John 12:1-8 Mary Anoints the Feet of Jesus
All four gospels recount a story of the anointing of Jesus but with significant differences. For example Mark/Matthew place the scene 2 days before Passover, after Palm Sunday, while John places the scene 6 days before Passover, just before Palm Sunday. In Mark and Matthew, the woman is unnamed; in John it is Mary of Bethany. Mark and Matthew say she poured perfume on the head and John as well as Luke has her anoint his feet. The substance according to John is a pound of expensive perfume made from nard worth 300 denarii. Some of the disciples criticized her in Mark but in John’s account it is Judas (who kept the common purse). In every story, Jesus praises Mary for her action.
Raymond Brown suggests that there were two stories in circulation: a) an incident in Galilee at the house of a Pharisee where a penitent sinner enters weeping in the presence of Jesus. Her tears fall on his feet and she hastily wipes them away with her hair, a scandalous action of loosening her hair in public fits the character of the woman and explains the indignation of the Pharisee. This is essentially the way Luke tells it. The second option (b) is an incident at Bethany at the house of Simon the leper where a woman as an expression of her love for Jesus used expensive perfume to anoint his head (Mark and Matthew have this account). John adopts the second account but adds a few details: such as the presence of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, and comments about Judas. John places the account just after the raising of Lazarus. Only John puts the anointing immediately preceding Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem where he is to be hailed as King of the Jews.
The detail of whether the head or feet were anointed is important to the theological interpretation of the text. In John Mary anoints the feet of Jesus, as a servant, or friend, in a posture of service and love. Anointing the head would suggest being anointed as king. Those who voluntarily washed another feet showed they were devoted to the person. Thus in the literary and cultural context of John, Mary is expressing devotion to Jesus. The ointment was expensive and Mary is bravely expressing her commitment to Jesus, in the face of criticism, rebuke and portrays Mary as an ideal disciple. Why is Mary so bold, so devoted, so willing to counter tradition and culture and religious custom and express such lavish love?
Look at the context of the passage. The anointing story takes place in the home of Lazarus, where the sisters Mary and Martha gave a dinner for Jesus after he had raised Lazarus from death. In John 11, the prelude to the death and resuscitation of Lazarus tells us, “a man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill.” Bethany was near Jerusalem, about 2 miles away. When the sisters, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus, the disciples argued that Jesus was in danger and should not go near Jerusalem. When Jesus told them that Lazarus is dead and “I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe, but let us go to him,” Thomas replied, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (Jn 11: 1-16). The raising of Lazarus has the predicted effect for “many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done, so the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and began to plot his death (Jn 11:45-57).
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, …to a dinner party hosted by Mary and Martha. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. But Judas criticized her for being wasteful and not giving the money to the poor. Jesus defended her and interpreted her act as one of devotion and prophecy of his pending death. When the “Jews” learned he was there, they wanted to see both Jesus and Lazarus, so the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and believing in Jesus.
The anointing story is closely connected to the story of the resuscitation of Lazarus in that each story mentions the other. Each story reveals the divine nature of Jesus, communicating God’s love and life in the precarious human condition. The resuscitation of Lazarus is a sign – it reveals the divine love that animates Jesus’ mission in the world. When Jesus arrived after the death of Lazarus, Martha expressed her faith that the dead would be raised at the end of time, but Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” do you believe this? Martha could not answer. When Jesus commanded Lazarus to come out of the tomb, Martha responded that after four days, there would be an odor of death. When Mary came to the scene, she knelt at Jesus’ feet, to learn of him as a disciple. When Jesus called Lazarus forth, to be unbound and set free, the message is multifaceted. First, Jesus as God’s Son is present to all conditions of life including death. God is present, never missing, from all sorts and conditions of “men”. Jesus, weeping, moves with steady feet closer to where his friend Lazarus is confined and brings life forth in testimony to the reign of God. The fragrance of the perfume on Mary’s hair and Jesus’ feet filled the room, as if in anticipation of Jesus breaking forth from the tomb because perfect love casts out fear.
Mary in contrast to Judas presents us with a picture of what it means to be a disciple. Mary pours out everything, her own person in her posture and her money in buying the perfume. She anoints the feet of Jesus as one who serves and in testimony to her love. She has a deep spirituality that sees beyond the tradition, the culture, the customs, the proper role, the doing of charitable works to just be in the presence of the Lord. She has a contemplative side that allows her to see the danger and publically align herself with the Lord. She is not conforming to a cultural stereotype of merely sitting at Jesus’ feet listening passively; rather, she is demonstrative, active, engaged and engaging. She is a faithful disciple! She is a disciple! Mary is a student who listens, hears, and acts. We might well take from this scene an affirmation of women’s role in mission and ministry, a full inclusive role in the evolving church, even before the death and resurrection of Jesus. Mary demonstrates the balance of hearing and doing that is so critical in being faithful to the ongoing work of God’s kingdom.
If we hear and see that Mary is regarded and affirmed by Jesus as a faithful disciple we will not exclude women from active full participation in ministry. The work of discipleship is to follow Jesus by the leading of the Holy Spirit. In the communication from the House of Bishops’ spring meeting, Katharine Jefferts-Shori says, “we proclaim the Gospel of what God has done and is doing in Christ, of the dignity of every human being, and of justice, compassion and peace. We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female, no slave or free. We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all Gods’ children, including women, are full and equal participant sin the life of Christ’s Church. We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God’s children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participants in the life of Christ’s Church. We proclaim the Gospel that stands against any violence, including violence done to women and children as well as those who are persecuted because of their difference, often in the name of God. …We proclaim a Gospel that welcomes diversity of thought and encourages free and open theological debate as a way of seeking God’s truth.” The House of Bishops rejected the judgment of the Dar es Salaam Communique as contrary to the Gospel, as a violation of our Canons and compromise of our polity. The Episcopal Church in keeping with Anglican tradition does not believe that Christ intended a hierarchy of bishops to impose orthodoxy but that the mission and ministry of the church is a continuation of Christ’s work in the world, a work that liberates the oppressed, that seeks and serves the dignity of all persons. We believe that reconciliation is the message of love poured out on the cross, and that we are united in Christ, and therefore ought not break relationships whenever we disagree but work to be reconciled with God and one another. Traditionally priests renew their ordination vows during Holy Week, solemnly declaring that “we do believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation; and we do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church”.
With the same devotion and the self-negating love Mary demonstrated by pouring the fragment perfume on the feet of Jesus, we too affirm our own commitment to Christ in the prayer, in theological discussion, in mission and ministry. By way of the MDG’s we seek to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. When Judas complained that Mary was being wasteful and that the money she spent on perfume could have been used to help the poor, Jesus responded, the poor you have with you always, but you will not always have me. In that reply we can learn that it is vitally important to spend time with Jesus, in prayer, in contemplation, in study, and it is an ongoing work of the kingdom entrusted to the disciples of Jesus in perpetuity to care for the poor. From generation to generation, there will be poor and the work of mission and ministry is always action to alleviate their suffering but it must be done from the posture of a servant inspired by love.
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