MARY ANOINTS JESUS’S FEET IN BETHANY

JOHN 12:1–8

Although Jesus may have visited Bethany in Judea several times, only three visits are recorded in the Gospels: Luke 10:38–42; John 11:1–44; 12:1–11. According to Luke 10:38, Martha had a home in Bethany with her sister and brother, Mary and Lazarus. In looking at the three recorded visits, we will focus our attention on the behavior and actions of Mary in order to understand why she anointed Jesus’s feet at an event where the family was gathered.

Luke recorded that Martha had opened her home to Jesus (Luke 10:38), and Mary sat at his feet, listening as he taught (Luke 10:39). There was plenty to do, and Mary’s time with Jesus meant that Martha was left to do all of the work herself. In response to Martha’s request that Jesus send Mary to help, he declared, “Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). As we will see, it never was.

In the second recorded visit to Bethany (John 11:1–45), we find Mary grieving. Her brother, Lazarus, had died, and his body was in decay. Mary, who had sought the words of life from Jesus in Bethany, was now filled with sadness and was accompanied by those who had gathered at her house to comfort her (John 11:20, 31). So when Jesus entered Bethany after the death of Lazarus, Mary fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:32). Jesus wept and then proceeded to do the unimaginable by bringing Lazarus back to life (John 11:35–44).

Alabaster jars such as this one could be used to store valuable perfumes, oils, or ointments.
© Dr. James C. Martin. Elephantine Museum. Photographed by permission.

Church and village remains of Bethany (view looking west).

The final recorded visit occurred six days before Passover (John 12:1). Sadness had given way to celebration. Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and restored him to his family. The man who had lain in a grave was reclining with family and friends at the dinner held in Jesus’s honor (John 12:2). Then Mary, again, came to the feet of Jesus. This time she broke open a container of expensive perfume, poured it on Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair (John 12:3). When Judas and others objected to her actions (Matt. 26:8; Mark 14:4), Jesus defended her and redirected the attention of everyone in the room. “Leave her alone. . . . It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial” (John 12:7).

Portrayal of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus.

During this dinner in Jesus’s honor, Mary, who had previously listened so attentively at Jesus’s feet, now focused on what some of the others may have forgotten—the imminent death of the Savior of the world. Jesus had arrived in Bethany just six days before he was to be crucified (John 12:1).3 With her actions of worship and honor of the Messiah, Mary helped redirect the attention of all present to what lay ahead for “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), the one who is the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).

Mosaic of Mary and Martha with Jesus inside the Church of Lazarus in Bethany.

The dome of the Dominus Flevit Church on the Mount of Olives is in the shape of a teardrop with a replica of a vase on each corner, to remind us of Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and Mary pouring out the symbol of her grief on Jesus’s feet.