Passion Week: Mary Anoints Jesus
Walking with Jesus through Passion Week
March 23, 2024 — Allen Hood
What is all too easy to forget when we go through the moments leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection is that these are not simply a series of historical events; this is the place where God's passion and love are chiefly revealed, and as we will see, His great desire for humanity is union with Him — close friendship and intimacy with the ones He loves. Most begin the “journey” through Passion Week at the Triumphal Entry (John 12), but there is an event that takes place on the Saturday evening before Palm Sunday, and I believe that this moment has profound significance for the life of Jesus, even impacting the way He will enter into what will be both a glorious and a hostile week, and it will give us insight into Christ’s humanity.
In John 12:3, Mary, in an act of love and devotion, takes a very costly oil and anoints the feet of Jesus, wiping His feet with her hair. In the Synoptic Gospels, the writers depict Mary pouring the oil over His head, but John chooses to highlight something different. Instead, John highlights that she washed Jesus' feet with her hair and that the house filled with the fragrance of the oil. She did this because she knew Jesus’ death was nearing, and she wanted to anoint Him for burial.
On the Saturday before Palm Sunday, there was extraordinary pressure for Jesus to be put to death, especially after He raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44), and for the six months leading up to this Saturday, Jesus had been predicting and foretelling of His death and resurrection. The cross was coming. He had been proclaiming that the hour of His death was near, and yet His followers were not listening. The disciples were arguing over who the greatest was, the religious leaders were becoming more hostile towards Him, the crowds were becoming more committed to making Him their king, and Judas was wrestling with his future acts of betrayal. However, the young Mary of Bethany had been really listening to Jesus. In that moment, she makes a declaration, not only of who He is, but what He is about to do. She trusts what He said is going to happen, and in that way, she becomes the picture of this extravagant love, giving Him her entire inheritance.
Mary’s display of love and faith communicates a profound truth: Jesus did not do it alone. In one sense He did — as He alone could die for the sins of the world, He alone could raise from the dead, and He alone could live a perfect life — but in another sense, He did not. There are these traces where God the Father allows human beings to encourage Jesus in His humanity, even as He walks out God’s sovereign plan as the divine Son of God in the flesh. We see it at the Mount of Transfiguration, as Elijah and Moses talked to Him about His departure (death), and we see it at the Crucifixion, where Jesus’ mother and the beloved disciple kept Him company as He hung on the tree. Further, we recognize even the thief on the cross, who became a gift to Jesus, encouraging Him right before He endured the penalty of sin. Thus, in a beautiful way, humans played a key role in both encouragement and comfort for Jesus in His redemptive mission.
Mary was listening and in tune with Christ’s emotion. Her heart’s desire was to comfort Him, and in this moment, God allowed this young woman to participate in encouraging Jesus' heart. All week long, as He faced the crowds' wrong expectations, the disciples’ vain glory and ambition, the religious leaders’ hostility, and the Roman Empire’s power that would ultimately crucify Him, He is going to smell this oil as a reminder of what a life of devotion and love looks like. This act of love points Him towards the joy set before Him, helping Him endure the cross.
This act of love and great faith is a glimpse into the impact a human relationship had on Jesus, and we can imagine that the stain of the perfume was a constant encouragement to Him, as He endured the cross. It was so impactful that Jesus declared her story would be told wherever the Gospel is preached. She became the picture of what faith and love looked like and what faith and love were to look like wherever the Gospel went. The fact that a human could encourage God's heart displays the very reason why Jesus was there to begin with. He dies in order to bring men and women into this type of relationship of love and friendship with Him. So, from the very beginning, as we start our journey through Passion Week, let’s meditate on this question: “Who are you, God, that you not only became a man but would also allow a human heart to encourage you in your hour of suffering?” And let the answer to this question impact our hearts when we see Jesus in each moment throughout Passion Week.
