Each of the four Gospels in the Bible record an event, or several events depending on your viewpoint, that are similar in nature. These four records can be found at the bottom of this article, but will be referred to throughout. Three of these records clearly relate the same event, but the fourth, which in many ways is very similar to the others, raises questions.

Matthew, Mark and John, all record Jesus reclining at table at a dinner party held in honour of him, when a woman brought an alabaster jar of very precious perfume, broke the jar and poured the perfume onto Jesus. This dinner party was said by these authors to occur in the last week before Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified.

While neither Matthew nor Mark identify this woman, John does. She is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus…who Jesus had brought back to life after he had been dead and buried four days. Although there are some differences between these three accounts, clearly they all refer to the same event as they all occur within the same brief time window, in the same town…Bethany…and effectively the same conversation is described in each. Some of those present grizzled over the waste of the perfume which could have been sold for the equivalent of a year’s wages and the money gained from its sale given to the poor. Jesus responds that she had done a beautiful thing…that she had anointed his body for burial…that poor people were always available to show kindness to, but they did not always have him with them…that what she had done would be remembered wherever the Gospel was preached.

Matthew and Mark are virtually word for word the same, but John differs a bit giving both more and less details than the others. I don’t think anyone would dispute that these three records report the same event, or that they could be combined to give a fuller picture of what occurred.

Luke describes a very similar event but places it early in his overall record, and records a very different conversation. Like Matthew and Mark, Luke does not identify the woman involved by name. The question arises as to whether or not Luke is describing the same event as Matthew, Mark, and John, and if so, why the apparent different time placement, and why the different conversation.

Many, for reasons we will explore, say there were two similar events. Luke describes one, and Matthew, Mark, and John, describe the other.

Others would say they all describe the same event. I am in this category and will explain why. I will also tease out what may be some surprising conclusions drawn from this position.

Firstly, my reasons for saying they all refer to the same event. (I will treat Matthew, Mark, and John’s record as without question referring to the same event, so for example, even though John does not name the host, because Matthew and Mark both do, we know that the host in John’s case was the same person the others refer to.)

1. The main event described is very unusual…to say the least. It is strange enough that one woman comes along, pours perfume on Jesus feet and head and wipes his feet with her hair. The odds of two women doing precise same make it highly unlikely…I think out of the question. The odds are simply too high.
2. There are the numerous common elements to the narratives.
   1. Luke and John say the event occurred during a dinner. (Matthew and Mark say Jesus was reclining at table, which presupposes a dinner.)
   2. Regarding the host: Matthew and Mark identify him as ‘Simon the Leper’. Luke identifies the host as a Pharisee named ‘Simon’.
   3. Matthew, Mark and Luke record the woman brought an alabaster jar. (John doesn’t mention a jar but implies one. The perfume has to be in something, from which the perfume is poured. He gives the volume of perfume, about a pint.)
   4. They all say the jar contained perfume…which Mark and John identify as ‘pure nard’.
   5. Matthew and Mark both say the woman poured the perfume on Jesus’ head, while John says she poured it on his feet. Combining the three passages, clearly she poured it on both Jesus’ feet and head. Luke says she poured it on his feet. Luke adds that she was standing behind Jesus weeping and began to wet his feet with her tears.
   6. Each of the records say Jesus was reclining at table. (What needs to be understood here is that Jesus and the others at table with him, were reclining on coaches at a low table, presumably resting on their left elbow. The guests would have been sort of ‘angle parked’ around the table with their head towards the table and feet away from it. Any person standing behind the guests at table would have the feet of the guests nearest to them. Today we sit on chairs at table with our legs and feet under the table, so today it would not be possible to do what this woman did. Jesus feet were easily accessible to her by being directly in front of her as she stood behind him.)
   7. John says the woman wiped Jesus feet with her hair after pouring the perfume on them. Luke also includes her wiping his feet with her hair but relates it to her weeping and wetting Jesus’ feet with her tears.
   8. John 11:2 says, ‘Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.’ This is a clear statement that Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, was the only one who poured perfume on Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. Some may object and say, “No No. John was saying there were a lot of women named Mary at that time and John was just pointing out that it was this Mary out of all the Mary’s, who had done this. He was not saying she was the only woman to do this…but the only Mary to do this. This sounds somewhat specious to me. It seems clear this action had only occurred once and it was this Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and not another Mary, who had done it. Many translations just say. ‘Mary was the one…’ or something similar.

The fact that there are all these elements common to the records, makes it all the more likely we are dealing with the same event. The odds of getting two different events to line up on so many points is so high it pushes the idea of two such events out of contention.

But if this is so, why does Luke place it early in his record and the others at the end of theirs, just before the crucifixion? And why does Luke’s account contain a completely different conversation about what had occurred? I think the answer is that Matthew, Mark, and John place the event in its correct chronological location as just before the crucifixion, while Luke places it thematically in his record.

Immediately before he narrates this incident, Luke records Jesus addressing a crowd about John the Baptist and inserts an ‘editorial comment’ in 7:29-30 as follows:

(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

He then records Jesus berating ‘this generaton’…I take it he is really speaking primarily about the Pharisees, as when he quotes what ‘this generation’ says, it includes obvious negative reference to ‘tax-collectors and sinners’, hardly things ‘tax-collectors and sinners’ would say about themselves.

Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

In other words, you couldn’t satisfy these people. If you tended towards being somewhat ascetic like John, you were condemned. If you didn’t, like Jesus, you were condemned also.

But the important thing to note in this was that Jesus was identified as ‘a friend of tax-collectors and sinners’. Luke then immediately goes on to illustrate this precise characteristic of Jesus by recording the event of the sinful woman gate-crashing a Pharisee’s dinner party with Jesus, and Jesus accepting the sorrow and repentance she expressed by her pouring perfume on his feet, kissing his feet, washing his feet with her tears, and wiping them with her hair.

Luke puts no time or chronological references in his record of this event, indicating he has simply picked it up from whenever it occurred, to graphically illustrate the thematic point he was making…Jesus was a friend of sinners. It could be argued I guess that chapter 8:1 ‘After this…’ is a time reference that relates to this event, but I think it goes back before it to 7:35. Thus…after speaking to the crowd (7:24-35), he then (8:1) traveled about from town to town…the story being inserted in between to illustrate a point.

Another question is: ‘Why does Luke not name her, as he mentions her by name just a few chapters later? It could be that he was wanting to illustrate the the general point of Jesus’ friendship with sinners, rather than a particular case of a particular identified woman, one who he already knew and had spent quite some time with along with her sister and brother. If the latter personal connection had been made obvious by naming her, the impartiality of Jesus perhaps could have been called into question…that he was showing some sort of favouritism to people he knew, and did show the same interest in others. It could be that if he had identified her by name, he really would have needed to put the story in its correct chronological location which would not have served his thematic purpose as well.

So…given all this, the ‘sinful woman’ of Luke’s record, is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who does what she does, and was forgiven by Jesus just a few days prior to his murder by crucifixion. It is this identification of Mary which causes many to say there must be two virtually identical events with two separate woman. They say that to identify Mary as the sinful woman is to slander her character, which…they say…we know from other biblical references to her, was not sinful, rather godly. But do we know this?

We only learn anything about Martha, Mary, and Lazarus by name, from Luke and John’s records. The first reference that names them occurs in Luke 10:38-42.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

The ‘village’ we learn from elsewhere was Bethany.

Many have taken from this passage that Mary was a dedicated disciple, shown by her sitting at Jesus feet, lapping up every word of his teaching, and thus should be understood to be godly in character. But the text does not tell us this. It simply says she sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to what he said. It doesn’t tell us anything about what she thought of what he said, how she responded to it, or if she was in anyway committed to it. She clearly didn’t mind leaving what would have been the considerable work load of preparation to Martha…I presume of meals for them all, but perhaps also other things that needed to be done to accommodate a large influx of guests. Obviously this got up Martha’s nose. Maybe it was part of Mary’s way of life…to let others do the work, and that Martha had experienced this before and had some justification for saying what she did. Jesus’ reply to Martha only indicated that he supported Mary in her listening to him, something which would have encouraged Mary. But nothing here militates against Mary being the ‘sinful woman’ Luke refers to earlier on.

Mary was on her own turf therefore comfortable in her surroundings. Perhaps in her sinfulness she was somewhat forward towards men so had no qualms about sitting at a man’s feet to listen to what he had to say…or later on to kiss his feet, anoint them with perfume, cry on them, and wipe them with her hair. What type of woman would be comfortable doing that? The implication in Simon’s comment to himself that she was ‘a sinner’, is that she was well known to be a woman of ill repute, perhaps morally loose, even a prostitute – the jar of perfume then being a tool of trade. Jesus was attractive to such people as ‘tax collectors and sinners’ because he befriended them, didn’t pass harsh judgement on them, and was willing to associate with them, unlike the Pharisees. Although, for all his association with such people, he never endorsed them in their sinfulness. As he said elsewhere, he did not come to call the righteous (those who thought they were) but sinners to repentance. Thus it would not be at all surprising to find a prostitute listening to Jesus, or for Jesus to accept the hospitality and friendship of such a person.

The only other incident where we learn about Mary and Martha and Lazarus is found in John chapter 11:1-44

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

John sets the scene, identifying the main players and the location of what occurred.

1. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha.
2. Both the sisters and their brother lived in Bethany.
3. Mary was the woman who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.
4. Jesus is said to have loved Lazarus.
5. Jesus is said to have loved Martha, Mary as well as Lazarus.

Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.”

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

There is nothing in this passage that goes against the position that Mary was the sinful woman of Luke’s record. Clearly she was a good friend of Jesus with mutual love and respect expressed between them. And clearly she believed that Jesus was able to heal people. But neither of these things means that she was a disciple or godly. Martha obviously had come to a position of some belief and commitment, but it had to be drawn out of her by the questions Jesus asked her. She responded by affirming that Jesus was the Messiah. But just because Martha had come to that point of belief and commitment, and perhaps only as she talked with Jesus, does not mean Mary had. Martha, when she told Mary that Jesus had arrived and was calling for her, used the term ‘teacher’ of Jesus, a term that is descriptive of him rather than being personal and relational. When Mary reaches Jesus she calls him ‘Lord’, but in the Gospels this is often simply a term of respect…much like ‘Sir’, rather than indicating personal commitment as used after the resurrection and throughout the rest of the New Testament. So Mary using this title does not necessarily indicate a personal commitment to Jesus beyond that of friendship or respect.

This then brings us to the passages of Mary anointing Jesus with perfume, etc.

John again fills in details to set the scene:

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

Jesus arrives in Bethany, less than two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:18), where Lazarus – and Martha and Mary lived. A dinner was held in honour of Jesus. We know from Matthew and Mark that the dinner was held in the home of ‘Simon the Leper’, who also lived in Bethany. We learn from Luke that Simon was also a Pharisee. John tells us that Lazarus was also a guest, reclining at table with Jesus, and that Martha was serving. It seems clear that Lazarus, Martha, and Mary knew Simon, probably small town acquaintances going back a long way, so this would be how Lazarus came to be a guest, and Martha came to be involved in catering. It is not clear from Matthew, Mark, and John, whether Mary was invited, but from Luke it does not appear she was. I doubt she was invited given Simon’s self-righteous disdain for Mary. If this was the case, then she gate-crashed the party, and was probably only tolerated because she was sister to Martha and Lazarus. Mary poured the perfume on Jesus, and the house was filled with the fragrance of it.

The reaction Matthew, Mark, and John record to this act of Mary’s, is for it to be deemed a waste. John says it was Judas Iscariot who took this line, though Matthew and Mark indicate disciples plural were involved. For Judas, it appears Jesus accepting what Mary did, was the last straw, because Mark tells us he left shortly thereafter, went to the Chief Priests, and agreed with them to betray Jesus.

Jesus defends Mary, and says what she has done is a beautiful thing. That she had done it to prepare his body for burial…though I doubt she or anyone else understood what he meant at the time. That what she had done would be remembered wherever the Gospel was preached. And here we are remembering her and what she did.

Judas is like many today…who profess concern for the poor, but normally only in general, not in particular. It says explicitly that Judas did not say this because he really cared for the poor but because he was a thief, who looked after the common purse, which he helped himself to when it suited. Sounds just like many politicians today.

Luke in his record gives us a very different part of the conversation/discussion that ensued following Mary doing what she did. This is not in contradiction to the other passages, but is just an exchange the others did not record.

Simon, on observing Mary’s actions, self-righteously passed judgement on both Mary and Jesus. Luke tells us Mary was standing behind Jesus weeping…weeping so much so that her tears were wetting Jesus feet. Then she bent down and wiped them with her hair, kissed his feet, and poured perfume on them. Slightly later on Jesus said that from the time he had entered she had not stopped kissing his feet. It wasn’t just a light passing peck. It must have been a sight to behold…somewhat shocking I imagine…at the very least highly unorthodox. I confess I’ve never had any woman do this to me!

Anyway, Simon’s assessment, (said to himself but obviously clearly conveyed by his reaction and body language…though probably also related to others later on), was that Jesus couldn’t be a prophet, because a prophet would know what sort of woman she was (indicating Simon knew her and her manner of life), and would never allow such a woman to touch him like this. Jesus reads Simon’s thoughts and tells him the story which Luke relays in full.

 ‘Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”’

It was a loaded story which had a stinging rebuke in it for Simon. But I think there is something more than just a crafted story with a rebuke here. Matthew and Mark both identify Simon as ‘Simon the Leper’. Leprosy was not necessarily Leprosy as we know it today, though it would have included that, but referred to a number of skin diseases. Lepers of whatever sort were deemed to be unclean, were ostracised and forced into isolation because of the threat they were deemed to be because of the disease they had. At least back then they got it right – isolating the sick rather than the healthy as is happening at present (2020-21). Numerous records in the Gospels tell of Jesus meeting and healing lepers.

So Simon was known as ‘Simon the Leper’, yet here he was having a dinner party in honour of Jesus. Clearly he wasn’t in isolation or social distancing. Why not? Well I posit that Jesus had healed him of his leprosy, so while he still carried the name ‘Simon the Leper’, he was in fact now no longer a leper and could mingle freely with others at a dinner party. In fact very likely the dinner party was being held in honour of Jesus for the very reason that Jesus had healed him. Thus Simon owed a debt to Jesus because of this. However he was still a Pharisee and still self-righteous as Pharisees were/are wont to be.

So in the story Jesus told him we have two debtors, one owed a little and one owed a lot. I think they represent Simon and Mary. Simon owed a little, but Mary owed a lot…her sins were many as Jesus noted. He knew her. He knew her pattern of life. He knew how steeped in sinful actions she was. But he still loved her and her siblings.

Simon didn’t even show Jesus the common courtesies as a host, of providing water to wash his feet, or a kiss of greeting and welcome, or some oil for his head for refreshment. But Mary had provided all three in lavish abundance.

Simon’s debt was little so he was not really all that grateful. Mary however had come to realise the extent and depths of her sin and poured out her tears and perfume in repentance for them on Jesus. As a result Jesus turns to her and says, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ Other guests questioned this, not recognising who Jesus was, or maybe raising questions regarding who he really was. Jesus however adds to Mary. ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.’

Mary had had a long journey to faith and commitment…through Jesus staying with them and becoming friends with him, through listening to him teach, through observing him heal people, though seeing him raise her brother back to life. But finally, just days before his crucifixion she put it all on the line in a shocking, passionate, public show of dedication and commitment to Jesus…and perhaps showing the extent of her trust and resolve by breaking the alabaster jar of very precious perfume, a tool of trade, to show she had finished with that way of life.

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Luke 7:36 – 50 (NIV)

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

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Matthew 26:6 – 13 (NIV)

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.

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Mark 14:1-11 (NIV)

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

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John 12:1- 9 (NIV)

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the