ACC ~ John 11 v2

EDIFYING DESCRIPTION OF THE SISTERS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA The Evangelist has a purpose in mentioning the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety, which is why the Lord loved them. And of the many things that probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not in a haphazard way but in order to show that Mary had such a thirst for Christ that she wiped his feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself in a more real way the spiritual blessing that comes from his holy flesh. Indeed, she often appears with much warmth of attachment, sitting close to Christ without being distracted by any interruption and to have been drawn into a close relationship of friendship with him. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7. [1]

[1] LF 48:110*.

MARY IS NOT THE HARLOT MENTIONED IN LUKE

CHRYSOSTOM First we are to observe that this was not the harlot mentioned in Matthew [1] or Luke, [2] but a different person. Those mentioned in Matthew and Luke were harlots full of many vices, but she was an honest woman, who treated our Lord with marked reverence. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 62.1. [3]

[1] Mt 26:7.

[2] Lk 7:37.

[3] NPNF 1 14:227**. However, Augustine (see below), Origen (Fragment 78) and a number of others identify Lazarus’s sister Mary as the “notorious sinner” of Lk 7.

JOHN CONFIRMS LUKE’S ACCOUNT

AUGUSTINE John here confirms the passage in Luke, where this is said to have taken place in the house of one Simon a Pharisee: Mary had done this act therefore on a former occasion. That she did it again at Bethany is not mentioned in the narrative of Luke, but it is in the other three Gospels. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.79.154. [1]

[1] CSEL 43:261; NPNF 1 6:174**.