Monday in Holy Week, April 3, 2023

John 12, 1-11

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”  The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of him, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.

Mary’s anointing of Jesus at the house of Lazarus while Martha served is often confused with another anointing — that by a person identified only as “a sinful woman”, whom some think to have been Mary Magdalene.  This is, however, an anointing distinct from that as shown by a comparison of the times, places, circumstances, and the details of the actions.

“They gave a dinner for him there.”  The dinner occurred not long after the Lord had raised Lazarus from the dead and may have been given in thanks to the Lord for his gracious deed.  The dinner was held “six days before Passover”, that is, on the Monday before the Lord died.  “Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard.”  She would have purchased this for this purpose.  There are many different types of nard and in ancient times certain kinds were used to flavor foods and add a spicy taste to wine.  St. John notes that it was “genuine aromatic nard”, which tells us that it was very expensive, which further gives us an idea of the wealth this little family possessed.  “[She] anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair.”  This act of obeisance may have been motivated by her deep gratitude for Jesus giving her brother back to her or as a sign of her regret over her behavior when Jesus arrived to raise him.  “The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.”  We can understand the spiritual meaning of Mary’s action as the faithful soul in silent and humble prayer to the Lord, the  fragrance of which he finds most pleasing.  

“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”  This is the price of the nard, nearly a year’s wages for a working man.  Judas’s objection comes across not as pious but as rude.  He seems to usurp the place of Jesus, his Master and the one to whom the anointing was done.  If anyone was to object, it would have been the Lord.  Of course, St. John points out that he was motivated by greed.  “Let her keep this for the day of my burial.”  It is unclear if this nard was carried to the tomb on Easter morning by the holy women.  Mary of Bethany’s name is not mentioned as being among them by the Evangelists.  The Lord could have been speaking in terms of a sign that his Death and burial were near at hand.

“You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”  In a fallen world inhabited by men and women whose human nature is wounded, there will always be those who, through their own fault or that of others or as a result of some disaster, have been rendered poor.  The “poor” here are those who are destitute and beg on the streets for their bread.  “But you do not always have me”, that is, walking among them.  We who believe in the Lord know that he is with us always, unto the consummation of the world (Matthew 28, 20): through his Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, through the grace that he imparts to us, and through his words in the Holy Gospels.  

“But also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.”  These curiosity seekers came not to see the one who raised from the dead but the one who had been dead.  “The chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.”  The chief priests reveal their hardness of heart.  Indeed, they behave very much like the Pharaoh with Moses: no matter how many signs they see, they cling to their judgment that Jesus is not the Messiah.

During this Holy Week let us fill heaven with the sweet aroma of our humble and devoted prayers.