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Home , Anointing, Anointing of Jesus, Simon the Leper

GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN Gaithersburg, Maryland

People and Places of the Passion A Lenten Sunday and Easter Sunday Series — The Year of Our Lord 2021

Days before the Crucifixion – The of at “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. . . . in pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Today, I say to you, wherever this is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Spoken by Our Lord Two Days Before the Beginning of the Passover – St. :10-13 The Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare)1 – March 14, 2021

I. “Wherever the Gospel is Preached” This incident of the prior to the Week of the Passion is recorded in all four of our . This is not rare, but it is not frequent either. As we have studied the Gospels , the writing of which covers at least a half century, with Mark believed to be the first, Matthew second, Luke third, and John last. Each of the Evangelists was been writing to a differing Christian community living under differing circumstances. These are the things that cause a writer to include some details and not others. For example, three of the Gospels tell us that the moment in question took place in Bethany, that suburb Mary Anoints the Feet of Jesus of we studied in our last session, the home of Jesus’ friends, Mary. , and Lazarus. Matthew and Mark tell us it took place in the home of . Luke reports the account as taking place at the home of Simon, a Pharisee.2 Luke uses the story to introduce a parable about God’s grace. (He also mentions that the woman is a “sinner.” John’s Gospel tells us that the story takes place in Bethany and that Mary,

1. Laetare – The tradidtional name forf the Fourth Sunday in Lent. It is quoted from the Book of the Isaiah, chapter 66:10. “Rejoice ye, with Jerusalem, andbe glad with her all ye who love her.” So begins the entrance hymn, the Introit, for this mid-Lenten Sunday.

2. The location of Luke’s report is likely in the upper region of the , perhaps near . This is judged by the context of the narrative before and after this particular story.

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 1 Martha, and Lazarus are present. Martha is serving the dinner and Mary anoints Jesus’ feet. . In four stories, the woman who anoints Jesus brings a jar of very expensive or . In Matthew and Mark, it is Jesus’ head that is anointed with oil. Luke alone reports that the woman was a sinner, and wept bitterly, wetting his feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair. She anointed Jesus’ feet with the costly . Luke also recounts this story relatively early in his Gospel account. The other Evangelists report the story as occurring just days before the beginning of the Passover, the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. Thus the reference to Jesus ‘ burial in three of the four stories.

II. So, How Many Anointing Occasions Do We Have? Let us “lead off assuming that of the four reports, we most likely have two distinct occasions. Three refer to the anointing of Jesus as preparing him for his burial. For the purpose of this class, let’s consider the account given by Saint Luke to be the an unique account. Here’s why: • Luke’s account appears rather early in Luke’s story of the ministry of our Lord. • Judging from the context of chapters before and after this account, this incident of the “woman of the city who is a sinner” who anoints his feet with her sobs, tears, and kisses, dries them with her hair, and then anoints Jesus’ feet with the expensive ointment, is a different occasion than the one reported by the other three Gospels.3 Mary Magdalen Anointing • Luke will continue this story with a parable about Jesus’ Feet grace and forgiveness. Illustrated manuscript c. 1500 CE • The complaint regarding her act is from fellow who wonder aloud that Jesus does not know “what kind of woman this is” and even allows her to come near him. • Jesus uses the moment to tell a parable to Simon about repentance and one’s hunger for forgiveness. • There is no mention in Luke’s narrative about Jesus’ understanding of the woman’s actions as anointing him for burial.

The stories of Saint Matthew and Saint Mark are strikingly similar. One says that the anointing of Jesus took place between two and six days before Passover. What is important

3. This “woman of the town who lived a sinful life” has long been associated with Mary Magdalen. The woman recorded in Luke’s Gospel is not named. Yet, the tradition persists. We shall meet her again, at the cemetery, on Easter Morning.

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 2 is that this event of the anointing of Jesus with the very expensive oil or ointment was in the very context of Our Lord’s Passion itself. In other significant ways they are virtually the same account. • Matthew and Mark agree upon the timing of this story. • It is the disciples who complain about the waste of the expensive ointment, in two accounts valuing it as worth as much as 300 Denarii, which could be sold and the money given to the poor. In these accounts, it is Jesus’ head that is anointed. • Always there is a very expensive alabaster jar that contains the ointment. • Jesus accepts the gesture as a “Very beautiful thing that she has for me.” • Jesus predicts that what she has done will be told wherever the Gospel is preached. • Clearly, this is the same event and story. • In both stories, the context concludes with Judas going to the Temple Authorities to arrange for the betrayal of Jesus. Saint John, as might be expected, has some differences, but much that is the same, or perhaps amplified. • It, too, is set into the days just before of our Lord that begins with his arrest. It is already reported by Saint John that Jesus is under warrant for arrest by the Temple Authorities in :57 and Lazarus as well in :9-11. • Jesus is at dinner with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, apparently in the home of his same friends. Martha is serving. • Mary is named as the one who anoints Jesus with the expensive ointment. The expensive jar is not mentioned in John’s account. John reports that it was a ” pound of costly ointment of pure nard . . . Saint John, Evangelist and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.” • There is the same rejection of the Mary’s act, suggesting instead the sale of the ointment for 300 Denarii and making a gift to the poor. But in John’s Gospel, the matter is raised only by Judas and does not include the other disciples. Moreover, John tells us why. Judas said this not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and he would steal money from the money box. ( John 12:6) • Judas’ exit to arrange the betrayal of Jesus in not included in this context in John, as it is in Matthew and Mark. In John’s narrative, Jesus was already under a warrant for his arrest. (By the end of this particular account, Lazarus would be under a warrant for arrest as well! The plan of the authorities now was to kill them both! • It is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anoints Jesus’ feet with the ointment and dries them with her hair. Absent, however, are the weeping and tears,

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 3 and of the bad reputation given by Luke’s account. • Absent too is the comment about the “beautiful things” Mary has done for Jesus. He says, simply, “Let her alone. Let her keep it for the day of my burial.” In John’s memory, this story is focused firmly upon Jesus’ upcoming burial.” • This is clearly the same story as that is related by Matthew and Mark, but different from that of Luke. Therefore, these four stories shall be treated here as two stories: one involving a woman known as a sinner, and three stories pointing to the upcoming burial of Our Lord..4

III. How Does This Happen? How does this happen? Rather than leave this section of our study with this huge “hanging question,” let us pause for a moment to address it, by way of review. We read our today as if it is a continuing stream of information. However, the Bible is a continuing record of the “God Mankind” relationship, and between its covers it contains several millennia of human history. Our understanding of God’s grace is always evolving. In terms of our New Testament, it is worth noting that Saint Paul is never found actually quoting passages from other New Testament writers, and is specifically so with the Gospels. It appears that all of the books of Saint Paul in our New Testament were written before any of the works of the Four Net Testament Evangelists. Saint Paul’s death, variously claimed between 61 and 67 CE, provided a critical decision point for the Early Church. As generations passed, it became more and more urgent to gather, in a careful and comprehensive pattern, the story of Jesus which might be called historically the “Christ Event.” Scholars believe that the first step in that process was either an oral or written source document of the Saint Luke, Evangelist sayings, teachings and . Scholars call that the Quelle or “Q” document.5 A second stage was to gather these stories and teachings into a narrative. Most scholars believe Mark was the first, dated at about 66 to 76 CE. Bottom line: the writer of Mark’s Gospel worked in that span of a decade, most likely after

4. This conclusion does not deny the belief of some scholars that these four stories about the anointing of Jesus might have begun as just one story. But as the Evangelists have reported them to us in the Scriptures, these are two rather different narratives.

5. The “Q” Document. Q stands for Quelle, which means a source document.

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 4 the death of Paul.6 With that observation in hand, it is not ast all likely that Paul saw the works of Matthew, Luke or John either! Saint Luke tells us a part of this story: Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent , so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed. — Saint :1-4 The earliest date for Luke is thought to have been 80 CE. Luke is believed to have been a companion of Saint Paul during the writing of the Book of Acts. Some set the date of Luke at 70 CE, but most suggest a later date. Remember, Jesus’ crucifixion//ascension are dated at 30 CE. (Some say 33.) That means that the Church lived, preached, and converted folks into believers solely on Oral Tradition for nearly 4 decades before anything was written into posterity. The next and urgent things to come in the “Gospel story effort” were the Four Gospels we call Scripture today. That is how one could pick up a well-known anecdote of story and write it into a context different from its original telling or happening. Such might have been the case in Luke’s telling of the anointing of Jesus at a different time and in a different context than did Matthew, Mark, or John.

IV. The Anointing of Jesus as Reported by Saint John We shall use today the story according to Saint John, namely John 12:1-8. The account of the anointing of Jesus in John’s Gospel comes from about 100 CE. It is the latest of the Gospels as we have them in Scripture. It follows generally the pattern of Mark and of Matthew. Some of the details of the earlier two Gospels are not included in John’s work. It could be, as modern scholars now suggest, Alabaster Jar with oil that the Gospel as we have it was written by John himself, and followed by work by the

6. Paul is thought to have been executed at about the same time as Peter, whose death is dated between 64 and 68 CE. Both were executed by Nero. The Church was suddenly cut off from the leadership of two giants in the faith. This crisis called upon a special effort to gather together the stories of Jesus for posterity.

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 5 disciples of John, who had heard the old man’s teaching and preaching over years. We are now talking about seven decades after Jesus had lived. Perhaps the aged John had forgotten some of the details, or perhaps over the years he had focused upon the real meat of the story. The story was about the crucifixion and death of our Lord, and His resurrection. After all, the entirety of John’s Gospel was intended as a Passion Narrative, from the very first chapter. For John, from the beginning, ”God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.”7 So John appears to have edited a bit the often told story to the absolutely essential parts: “Let her alone. Let her keep it for the day of my burial.”8 The full story from Saint John: Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But , one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’ (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ The story goes on! When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

• Six days before the Passover – Jesus is now under a warrant for his arrest. While he has tarried for a while in the region of Southern , he has now come to a suburb of Jerusalem, namely Bethany, to the home of his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They are serving a meal in His honor. • Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with a powerful perfume, an ointment of pure nard, and the aroma fills the whole house. • Evil has its own odor, however – Judas Iscariot speaks up, suggesting that better the

7. II Corinthians 5:19.

8. “The day of my burial.” – Which was, according to John 12:1, just six days away! It was, according to John, neither a miscarrige of ustice nor a historical accident, but rather it was God’s intentional act for our salvation! (See :16 - 17)

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 6 ointment be sold for 300 Denarii and the money given to the poor.(Not that Judas cares about the poor. Evil always wants to interfere with someone doing good!) • “Let her alone,” Jesus says. “Let her keep it for the day of my burial.” Apparently Mary had not used the full pound of ointment. The issue here for John and for us is that the , at that moment, was but six days away!

How close is John to a story, the same story, written perhaps as much as 30 years earlier? Well, let’s read Mark’s account, the earliest of the Four Gospels. 9 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Note, from the beginning, that this version of the account of the anointing of Jesus has far more detail, though it is the earliest of the accounts that we have. It is usually the other way around. The older versions tend to accumulate detail. That is not the case here. It has already been noted, that The is the latest of our four Gospels. It is much more focused, as is John’s Gospel itself on the redemptive work of the Father through His Son, Jesus. Now, some details to consider: • Note that there is no internal dating of this story with the Passion of our Lord. • The location is Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, but it in the home of Simon, the leper. • A woman, unnamed, enters immediately, carrying a alabaster jar of pure nard, which was very costly. • She breaks the jar and pours the ointment over Jesus’ head as he sits at the table. • There is the opposition, not the disciples this time, who point out that this might have been sold for 300 Denarii and the money given to the poor. (All three of the versions of this story agree on the market price of 300 Denarii!) • They rebuke the woman for this waste. • .Jesus responds: “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has sone a

9. Saint :3-9.

Lenten Series – 2021 Session 4 of 7 Rev. 6 PDF Page 7 beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you will, you can do good to them; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burying. And truly, I say to you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”10 • Though the text does not announce the day or date of this event, the context of the story places it on what we today mark as Thursday!

Persons and Places of the Passion We shall continue our visits to the Holy Land in this Lenten Series. Many of us have visited these locations, and many have not. Some, due to the unrest that has marked the Holy Land for decades, are not so safely visited these days. One or two of those we hope to visit in this series. February 21 Caesarea Philippi ’s Confession February 28 Jacob’s Well - Sychar The First Evangelist March 7 Bethany and Lazarus “Lazarus, Come Out!” March 14 A Moment for Anointing A Prediction of Burial March 21 “Dominus Flevit” Jesus Weeps OverJerusalem March 28 “Lord Save Us!” April 4 Easter “Rabboni!”

PLEASE NOTE If you have missed a session, or a download of the paper for one or more sessions, you can find that paper by going to “goserve.net” and scroll down the listing of previous Sunday worship and class schedules. Desired class papers can be printed directly. It’s easy! Pastor Dave has shared that all papers of this series and mostly ALL others are archived and can be made available! We are now continuing, having begun four weeks ago, our sessions via live Zoom. We can gather our class electronically by this marvel. Or, you can simply catch us as we have been doing. Watch and listen on Sundays for “Sign-up details” for the Zoom connection. Now, for the first time since the Pandemic started, you can ask questions and offer suggestions live. Pastor Ted’s new E-mail address: [email protected] If having a problem finding the online codes for the live broadcasd, an e-mail to the Church Office will supply those items. (Were I more of a “Tetchi” I would type those numbers right here.

10. Saint Mark 14:6 - 9.

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