John 12:3 Commentary and Bible Study

This was Himalayan nard. The experts tells us, that there were only a couple of places where it grew, up in the Himalayas, and it had to be transported all that way, up and down mountains and through passes, and then, of course, eventually, to the Holy Land; and it was enormously costly. Judas estimated it as being the value of a year’s wages. It was a very rare aromatic oil, amber in colour, with a very strong and beautiful smell. For all we know, and very probably, it was also spiced with other materials. It is described as being pure, which means it was not in any way diluted by less expensive oils, but that does not prevent it from being flavoured with other spices, which would have been the usual course of events.Of course, she waited for the meal to finish. You cannot taste the meal and have the pure nard in the house at the same time. ‘Then’ - it was a coordinated act, but it is after the meal. The service, the testimony, and now the faith, and she anoints the feet of Christ. Mary took a Roman pound of the ointment, or by our reckoning more like three-quarters of a pound. She poured it out on the head, say Matthew and Mark; on the feet, says John. It is not a contradiction. Christ was reclining at the table, on his head and on his body, she anoints him all. ‘And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.’ Well, it must have been, it would have penetrated everywhere. So there was a wonderful smell that clung to the clothing, unmistakeable.What was she doing? Well, this was an act that symbolised his death. Of course, he was not dead, but she proceeded to anoint him, with this beautiful perfume, as though he were dead, because she believed he had come to die; she believed his death was at hand. Christ had told the disciples – time after time – that he was going to be crucified and slain. The atonement had been taught. The disciples were still very puzzled about it – we are told that they didn’t understand many of these things until they happened, or even after they happened, but Mary knew; she understood. And so she came, and she anointed him in advance of his death. Maybe she perceived that she would never get another opportunity – he wouldn’t be in Bethany again, he would be in Jerusalem. Once he was dead, he would be taken away somewhere – and so, she was going to pay her great respects now. She endorsed Christ. She influenced the disciples in their minds – she set an example of love, and of service, and she even, by the way, exposed by her act a hypocrite.