Bethany” from Bible.org explains, “‘Nard,’ which defines the kind of ointment in the vial, was a plant found in the Himalayan Mountains. It was very hard to get and very expensive. According to verse 5, it was worth 300 denarii and the daily wage of the average working man was only one denarii. What she poured on the Lord Jesus was wroth an entire year’s wages!” Thinking about Mary’s actions in terms of my own annual income, I have to think, “what would I spend a year’s worth of wages on?” A house, a super necessary car maybe, but that’s really it. I couldn’t imagine putting up that kind of money to do anything other than what’s absolutely necessary. How long did Mary plan this act? How long did she have to save for? What did she have to sacrifice in order to buy this oil? Why did she choose now to anoint Jesus with the expensive stuff?

The second point is how she administered the ointment to Jesus. We are told that “she broke the vial” with the ointment inside. Why is this important? Why is this even mentioned? Let’s think about what she couldn’t do now that the bottle’s top was broken. If she had simply opened the bottle, she could poor a little bit out for Jesus then closed the bottle back up and saved the rest for another time. But she didn’t do that, she broke the top off, which would allow the ointment to flow more freely, but it also meant that she couldn’t close it back up and store it again. By breaking the top of the bottle off, she made a commitment to use the whole pound right then and there, she was holding nothing back, she gave all of it to Jesus without reservation. The article mentions, “The breaking of the flask was perhaps an expression of the whole-heartedness of her devotion. Having served its purpose, it would never be used again.”

The third reason that what Mary did was important is because of what the anointing signifies. The article gives three reasons very expensive oil would be used.

1. “Cosmetic use for hot climates.” We know that anciently it was a sign of hospitality to anoint a guest’s head with oil, and if I recall correctly we said that it was possibly because of the hot and sandy climate that would dry out people’s skin and hair and leaving some oil on the head would help with the dryness and perhaps make the guest more comfortable. Besides, with the heat and lack of readily available bathing facilities, most people probably smelled pretty bad, and so a little perfumed oil might go a long way in making the evening meal more pleasant for everyone. That’s not even considering if the people were self-conscience about that issue, it might make them more comfortable.

2. “For anointing the dead for burial.” Jesus has been foretelling of his death for months now but we know that most of his disciples did not understand what he meant or refused to believe that the Messiah wasn’t going to be the army commander that they expected. I would imagine that when a loved one died, the family would take the best oil that they could afford and use it on the body of the deceased. I’m not big on after death things, for instance, I don’t want to be buried because the burial costs are astronomical now, tens of thousands of dollars and I can only imagine how much it will be when it’s my time to die. I want to be cremated and all my organs that are even a little bit salvageable be donated, it’s super cheap and who cares, I’m already dead.

I don’t want a funeral, they are depressing and I don’t feel like they change anything. I’ve been to so many funerals that I couldn’t imagine going to my own, talk about a downer. Plus, again, they are very expensive and difficult for a grieving family to plan. I don’t want to be a burden to my family after I die, heck, I don’t want to be a burden before I die either. I can’t imagine my kids working for months just so that they could pay for my death expenses, take that money and go on a vacation as a family instead! Give it to the missionary fund! Anything but a sob fest in my “memory.”

But I fully recognize that I’m probably in the minority in feeling that way about death. I also recognize that part of the grieving process can be doing whatever you can to help the deceased loved one in whatever way you feel you can, and that might be having a nice funeral, anointing the body with oil, etc. Even my daughter said when we talked about this last, “mom, you’re having a funeral, you’ll be dead so I can do what I want.” The article says, “The Savior who must die: As he had told the disciples that He must die, so He must have also told her. While they were unable to grasp this, Mary did. She undoubtedly recognized her sin and need of a suffering Savior and did this as an act of faith and devotion. She understood the reason for His death (her sin), and the significance of His death (her salvation).”

I know that this article was written by a member of another faith and that it’s not gospel doctrine, but I feel like some of these points are so amazing and help me connect the dots of Bible doctrine in ways that I couldn’t do on my own. Mary might not have known all the details about the atonement, or even been able to reconcile the militant Messiah that she was probably expecting, but unlike most other disciples, she took Jesus’ statement of his impending death at face value and did what she could to show her respect. Unlike those who were trying to fit Jesus into their box of expectation, she accepted that Jesus was the Messiah therefore whatever he did was God’s will and whatever she didn’t understand would be explained later. I doubt that she understood why he would have to die, or how that would fit into the plan to overthrow the oppressors of the Jews, but she didn’t base her discipleship of understanding everything, she based it on love and faith. The question, though, is why could Mary understand that Jesus was going to die, but none of the others did, even though they were with the Savior more than she was? That will be answered when we get to their response to her kindness.

3. “For ritual uses for anointing priests and kings.” John 12:3 and Mark 14:8 use the word “anointed” to describe what she did for Jesus. Now we know that Mary did not hold the priesthood, so she couldn’t have been doing anything specific to ordination or anything like that but she could be part of the “ritual” for which the oil could be used. JTC says, “To anoint the head of a guest with ordinary oil was to do him honor; to anoint his feet also was to show unusual and signal regard; but the anointing of head and feet with spikenard, and in such abundance, was an act of reverential homage rarely rendered even to kings. Mary’s’ act was an expression of adoration; it was the fragrant outwelling of a heart overflowing with worship and affection.” It must have been discouraging for Jesus to constantly teach his doctrine to those whom he had chosen and to constantly have them misunderstand or outright reject what he was saying.

I imagine Jesus sitting there at dinner, knowing what was coming in the next week, knowing what all the people around him expected, knowing that they were going to be disappointed and confused, and feeling so alone. I doubt that he questioned his purpose or what he was to do, but to be staring the atonement in the face, fully comprehending how awful it’s going to be and also how necessary, would have been brutal if comprehended alone. In an article entitled “Jesus & Women: 4 Powerful Moments from the New Testament,” from LDSliving.com we read, “In John’s account, Mary took some oil to anoint Jesus’ feet. She then dried his feet with her hair, which in effect allowed her head to be anointed by Jesus. In antiquity, one anointed the head of a live person and the feet of a corpse. In other words, this was the anointing that one would typically receive at one’s burial… According to Jesus, Mary’s actions underscore her early understanding and support for the Savior’s mission to die that all might live. Her choice of service to Jesus, reverently focusing on his feet, indicates that she knew he was to die and would live again.”

It must have been a great comfort to Jesus to have someone grasp what he was about to do, and have appreciation and support for Him. Add to that the fact that Jesus loved Mary and they were close friends, would add to the comfort he felt. The article comments, “In a unique way, Martha’s sister, Mary, accepted the Savior’s need to give His life and so anointed Him in preparation for his death while other disciples attempted to prevent it.” The article form Bible.org comments, “Such an extravagant gift was only lavished on a king. This was very appropriate in view of the fact that on the next day He would proclaim Himself the King of Israel through his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. As priests were anointed, this is in keeping with the fact that Christ was a Royal Priest and was about to make atonement for His people.”