Or, A Poor Excuse
Scripture: John 12:1-11
Date: April 28, 2013
Speaker: Sean Higgins
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John 12 swings our attention from the few years of Jesus’ ministry to the final week of His life. He will die six days from this dinner. His reputation has grown, especially since He raised Lazarus from four-days dead. Some believed, some were curious, some became angry.
This story about Mary anointing Jesus is mainly about the anger it produced, starting with Judas and extending to the Jewish religious leaders. I’d argue that anger takes center stage rather than adoration—though adoration is certainly on stage—for two reasons. First, anger is emphasized by where it is placed in John’s Gospel. Second, anger is emphasized by how much attention John gives it.
All four Gospels include an account of Jesus being anointed, an observation that plants this story in a prime spot in the garden of good news. It doesn’t take too much comparing to see that Luke’s anointing story is completely different (Luke 7:36-38), a separate anointing. The anointing he describes happens in Galilee (not Judea), by a woman of immoral character (unlike Mary), who anoints Jesus’ head (not feet) and wipes His feet with her tears (before applying perfume). Matthew (Matthew 26:6-13) and Mark (Mark 14:3-9) tell about the same anointing as John, even though do have some differences. Neither of them name the woman and, most significantly, they place their account after the Triumphal Entry. They weren’t concerned with the chronology as much as they were concerned with the cause for Judas’ betrayal.
John puts the cause in chronological order though he doesn’t tell about Judas making a contract to sell Jesus. John emphasizes the anger by putting the anointing after Lazarus’ resurrection and sandwiched between two statements of the chief priests’ determination to kill Jesus (11:53, 57 and 12:10-11). Yes, Jesus raised hope and belief in Himself, but the very same good news raised hostility against Him. The entire chapter aims us to the cross because “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). Anger drives the events of the next six days.
A second reason why I’d say anger takes center stage is due to the proportion of verses given to Judas and then the Jews. Mary’s act of adoration gets one verse compared to five verses that describe Judas’ response. Also, both Matthew and Mark conclude their versions with Jesus commending Mary.
But Jesus, aware of [their anger], said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” (Matthew 26:10–13, ESV)
Here the story concludes with Jesus correcting Judas. He was angry and became more angry. Of course Judas didn’t say that he was angry at Jesus; he covered his anger with pious clothes, claiming concern for the poor. But anger incited him, as well as the religious leaders, which explains why they and Judas came to such low terms and so quickly agreed to betray Jesus.
Anger goes undercover in two ways, anger disguised as care for the poor in verses 1-8 and anger disguised as care for the people in verses 9-11.
The people of Bethany throw a party for Jesus and Judas can’t stand it. John contrasts Judas’ anger with Mary’s adoration.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:1–3, ESV)
Jesus came to Bethany from Ephraim. He went to Ephraim with His disciples for a while (11:54) because the “plans to put him to death” (11:53) were set by the Sanhedrin Council. It was now six days before the Passover , which started the following Friday, which started when the sun went down on Thursday. So this is the Saturday supper, in the evening after the Sabbath, when it was permissible to do work again.
John includes that this was where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead not because he thinks we might have forgotten chapter 11, but because this was the reason for the reception. This was a special occasion, a once-in-a-lifetime event. So they gave a dinner for him there , a banquet, a party with a special presentation. To say that Martha served, and Lazarus as one of those with him reclining at the table suggests that this dinner was not at their house. Of course Martha would serve and Lazarus would be at their house. Matthew and Mark mention that the dinner was at Simon the leper’s, so this seems to be a community festivity, at least including a few families.
The feature of the evening occurs in verse 3. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feat with her hair . So many ingredients make this outstanding, including the amount, the value, the placement, and the clean-up of the nard.
The amount of ointment or perfume (v.3) was a pound , which, according to most footnotes, was equal to about 11 or 12 ounces of liquid. Nard is an aromatic oil of the nard plant native to the Himalayan Mountains of northern India (BAGD; Kostenberger, 360) and John says it was pure , or undiluted. Mary poured almost a full can of soda’s worth of perfume on Jesus. That’s a lot. The value was expensive , estimated by Judas at “three hundred denarii” (v.5), and he would know. A denarii was equal to one day’s wage so, minus Sabbaths and feast days, 300 denarii was about a year’s worth of money for a day laborer. What is your annual income? Calculating with the Federal minimum wage at $7.25/hr, at 40 hours/wk, a year’s earnings would be almost $20,000 in today’s dollars.
Many have made guesses at how Mary came to possess this expensive ointment. Maybe it was a family heirloom, maybe they were a wealthy family, maybe we don’t know. Regardless, she uses it all. She anointed the feet of Jesus , an odd location. Matthew and Mark record that it went on Jesus’ head. There was certainly enough to go around. John emphasizes the feet because it shows Mary’s humility. Feet were usually washed with water, only rarely anointed. [Odysseus had his feet anointed in Homer’s story.] This prepares the way for Jesus to wash His disciples’ feet in chapter 13.
It’s also unusual clean-up. Usually the oil wasn’t wiped off at all and, even more, using one’s hair was out of the ordinary. Women weren’t supposed to let their hair down in front of men and here Mary holds nothing back in showing her adoration for Jesus. He is that valuable, more valuable than the amount or the cost or the location or the clean-up could show.
No one could ignore it. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume . There was an actual, unmistakable aroma to Mary’s offering. It makes sense why John introduced Mary in 11:2 as the one “who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.” It made an impact on everyone present, but not all positive.
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.” (John 12:4–8, ESV)
The other accounts blame the disciples generally for criticizing Mary. John names names, one name, Judas Iscariot . The next two phrases don’t belong together but they go together. Judas was one of his disciples and [the one] about to betray him . The betrayal doesn’t explain why he responds the way he does here, the betrayal is his response to what happens here. John explains why he gets angry about the perfume. He seeks to betray Jesus because he gets angry about being corrected by Jesus about the perfume.
Judas said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” In verse 7 Jesus told Judas to leave her alone, but the criticism is actually through Mary against Jesus. Jesus should have stopped her. Jesus should have rejected this indulgent offering. Jesus is showing a bad example to others.
Judas covers his anger under the pretense of care for the poor. John exposes Judas’ motivation from hindsight in verse 6. John was there, he may have even agreed in principle with Judas. He certainly didn’t suspect anything fishy at the time. Only afterward was he able to see that Judas said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it . Again, if they had known that he was a thief then, they wouldn’t kept giving him money.
This is the worst sort of thief, a self-righteous thief. He was two-sorts of selfish: selfish for money and selfish for a reputation of not loving money. Judas is a thief and a liar. He’s offended by his empty pocket, not the poor. But he uses the poor as his excuse. He protests too much but the disciples don’t pick up on it and Jesus doesn’t give his heart away yet either. Judas tries to make it seem as if Jesus doesn’t care about the poor when he was the one who didn’t.
Jesus said, “Leaver her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” This introduces at least a couple troublesome questions such as, What is “it”? And who is talking about a “burial”?
The “it” certainly is the perfume. To say so that she may keep it sounds future but what ointment would she have left for later? It would help to translate “Leave her along because she intended to keep it for the day of my burial.” This means that, first, Mary knew what she was doing. Her commendation is not for an unconscious act (like that of Caiaphas). She had been planning this. She understood the significance of Jesus’ return to Bethany and what was about to happen: His death. This wasn’t simple excitement over her brother’s resurrection. It was in anticipation of Jesus’ death. It also means that this, secondly, was a once-in-a-lifetime offering. Jesus would only be anointed for burial once. That helps us explain verse 8, too.
For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me . He was six days from crucifixion. The die was cast. He was headed to the cross and then headed back to His Father, ironically initiated by Judas. Mary saw what none of the disciples saw and her act was appropriate.
Jesus wasn’t saying that the poor didn’t matter. Judas would have the rest of his life to serve the poor. Which wasn’t long but, that’s okay, because the poor weren’t his real concern anyway. Judas took offense at Jesus’ response and soon went to get compensation for his personal loss. If he couldn’t line his pockets with money from selling the perfume, he would sell Jesus. He was that greedy and angry when his greed wasn’t satisfied.
However small the dinner reception may have been, the effect of Jesus’ return to Judea was huge.
When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 12:9–11, ESV)
Jesus left after raising Lazarus and it appears that Lazarus kept more private for a while, too. The Dinner was a public event and the paparazzi were on it. Since Bethany was only a couple miles outside of Jerusalem, a large crowd…came to see Jesus and also to see Lazarus .
The “so” in verse 10 (ESV) is a bit misleading. The chief priests had already made plans and those plans involved two killings, not one. It was all on behalf of the “nation.” Assassinating Lazarus became necessary even though he himself did nothing wrong; he was just collateral damage. That is “insane fury” (Calvin, 16). If too many people started following Jesus, then, as the press release went, the Romans would come and destroy the people. Lazarus’ existence might cause more to believe so his life was expendable “for the nation.” As it was, the chief priests were jealous for their own power. They were fearfully angry at Jesus because many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus . That’s exactly what they couldn’t have, you know, for the country.
Jesus makes mad men mad. When He is worshiped it makes them even more so.
In John 12:1-11 we see two kinds of anger at Jesus. Judas was angry that he was losing money and he argued his selfishness under the cover of serving the poor. The Jewish leaders were angry that they were losing influence and they argued their selfishness under the cover of serving the country. One was greed for personal profit, the other greed for personal position.
Judas and the Jews set an example for us. Either a man will adore and serve Jesus or he will be angry and seek to destroy Jesus. Every man will be brought to some crisis point where he will either adore Jesus in humility and thanks or he will become angry and fight, unsuccessfully, against Jesus.