Tokonaki Sepitema 11, 2021
Mary anoints the feet of Jesus
Na‘e takai lolo ‘e Mele ‘a e va‘e ‘o Sisu
Sione 12 (John 12)
(v. 3) Pea to‘o ai ‘e Mele ha pāuni lolo tākai, ko e na‘ati mo‘oni pea mahu‘inga lahi, ‘o ne tākai ‘aki ‘a e va‘e ‘o Sīsū, mo ne holoholo hono va‘e ‘aki hono lou‘ulu: pea na‘e fonu ‘a e fale ‘i he ngangatu ‘o e lolo.
(v. 3) Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible
The shadows of the Passion were now falling across the path of the Christ. In what happened at the supper we have a vivid contrast. Mary and Judas arrest our attention. She, discovering the sorrows of His heart, pressed closely to Him, and sacramentally expressed her love. Judas, blinded in self-interest, criticized her action, and so revealed himself as utterly opposed to the very spirit of the Lord Himself.
From Bethany Jesus passed to Jerusalem, where a stupendous outburst of welcome greeted Him. It was of little worth, as subsequent events proved. Nevertheless, He moved through the worthless present, transmuting it into the triumphant future.
The incident of the coming of the Greeks is full of revelation, for it drew from our Lord that contemplation of His own death and its issue expressed in the symbol of the grain of wheat.
At this point in his narrative, John shows how, notwithstanding all the signs, the people did not believe; and then records what would seem to be the last public testimony of Jesus. It is a summarized statement of His claims, made just as the light of the working day was passing and the hour of darkness was approaching. Nothing can possibly be more sublime than these closing public utterances of our Lord. They are in perfect harmony with the marvelous conception of Him presented to us in this Gospel as the revealed Love and Light and Life of heaven.
David Guzik :: Study Guide for John 12
In the midst of the supper, Mary gave a remarkable gift to Jesus. It wasn’t unusual to wash the feet of a guest, but it was unusual to do it during the meal itself, to use very costly oil of spikenard to do it, and to wipe the feet with her hair, using the hair as a kind of towel.
Mary’s gift was remarkably humble. When a guest entered the home, usually the guest’s feet were washed with water and the guest’s head was anointed with a dab of oil or perfume. Here, Mary used this precious ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus. She considered her precious ointment only good enough for His feet. “To attend to the feet was the task of the most lowly slave. Thus Mary’s action denoted great humility as well as great devotion.” (Morris)
Mary’s gift was remarkably extreme. She used a lot (a pound) of a very costly oil of spikenard. Spices and ointments were often used as an investment because they were small, portable, and could be easily sold. Judas believed this oil was worth 300 denarii (John 12:5), which was worth a year’s wages for a workingman.
Mary’s gift was remarkably unselfconscious. Not only did she give the gift of the expensive oil, she also wiped His feet with her hair. This means that she let down her hair in public, something a Jewish woman would rarely do.
“Both John and Mark describe it by the adjective pistikos (Mark 14:3). Oddly enough, no one really knows what that word means. There are four possibilities. It may come from the adjective pistos which means faithful or reliable, and so may mean genuine. It may come from the verb pinein which means to drink, and so may mean liquid. It may be a kind of trade name, and may have to be translated simply pistic nard. It may come from a word meaning the pistachio nut, and be a special kind of essence extracted from it. In any event it was a specially valuable kind of perfume.” (Barclay)
“It was very costly, but it had not cost a penny too much now that it could be used upon him. There was a pound of it, but there was none too much for him. It was very sweet, but none too sweet for him.” (Spurgeon)
“The act is all the more striking in that a Jewish lady never unbound her hair in public. That apparently was a mark of loose morals. But Mary did not stop to calculate public reaction. Her heart went out to her Lord and she gave expression to something of her feelings in this beautiful and touching act.” (Morris)
In all of this, Mary is a study of devotion to Jesus. “The life of Mary is painted for us, in three memorable pictures, in each of which she is at the feet of Jesus.” (Eerdman)
· Luke 10:39: Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and learned
· John 11:32: Mary fell at Jesus’ feet and surrendered
· John 12:3: Mary anointed Jesus’ feet and honored Jesus
“You must sit at his feet, or you will never anoint them; he must pour his divine teaching into you, or you will never pour out a precious ointment upon him.” (Spurgeon)
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