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| Anointing His Feet by Wayne Forte |
John 12:1-11
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)
Mary Anoints Jesus
12 [a]Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Laz′arus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 There they made him a supper; Martha served, and Laz′arus was one of those at table with him.3 Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box he used to take what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Let her alone, let her keep it for the day of my burial. 8 The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came, not only on account of Jesus but also to see Laz′arus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Laz′arus also to death, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Footnotes:
- 12.1 Here begins the last week of Jesus’ public life. This is described in great detail, as was the first week in chapter 1.
- John 12:5 The denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer
Cited in the Catechism: In promulgating the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Blessed John Paul II explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium." He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum). Passages from this Gospel reading are cited in the Catechism, paragraph 2449.
Commentary
Mary anoints our Lord at Bethany (12:1–11)
12:1. Jesus pays another visit to his friends in Bethany. It is very touching to see this friendship, at once divine and human, expressed in the form of frequent contact. “It’s true that I always call our tabernacle ‘Bethany’. Become a friend of the Master’s friends—Lazarus, Martha, Mary—and then you won’t ask me any more why I call our tabernacle ‘Bethany’ ” (St Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, 322).
12:2–3. Apparently, our Lord was anointed on two different occasions—first, at the start of his public ministry, in Galilee, as recounted by St Luke (7:36–50); and second, towards the end of his life, in Bethany, reported here by St John and undoubtedly the same incident as described by St Matthew (26:6–13) and St Mark (14:3–9). The two anointings are quite distinct: they occur at different times and the details of the accounts differ: the first is a demonstration of repentance followed by pardon; the second, a delicate expression of love, which Jesus further interprets as an anticipation of the anointing of his body in burial (v. 7).
Although these anointings of Jesus had a particular significance, they should be seen in the context of eastern hospitality; cf. the note on Mk 14:3–9.
The pound was a measure of weight equivalent to three hundred grams; a denarius, as we have indicated elsewhere, was a day’s wage of an agricultural labourer; therefore, the cost of the flask of perfume would have amounted to a year’s wage.
“What a shining proof of magnanimity is this ‘extravagance’ on Mary’s part! Judas on the other hand laments this ‘waste’ of so valuable a perfume; in his greed he had been calculating the price: it would have fetched at least ‘three hundred silver pieces’.
“True detachment leads us to be very generous with God and with our fellowmen. […] Don’t be mean and grudging with people who, without counting the cost, have given of their all, everything they have, for your sake. Just ask yourselves, how much does it cost you—in financial terms as well—to be Christians? Above all, don’t forget that ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Cor 9:7)” (St Josemaría Escrivá, Friends of God, 126).
12:4–6. From this passage and from John 13:29 we know that Judas was the person in charge of the money. His petty thefts—they could not have been any more than that, given the meagre resources of Jesus and the Twelve—played their part in disposing him to commit his eventual sin of betraying Jesus; his complaint about the woman’s generosity was quite hypocritical. “Frequently the servants of Satan disguise themselves as servants of righteousness (cf. 2 Cor 11:14–15). Therefore, (Judas) hid his malice under a cloak of piety” (St Thomas Aquinas, Comm. on St John, ad loc.).
12:7–8. As well as praising Mary’s generous gesture, our Lord indirectly announces his death, even implying that it will happen so precipitously that there will hardly be time to prepare his body for burial in the normal way (cf. Lk 23:56; see also the note on Jn 11:44). He is not saying that almsgiving is not a good thing (he often recommended it: cf. Lk 11:41; 12:33); nor that people should have no concern for the poor (cf. Mt 25:40); what he is doing here is exposing the hypocrisy of people like Judas who deceitfully profess noble motives in order to avoid giving God the honour he is due (cf. also the notes on Mt 26:8–11; Mk 14:3–9).
12:9–11. The news of the raising of Lazarus has spread rapidly among the people of Judea and those travelling up to Jerusalem for the Passover; many believe in Jesus (cf. Jn 11:45); others look for him (cf. Jn 11:56) perhaps more out of curiosity (cf. Jn 12:9) than faith. Following Christ demands more of each of us than just superficial, short-lived enthusiasm. We should not forget those “who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mk 4:16–17).
Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome
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