Sabbath, Anointing

Six days before the Passover, Jesus and His disciples came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, and his sisters Martha and Mary. And so, a dinner was given for Jesus there in Bethany. It was held at the home of Simon the jar-maker. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Jesus. While they were reclining at the table, Mary came to Jesus with a jar of translucent alabaster that contained a litra--about a pint--of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. Mary broke open the jar, anointed Jesus’ head and feet, and then wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

 

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant, especially Judas Iscariot who was going to betray Jesus. They asked, “Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold for three hundred denarii and the money could have been given to the poor.” Now, Judas did not agree because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money bag, he used to take from what was put into it. And so, Judas and others scolded Mary.

 

Jesus responded, “Leaver alone; why are you bothering her? She has kept this perfume in preparation for the day of My burial. She has done a beautiful deed to Me.” And Jesus reminded them of a truth that Moses had spoken. “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have Me. By pouring this perfume on Me, she has done what she could to prepare my body for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

 

Meanwhile, a large crowd of Jews, some residents, and some pilgrims had learned that Jesus was in Bethany, and they came. They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. For this reason, the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

 

See Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-11; Deuteronomy 15:11

 

Notes:

 

1. Who hosted the dinner? The text does not specifically record who was hosting the dinner for Jesus. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record that the dinner was held at the house of Simon. And the Gospel of John records that Lazarus was a guest, that Martha served, and that Mary anointed Jesus. To this reader, it seems possible that, in appreciation of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, the dinner may have been given by the community of Bethany, and that everyone contributed what they could to make the dinner special. Simon may have volunteered his home for the dinner because it was one of the largest in the town. And Martha and Mary each contributed in their own way.

 

2. Leper or Jar-maker: In most translations, Simon is described as “Simon the leper.” But there is a thought that the descriptor for Simon was not based on a Hebrew word, but rather an Aramaic word. The reason for this thought is because Aramaic, not Hebrew, was the language spoken by Jesus, His disciples, and most other Jews in the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Both the Hebrew and Aramaic written languages have no vowels. Because of this, two words that are spelled the same can be pronounced differently and can have two different meanings. In this case, the word in question is spelled gimel-resh-beyt-aleph (GRBA). In Hebrew, the word is pronounced "gar-bah" and means leper. In Aramaic, the word is pronounced "gar-ah-bah" and means jar-maker or potter. Modern documents in Hebrew and Aramaic have vowel pointing to indicate pronunciation. But when translating an ancient text that does not have modern vowel pointing, an Aramaic word might be mistaken for Hebrew and translated as such. In this way, jar-maker might become leper.

 

What other proof do we have that Simon was not a leper? In Jesus' day, lepers could not live among non-lepers or own property (read Leviticus 13:45-50). 

 

Some have argued that Simon was described as a “leper” because he was a recently healed leper and that he was celebrating his healing. However, the Torah instructs that lepers must not be referred to as lepers after they are healed (read Leviticus 21 through 44). Also, if Simon allowed people to refer to him as “the leper” after he had been healed, which was against Torah, it would greatly inhibit his ability to do business in Israel and he would have been within his legal rights to sue for damages.

 

3. litra: Greek weight, approximately 12 ounces or 340 grams. 

 

4. head and feet: The Gospels of Matthew and Mark record that the perfume was poured on Jesus' head, and the Gospel of John records the pouring on Jesus' feet.

 

5. three hundred denarii: Equal to the customary day-labor wage for three hundred days.