Jesus Anointed at Bethany

John 12:1-11 (NIV)

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came 
to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus 
had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner 
was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, 
while Lazarus was among those reclining at 
the table with him. 3 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.
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who 
was later to betray him, objected,5 “Why 
wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given 
to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 
6 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. 7 “Leave her alone,” 
Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should 
save this perfume for the day of my burial. 
8 You will always have the poor among you, 
but you will not always have me.”
9 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 dead. 10 So the chief priests 
made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on 
account of him many of the Jews were going 
over to Jesus and believing in him.


Our descent is drawing to a close, friends. As we enter into Holy Week, we are reminded through this passage that before Jesus enters into Jerusalem (on what we celebrate as Palm Sunday) he passes through Bethany and has a meal in his honor. This meal is usually seen as significant because of Mary’s devotion for Jesus, as she pours the expensive perfume on his feet, worshipping Jesus.
Just to give you all a glimpse into our chapel life here at Southwestern, we commonly use Mary and the alabaster jar as our prayer when we gather to worship. Our prayer is that all our diligent planning and preparing may be excellent and God-honoring, but in the end that it may be broken at the feet of Jesus in holy surrender.
Instead of diving into that metaphor, let us look at one of the other integral characters in this passage, Judas Iscariot, the one who later to betray Jesus. This is the first time we see Judas really do anything in the gospels. As the group treasurer it makes sense that he is questioning the use of this expensive nard on Jesus’ feet. Was this questioning an indicator of the evil that was in Judas? We see later on that Satan enters Judas at the Passover meal (John 13:27), so perhaps in chapter 12, Judas is still acting as one of the trusted 12.
My question to you today is, would Jesus have forgiven Judas had he the chance. Judas, overwhelmed with guilt hangs himself, before Christ resurrects from the dead. We know that Jesus approaches Peter post-resurrection and allows him opportunity to repent for his “duh-sciple” moment when he denies Christ three times. Do you think that Jesus would have allowed for Judas’ repentance as well? Was Judas’ betrayal too great to allow for repentance? I bet we wonder about that sometimes as well. Regardless of who you are, where you’ve been, what you’ve done, Christ bore it all on the cross. He set his face toward Jerusalem with a purpose, to trample over death by death. Friends, the time is here, to catch up to Jesus on our descent with him towards the cross. Holy Easter is upon us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna! Hosanna!

Greg Reffner is an undergraduate student of Religion and Philosophy at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.