ACC ~ John 12 v1 - 3

OVERVIEW:

John mentions the time, “six days before the Passover,” because Christ was the spotless lamb who would take away the sins of the world, just as Israel purchased and kept its lamb until the fourteenth day (BEDE, CYRIL). Jesus goes to the house of Mary and Martha, where both serve him (ATHANASIUS). Martha serves the meal, while Mary serves in a more spiritual way (CHRYSOSTOM). The Evangelist then provides further proof of Lazarus’s resurrection in telling us of Lazarus’s dining with Jesus (CHRYSOSTOM), as Lazarus has been privileged to eat wih both Christ and his Father (ATHANASIUS).

The Mary who anointed Jesus’ head in Matthew and Mark is not the same Mary who anointed his feet in Luke and John (ORIGEN). Taking the Evangelists together, it appears that the ointment was poured on the head and the feet (AUGUSTINE). In this case, Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet demonstrates her humility in not presuming to anoint the head first, but only doing so after she had shown her humility in service, as the church also is called to do (CHROMATIUS). Her care for his body, the church, should move us to provide the healing oil of forgiveness not only to those enmeshed in sin but also to those who are not at peace (AMBROSE). The ointment and Mary’s hair are also a sacramental symbol of righteousness for those who give their excess to the poor and thus wipe Jesus’ feet (AUGUSTINE). Just as the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment, so also the world is to be filled with the fragrance of the Christian’s good deeds (ORIGEN). An abundance of oil covers an abundance of sin as the Anointed forgives the anointer (EPHREM).

12:1 | At Lazarus’s Home in Bethany

THE STAINLESS LAMB

BEDE “The Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,” [1] who had come down to earth from heaven in order to suffer for the salvation of the human race, as the hour of his passion was drawing near, willed to draw near the place of his passion. Even by this it was to become apparent that he would not be suffering unwillingly but of his own volition. … He willed to come five days before the Passover [2] … that by this again he might show that he was the stainless lamb who would take away the sins of the world. It was commanded that the paschal lamb, by whose immolation the people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt, should be selected five days before the Passover, that is, on the tenth day of the month, [3] and immolated on the fourteenth day of the month. [4] HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.3. [5]

[1] 1 Tim 2:5.

[2] John mentions that it was six days before the Passover, and Christ would be leaving for Jerusalem the next day after dining with Lazarus.

[3] Ex 12:3.

[4] Ex 12:18.

[5] CS 111:23; CCL 122:200.

PROOF OF LAZARUS’S RESURRECTION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA [Jesus went] to Bethany. He did not actually go into Jerusalem, since if he suddenly appeared to the Jews, he might kindle their anger. Instead the rumor of his being so near gradually softens the rage of their wrath. He eats with Lazarus, reminding those who saw them of his divine power. And by telling us this, the Evangelist shows that Christ did not despise the Law. This is also why the text mentions that it was “six days before the Passover,” when it was necessary that the lamb should be purchased and kept until the fourteenth day. This is when he ate with Lazarus and his friends, doing so perhaps because it was a custom not of law but from long usage, for the Jews to have some little merrymaking on the day before the lamb was taken, in order that after the lamb was obtained they might devote themselves, from that time until the feast, to fasting or a lesser amount of food and to purifications. The Lord therefore is shown to have given honor even to these customs of the feast. And in amazement the Evangelist says that he who had been four days dead was eating with the Christ, to remind us of his divine power. And he adds that Martha, out of her love toward Christ, served and ministered at the labors of the table. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 7. [1]

[1] LF 48:137.

IMPRINTING THE MEMORY OF LAZARUS’S RESURRECTION

BEDE Being sure of the glory of his resurrection, Jesus first came to Bethany, a town near Jerusalem, where Lazarus was, whom he had raised from the dead. Then he went to Jerusalem, where he himself was to suffer and rise from the dead. He went to Jerusalem so that he might die there, but to Bethany so that the raising up of Lazarus might be imprinted more deeply on the memory of all. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.4. [1]

[1] CS 111:35*.

12:2 | Martha Serves in Presence of Lazarus

THE DEVOTED SERVICE OF MARY AND MARTHA

ATHANASIUS Martha herself was taking great care with the service and was ministering to Christ with all her heart. Mary herself was seated at the feet of Jesus and kissing them. … Christ beholds them both with his divine eyes and is cheered and rejoices over the purity of their mode of life and the offering to him of their undefiled service. HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. [1]

[1] AJSL 57:272-73.

MARY DIRECTS HER SERVICE TO GOD

CHRYSOSTOM “And Martha served” makes it clear that the meal was in her house, for they received Jesus as loving and beloved. Some, however, say that it took place in the house of another. Mary did not serve because she was a disciple. [1] Here again she acted in the more spiritual manner. For she did not serve as though invited, nor did she offer her service to all alike. Rather she directed the honor to him alone and approached him not as a man but as God. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 65.2. [2]

[1] Chrysostom speaks of Mary’s discipleship, focusing on her spiritual attitude toward Jesus in contrast to Martha’s preoccupation with more earthly concerns. Both served Jesus as his disciples, but in different ways.

[2] NPNF 1 14:242*. See also Theodoret Dialogues (FC 106:127).

LAZARUS ALIVE AND EATING

CHRYSOSTOM This was a proof of the genuineness of Lazarus’s resurrection, that after many days he both lived and ate. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 65.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:242**

LAZARUS PRIVILEGED TO EAT WITH CHRIST AND THE FATHER

ATHANASIUS You have seen this great public favor, that Lazarus was one of those who were reclining with Jesus. You saw not only that he gave him life again and took him from the hand of death but also that he granted him this great honor of eating with him at his supper. O these great favors that God grants to those who love him and keep his commandments! Moreover, you have seen the favor well fulfilled. Lazarus was reclining, eating with Jesus. For Jesus relied on his holy apostles to [eat and drink] with humankind. … Lazarus, on the other hand, [Jesus says], ate and drank with my Father. Come to me, Lazarus, and I shall take away the evil odor that is in your flesh over which death ruled, and I shall give you the sweet odor. See, I shall go to Jerusalem, and everyone will see you going with me in this body in which you have slept in the grave for four days. Afterward I gave you life, for truly again you yourself have served others. For in accordance with the measure that someone measures, it will be measured to himself. HOMILY ON THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. [1]

[1] AJSL 57:271-72.

12:3a | Which Mary Anoints Jesus?

WHO IS THIS MARY?

ORIGEN There seems then much likeness and some connection about the woman in the four Evangelists. Yet I would say to those who think that all wrote of the same woman, “Do you think that the very same woman who poured precious ointment on Jesus’ head, as Matthew and Mark have related, also anointed his feet with ointment (or “myrrh,” “myrrha”) as Luke and John have related?

But it is not possible that the Evangelists should have contradicted one another in relating about the same woman, since they were perfected in the same understanding and the same spirit and the same mind, and they had been seeking to minister to the welfare of the church. But if anyone thinks it is the same woman in Luke and John, let him tell us if Mary was the woman who is said in Luke to have been a sinner in a city who, learning that Jesus had sat down to meet in a Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood behind his feet weeping, washing his feet with her tears.

It is incredible that Mary, whom Jesus loved, the sister of Martha, who had chosen the better portion, should be said to have been a sinner in the city. And the woman who, according to Matthew and Mark, poured precious ointment on Jesus’ head is not actually written to have been a sinner. But she who according to Luke is described as a sinner did not dare to reach to Christ’s head but washed his feet with her tears—as if scarcely worthy of his very feet—from sorrow that brought about sincere repentance with salvation.

The woman in Luke wails and weeps much so that she may wash Jesus’ feet. But she, who according to John is Mary, is introduced neither as a sinner nor as weeping. Perhaps then one will say that four different women are recorded by the Evangelists. But I rather agree that there were three. There was the one of whom Matthew and Mark wrote in complete agreement. There was also the woman of whom Luke wrote, while John wrote of yet another, differing from the other woman not only in what is written about the ointment but also because Jesus loved Mary and Martha—although she also is related to have been at Bethany like the woman in Matthew and Mark. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 77. [1]

[1] AEG 4:302-4*; GCS 38 2 (11):178-80. For the identity of Mary, see also the discussion in Jn 11:2.

HARMONY MAINTAINED

AUGUSTINE Harmony is maintained here between the three Evangelists: Matthew, Mark and John. There is no doubt that they record the same occurrence at Bethany. This is the occasion when the disciples also, as all three mention, murmured against the woman, ostensibly on the ground of her having wasted this very precious ointment. There is the further fact that Matthew and Mark tell us that it was the Lord’s head on which the ointment was poured, while John says it was his feet. This can be shown to involve no contradiction if we apply the principle … that even where the several Evangelists introduce only the one fact each, we should take the case to have been really that both things were elements in the actual occurrence. In the same way, our conclusion with regard to the passage now before us should be that the woman poured the ointment not only on the Lord’s head but also on his feet. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 2.79.155. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 6:174**; CSEL 43:262.

SHE DOES NOT PRESUME TO FIRST ANOINT HIS HEAD

CHROMATIUS OF AQUILEIA See the humility of this holy woman. She does not anoint his head but his feet. It is only afterward that she anoints the Lord’s head. Therefore, first she washes his feet and then his head. But she began at his feet so that she might be found worthy to proceed [to anoint] his head. For “those who are humble,” as it is written, “will be exalted, and those who are exalted will be humbled.” [1] … And she wipes his feet not with a towel but with her hair so that she might exhibit even greater service to the Lord. … Allegorically, the woman was anticipating the figure of the church who truly in the fullness of faith brings its devotion to Christ. And this he freely receives as a very precious perfume. SERMON 11.2-3. [2]

[1] Lk 18:14.

[2] CCL 9A: 48-49.

POURING OINTMENT ON JESUS’ FEET

AMBROSE In loving this body, that is, the church, bring water for his feet and kiss his feet, not only pardoning those who have become enmeshed in sin but by your peace giving them harmony and putting them at peace. Pour ointment on his feet, that the whole house wherein Christ reclines at table may be filled with the odor of your ointment, that all at table with him may be pleased with your perfume. In other words, pay honor to the least. LETTER 62 (TO HIS SISTER). [1]

[1] FC 26:395-96*; CSEL 82 3:160.

GIVE YOUR EXCESS TO THE POOR

AUGUSTINE Let us look into the mystery this incident imported. Whatever soul among you wishes to be truly faithful, anoint the feet of the Lord with precious ointment like Mary did. That ointment was righteousness, and therefore it was [exactly] a pound weight: but it was ointment of pure nard, very precious. From his calling it “pistici” [1] we ought to infer that there was some locality from which it derived its preciousness; but this does not exhaust its meaning, and it harmonizes well with a sacramental symbol. The root of the word in the Greek [pistis] is by us called “faith.” You were seeking to work righteousness: “The just shall live by faith.” [2] Anoint the feet of Jesus: follow the Lord’s footsteps by living a good life. Wipe them with your hair: what you have in excess, give to the poor, and then you have wiped the feet of the Lord. For the hair seems to be the superfluous part of the body. You have something to spare of your abundance: it is superfluous to you but necessary for the feet of the Lord. Perhaps on this earth the Lord’s feet are still in need. For of whom but of his members is he yet to say in the end, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of mine, you did it unto me”? [3] You spent what was superfluous for yourselves, but you have done what was grateful to my feet. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 50.6. [4]

[1] The term for “pure nard,” which Augustine provides in the transliterated Greek, is “nardi pistici.” Because pistici, which means trustworthy or authentic, derives from the Greek term for “faith,” which is pistis, Augustine will draw further inferences.

[2] See Rom 1:17.

[3] Mt 25:40.

[4] NPNF 1 7:280*; CCL 36:435.

12:3b | House Filled With Fragrance

THE OINTMENT OF GOOD DEEDS TO GOD’S GLORY

ORIGEN Everything by which anyone is anointed is called oil. Ointment is one form of oil. So one form of ointment is costly; another is not. And so, every righteous action is called a good work. But one kind of good work is what we do for our fellow human beings or according to their [expectations]. Another kind of good work is something we do because of God and according to [his expectations]. Of the latter, one form is profitable to humanity; another serves only to the glory of God. For example, a person does something well under the influence of natural justice, not because of God, as sometimes even heathen or a lot of other people do. This kind of work is common oil, not of great fragrance, and yet it is duly accepted by God. …

Peter says [in the Clementines] that good works done by unbelievers profit them in this world but not also in the other to the attainment of eternal life. This is only right, since they are not done because of God but because of human nature itself. But those who do them because of God, that is, believers, profit not only in this world but more especially in the one to come. What believers do because of God is a kind of ointment that has a pleasing fragrance. But part of this very work that believers do because of God … is done for the welfare of humanity, such as the giving of alms, visitations of the sick, entertainments of strangers, humility, kindness. … Those who do these things to Christians anoint the Lord’s feet with ointment because they are the Lord’s feet with which he always walks—something that penitents are especially accustomed to do in the remission of their sins. This is a work called a fragrant ointment, but it is not the best. Rather, those who pursue charity, continue in fasting and prayer, have patience in adversities like Job, in temptations, those who are not afraid to confess the truth of God—all of which are things that are of no benefit to other people but only promote the glory of God—this is the ointment that anoints the head of the Lord Christ and from there runs down through his whole body, that is, the whole church. And this is very costly ointment whose fragrance fills the whole house, that is, the church of Christ. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 77. [1]

ABUNDANCE OF OIL COVERS ABUNDANCE OF SIN

EPHREM THE SYRIAN:

An abundance is oil with which sinners do business: the forgiveness of sins.

By oil the Anointed [2] forgave the sins of the sinner who anointed [his] feet. [3]

With [oil] Mary poured out her sin upon the head of the Lord of her sins.

It wafted its scent; it tested the reclining as in a furnace:

It exposed the theft clothed in the care of the poor. [4]

It became the bridge to the remembrance of Mary to pass on her glory from generation to generation. [5]

In its flowings is hidden joy, for oil does indeed gladden the face.

It brings its shoulder to all burdens in rejoicing and grieving with everyone:

For it serves joy yet is obeyed by gloom,

For faces joyful of life by it are resplendent,

And with it, the gloomy face of death is prepared for burial and dies.

HYMNS ON VIRGINITY 4.11-12. [6]

[1] GCS 38 2 (11):185-86; AEG 4:307-8**.

[2] Athanasius too speaks of Jesus anointing Mary with the oil of the unbreakable seal of the Trinity in a reference to baptism (Homily on the Resurrection of Lazarus [AJSL 57:264]).

[3] Ephrem identifies the sinful woman as Mary, presumably Mary Magdalene.

[4] A reference to Jude’s later objections.

[5] Mk 14:9.

[6] ESH 278-79.