Lent Day 28: The Women Who Anointed Jesus Part 3

Jesus' anointing in the Gospel According to John has much in common with the versions found in Matthew and Mark:

• The Bethany location (though, it is the home of Martha, Mary, and their brother Lazarus; and not Simon the leper).
• The presence of costly ointment/ nard.
• The "J'accuse!" moment with Judas over the waste of something so costly, and the appeal to Jesus' preferential option for the poor. 

It also has one key element in common with Luke's version: the anointing of Jesus' feet (rather than his head, as in Matthew and Mark).

But the details of the fourth gospel's presentation stand out as incredibly important in the story.

1. This is not an anonymous woman. She has a name: Mary. (Given... so many Marys.) This is a family with whom Jesus has a prior connection, one revealed in chapter 11:

Now a certain 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. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” (John 11:1-3)

Jesus loves at least one member of this family, and the assumption that he will hurry to his bedside is clear. There is a prior intimacy here.

2. Jesus and this family also have a recent shared history of death and loss, and resuscitation/ resurrection. Lazarus, the one whom Jesus loves, has died--shock. And he has been brought back to life--shock again. And in the midst of it all Jesus has had a key conversation with his sister Martha. She has expressed her anger/ disappointment that Jesus did not show up in time (as does Mary, in another conversation). But Martha has also affirmed not only one of the powerful "I AM" statements that are unique to John's gospel, but also Jesus' identity/ role as Messiah/ Christ/ Anointed of God:

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” (John 11:20-27)

3. Points 1 and 2 are background from the previous chapter. In chapter, 12, Mary (who also had a heartbroken conversation with Jesus) comes into the room where they are eating, at a party the family has thrown in Jesus' honor, with the once dead but now alive Lazarus seated at the table as well. Into the room she brings nard. Matthew and Mark note the nard and its expense. John notes the amount of nard--a pound, an extravagant amount, shockingly so.

Nard is expensive, as the text points out. And it is used to prepare bodies for burial. In the previous chapter the smell of death is discussed. When Jesus orders that the stone be rolled away from the tomb, Martha objects. "There will be a stench..." (Or, in the KJV: "By this time he stinketh.") But Lazarus comes out alive, and no stench is described. 

Now, Mary pours out the nard on Jesus' feet, and we have a different, beautiful smell of death that would be well-known to the community; the smell of nard, sweet, pungent, filling the entire house, unmistakable.*

In chapter 11, Martha affirmed Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life, the Christ who has come into the world.

In chapter 12, Mary affirms that Jesus will die. More than that, she affirms his worthiness. She has shown devotion in a way that shocks at least some who are present, but which is entirely appropriate. She is a true disciple.

Gill, Eric, 1882-1940. Mary Magdalen, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58991 [retrieved April 2, 2022]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/carolyn_gifford/32946639684/.

Note: Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany
have often been blurred and conflated throughout the centuries.
It is Mary of Bethany who anointed Jesus in the gospel of John.

* Thank you to Rev. Ruth Hetland for this insight, as found in her "Full to the Brim" Bible Study.

Lent Day 26: The Women Who Anointed Jesus Part 1

Sermon Prep

There are some gospel stories that are one-of-a-kind--the parable of the Prodigal Son comes to mind, a beloved tale that is reported only in the Gospel According to Luke. There are other gospel stories that are told over and over; there is something so essential about them, it seems the gospel wouldn't be the gospel if they were missing.  The feeding of the multitudes is one such story, told six times across the four gospels. Jesus predicts his death three times in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and talks about it extensively in the second half of the Gospel According to John. And, of course, the crucifixion and the empty tomb are recounted in all four gospels, with varying details. 

The anointing of Jesus is another such story.  It is told four times, once in each gospel, providing us essentially, three versions of the story. As I prepare to preach on the version found in John's gospel, I thought I'd clarify my thoughts. Today I'll talk about the version found (with only slight differences) in the gospels of Matthew and Mark; tomorrow I will address the version found in the Gospel According to Luke, and on Saturday, I will talk about the version I'll be preaching on this Sunday, as found in the gospel as John.

Again, the versions told in Matthew and Mark are nearly identical, with only a few details changed. The setting is the same--the home of Simon the leper, in Bethany. Both passages take place during Holy Week, most likely on Wednesday. Both passages take place immediately following the news of the religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus, and immediately prior to Judas acting on his decision to betray Jesus--what textual critics call an inclusio, a kind of thematic sandwich. Betrayal is all around this story, but the story itself is about an action that is the opposite of betrayal.

Jesus is dining at Simon's home, and at some point during the evening, an unnamed woman enters. She brings with her a jar of costly ointment, and proceeds to pour it on Jesus' head. 

Matthew and Mark both have the woman anointing Jesus' head (as opposed to his feet, as portrayed in Luke and John). This evokes the anointing of a king, a priest, or a prophet-- all roles associated with the ministry of Jesus and subsequent theological understanding of his role as Messiah. 

Matthew includes the detail that it is Nard, a product of the spikenard plant; he also includes the detail that the woman breaks the jar open.

Immediately anger ensues. In Mark's gospel, it is attributed to "some who were there," but in Matthew, it is the disciples. Why such a waste? This ointment could have been sold for a large amount of money (Matthew: 300 denarii, about a year's wages for a day laborer). The money could have been given to the poor. Matthew has the disciples scolding the woman directly, while in Mark, the comments are all directed at Jesus.

Jesus' response is strong: Leave her alone (Matthew). Why do you trouble her? She has done a good service for me (as so strongly contrasted with the evil service cooked up by the religious leaders and Judas). Jesus identifies this anointing as preparation for his burial. As I mentioned earlier, all four gospels show Jesus predicting his passion and death. The disciples push back on his predictions (especially Peter), Only this unnamed woman acknowledges what he has predicted, and, by his interpretation of her action, ritually prepares for that moment.

A breathtaking statement ends both accounts. The goodness of the woman's action is so profound, Jesus states that it will live on in the memory of the church.

"Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her." (Mark 14:9; Matthew 26:13)

The memory of the unnamed woman lives on.