John 12: 1 – 8
Want Whine Wit Dat
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it. 7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
Both Matthew and Mark also covered this incident so let’s read their observations.
Matthew 26: 6 – 13, 6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” 10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
Mark 14: 3 – 9 3 And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. 7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. 8 She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
Whoa! Did you catch something here? As you know if there is in the bible a related report on the Scripture I want to compare each listing. So, in the Gospels we see similar listing of certain events that our Precious Holy Lord did. For our studies I list the comparative listings from each Gospel. Because I do this I hear sometimes unnecessary complaints or whining about what some think in repetitive material. However in today’s study the review of these extra reports are beneficial because we have struck gold.
I do not think our Holy Master likes complainers. People who do not like certain things are quick to speak up. At our studies we have some deserts and coffee afterwards. One lady came up to me and complained that the cake slice she ate was store bought and not homemade. In Philly we have a response to serial complainers – ‘want whine wit dat’.
A person asked me a couple of good questions relative to today’s scripture. He asked, how did the Lord come to meet this family? How come the sisters and Lazarus were not married? What about their parents?
We read in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10 that a certain woman opened her house to the Lord and His disciples. “38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
We know that this certain city is Bethany. In addition I would venture to say that it wasn’t some spur of the moment invite. There is a familiarity displayed that this family had with our Lord Jesus like they have had previous interaction with Him.
Some people have ventured to say that this was two separate occasions. I am not in agreement with this position. From other scripture we get more understanding about what our Lord and His followers did. We read in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10 that our Lord instructed and sent out His evangelist followers to do the following – 5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. 11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
Please notice verse 10 which our Lord instructs that when you come to a city and some people invite you to stay at their home, stay there until you are ready to leave that town. You do not hop around to another place which might cause offense to the people who first housed you.
The disciples Matthew and Mark in their report of this event say that our Lord and His disciples were in the home of Simon the leper.
1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 2 There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.
People steered clear of anyone who had leprosy. So, to be in the house of Simon the leper meant that Simon was healed by our Lord Jesus. We read in John’s Gospel how our Lord went to the Samaritans who were the outcasts of Israel. It appears our Lord loves to hang out with the rejects of society. Thank you Lord Jesus.
When you put the Gospels together it appears that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were Simon’s daughters and son. It would then be understandable that they were not married in that people would have avoided these three because their dad was formerly a man with leprosy. We can also glean that it is very likely that Simon’s wife was dead because Martha was the woman of the house.
We see here how our Lord really loved this family. Healing the dad of leprosy and bringing the son Lazarus back to life. By the way Lazarus’s name means ‘whom God helps’.
Remember in our last study both Martha and Mary said that they wished the Lord had personally got there to heal Lazarus before he died. If our Lord had personally cast off the leprosy from Simon as He was actually there in person with this family then it would have been natural for the sisters to think that He had to physically be at their location in order for healing of Lazarus to be performed.
I wonder what it was like to have Lazarus at the dinner table with you. How did he act? Was the dinner joyful? From the writings of the church fathers Saint Epiphanios of Cyprus stated that Lazarus was 30 when our Lord brought him back from the dead. He fled to Cyprus in 33 AD and remained there for 18 years until he died the second time. He was ordained as the Bishop of Cyprus by Paul and Barnabus. Eppiphanios stated that Lazarus never smiled excepted once because of what he saw in Hades during the four days he was in the grave. The one time he smiled was when Lazarus saw a man steel a clay vessel. Lazarus uttered, ‘one earth steals another.’
3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
This incident is significant in that it is unintentionally prophetic. By her action in anointing Jesus, Mary is intending to proclaim her gratitude and love, but what she does not know, although we who are John’s readers are intended to recognize it, is that she is anointing Him both as Messiah and for His burial.
The fragrant oil was nard or spikenard, an import from North India which came from the roots (i.e. spikes, therefore "spikenard") of the nard plant. It was pure oil and therefore of a high quality as well as imported and consequently very expensive. In some reports we find that it costs about a whole year worth of wages. Matthew and Mark point out that the liquid was in an alabaster flask, the neck of which Mary broke to pour it out on Jesus (Matthew 26.7; Mark 14.2). Many such alabaster flasks for oils have been discovered in Palestine.
Mary then poured the oil lavishly on His feet and presumably rubbed it in, removing the excess with her hair. All this was expressive of her great love for Him, especially the removal with her hair. She, as it were, wanted a part of Him. Reaching His feet would be simple because Jesus would be reclining at table with His feet stretched backwards.
Mark tells us that she also broke the jar and poured it over His head (Mark 14.3). Clearly she first anointed his feet and then finally broke the jar and poured what was left over His head. Mark was struck by the anointing of the head for it symbolized Jesus as the Messiah, while John, more struck by the humility and loving ministration of Mary, stressed the anointing of the feet, which paralleled the later washing of the feet of the disciples by Jesus (John 13). Each wanted to bring out their own lesson. These were acts of pure love. Mary was ever the impractical one, but she was the one who gave of herself in deeply emotional response. Martha mainly gave of herself in service (compare Luke 10.38-42). Both are necessary in the service of Christ. Without Martha the work would not go on. Without Mary it would lose something of its spiritual nature.
4 But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
It is natural for a Christian to deplore waste, but here we have a reminder that some things which at first appear wasteful, are rather of great value. Mary’s expression of love would have lost its meaning if the oil had not been valuable. ‘300 denarii’ was almost a year’s wages for the average worker.
Into that fragrant atmosphere came muttered voices of dissension. Mark tells us that Judas was not the only one who complained. It is clear that Jesus’ teaching on the wise use of possessions had sunk in, but as can often happen, certain hardness had also crept into the thinking of some of the disciples. Jesus would remind them that a balance needs to be struck. Their hardness contrasted with Mary’s generosity of spirit.
In a way it is quite ridiculous to have commented about Mary’s act. Don’t forget these guys were all guests of Mary’s. They were enjoying a nice free meal and drinks in her home. They then had the gall to get upset to Mary’s act of love. Even though the oil was expensive it was Mary’s not theirs. She had the right to do whatever she wanted with her own property.
John, however, draws out that Judas, the treasurer of the group, was the one who voiced their grievance as they muttered together. Please notice that Matthew and Peter who gave Mark the information for his Gospel say that they were not involved in the complaining.
John is also aware that Judas was especially guilty, for unlike some of the others, Judas had a deeper motive for his grievance. He wanted a full purse so that he would be able to dip into it more easily without being found out.
Don’t forget that John was the last apostle alive and the last one to pen his personal involvement with our Lord Jesus while He walked this earth. He had plenty of time to find out exactly all that Judas had done.
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
Our Lord said in Philly lingo, ‘Hey you guys want whine with that kind of attitude? [His pronunciation is excellent]
Mark says ‘she has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for burial’. What Our Holy Lord Jesus therefore intended them and us to understand was that this moment must not be spoiled by arguments or whining? As with the High Priest earlier in chapter 11 verses 49 to 51 her act was unconsciously a prophetic action. Everything now was moving toward the Precious Lamb of God giving His life for us sinners.
