Editing Mary of Bethany (section)

===Anointing of Jesus===
{{Main|Anointing of Jesus}}
A narrative in which Mary of Bethany plays a central role is the [[anointing of Jesus]], an event reported in the [[Gospel of John]] in which a woman pours the entire contents of an [[alabastron]] of very expensive [[perfume]] over the feet<ref>{{bibleverse|Jn|12:3|NIV}}</ref> of Jesus. Only in this account<ref>{{bibleverse|Jn|12:1–8|NIV}}</ref> is the woman identified as Mary, with the earlier reference in {{Bibleverse|John|11:1–2|NIV}} establishing her as the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

{{blockquote|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' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then '''Mary''' took about a pint of pure [[spikenard|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."| {{Bibleverse|John|12:1–8|NIV}}, [[New International Version]]}}
[[Image:Bouts anoiting.jpg|thumb|270px|right|''Christ in the House of Simon'' by [[Dieric Bouts]], 1440s (Staatliche Museen, [[Berlin]])]]
The woman's name is not given in the Gospels of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|26:6–13|NIV|26:6–13}}</ref> and [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]],<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|14:3–9|NIV|14:3–9}}</ref> but the event is likewise placed in Bethany, specifically at the home of one [[Simon the Leper]], a man whose significance is not explained elsewhere in the gospels.

According to the Markan account, the perfume was the purest of [[spikenard]]. Some of the onlookers were angered because this expensive perfume could have been sold for a year's wages, which Mark enumerates as 300 [[denarii]], and the money given to the poor. The Gospel of Matthew states that the "disciples were indignant" and John's gospel states that it was [[Judas Iscariot]] who was most offended (which is explained by the narrator as being because Judas was a thief and desired the money for himself). In the accounts, Jesus justifies Mary's action by stating that they would always have the poor among them and would be able to help them whenever they desired, but that he would not always be with them and says that her anointing was done to prepare him for his burial. As one commentator notes, "Mary seems to have been the only one who was sensitive to the impending death of Jesus and who was willing to give a material expression of her esteem for him. Jesus' reply shows his appreciation of her act of devotion."<ref name="Zondervan John" /> The accounts in Matthew and Mark adds these words of Jesus, "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".<ref>{{bibleverse|Mt|26:13|NIV}}, {{bibleverse|Mark|14:9|NIV|14:9}}</ref>

Easton (1897) noted that it would appear from the circumstances that the family of Lazarus possessed a family vault<ref>{{bibleverse|Jn|11:38}}</ref> and that a large number of Jews from Jerusalem came to console them on the death of Lazarus,<ref>{{bibleverse|Jn|11:39}}</ref> that this family at Bethany belonged to the wealthier class of the people. This would help explain how Mary of Bethany could afford to possess quantities of expensive perfume.<ref name="Easton" />

A similar anointing is described in the [[Gospel of Luke]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|7:36–50|NIV|7:36–50}}</ref> as occurring at the home of one Simon the [[Pharisee]] in which a woman who had been sinful all her life, and who was crying, anointed Jesus' feet and, when her tears started to fall on his feet, she wiped them with her hair. Luke's account (as well as John's) differs from that of Matthew and Mark by relating that the anointing is to the feet rather than the head. Although it is a subject of considerable debate, many scholars hold that these actually describe two separate events.<ref>Discussed in Van Til, Kent A. [http://brill.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/pent/2006/00000015/00000001/art00003 Three Anointings and One offering: The Sinful Woman in Luke 7.36–50] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120707154131/http://brill.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/pent/2006/00000015/00000001/art00003 |date=2012-07-07 }}, [[Journal of Pentecostal Theology]], Volume 15, Number 1, 2006, pp. 73–82(10). However, the author of this article does not himself hold to this view.</ref>

Jesus' response to the anointing in Luke is completely different from that recorded in the other gospels to the anointing in their accounts. Rather than Jesus' above-mentioned comments on the "poor you will always have with you", in Luke he tells his host the [[Parable of the Two Debtors]]. As one commentator notes, "Luke is the only one to record the parable of the two debtors, and he chooses to preserve it in this setting. ...If one considers the other gospel accounts as a variation of the same event, it is likely that the parable is not authentically set. Otherwise, the powerful message from the parable located in this setting would likely be preserved elsewhere, too. However, if one considers the story historically accurate, happening in Jesus' life apart from the similar incidents recorded in the other gospels, the question of the authenticity of the parable receives a different answer. ...John Nolland, following Wilckens' ideas, writes: 'There can hardly be a prior form of the episode not containing the present parable, since this would leave the Pharisee's concerns of v 39 with no adequate response'."<ref>Hersey, Kim. [http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/parables/Stu_Not%5CHe-Lk07_41-43.htm The Two Debtors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901161655/http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/parables/Stu_Not%5CHe-Lk07_41-43.htm |date=2006-09-01 }}, Wesley Center for Applied Theology, Northwest Nazarene University.</ref>