The anointing at Bethany by Mary of Bethany is described in the Gospel of John and is also mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, though with some differences in detail.
According to John, six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, and a dinner was given in his honor. Martha served, Lazarus was among those reclining at the table, and Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume, and poured it on Jesus' feet, wiping them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
In Matthew and Mark, the anointing is also described as happening in Bethany, specifically at the home of Simon the Leper. An unnamed woman anointed Jesus with expensive perfume from an alabaster jar, and this action was also defended by Jesus against objections, stating that the poor would always be with them but he would not always be with them. The event is significant as it is seen as a preparation for Jesus' burial and is often interpreted as a sign of Mary's deep devotion and understanding of Jesus' impending death.
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor." Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." - Matthew 26:6–13
The Annointing of the Feet with Spikenard in Bethany
- Jesus arrives in Bethany, six days before the Passover, staying with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha (whom He had previously raised from the dead). (Friday before Palm Sunday; no specific Christian holiday—preparatory to Holy Week.)
- Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with costly spikenard perfume, wiping them with her hair; Judas Iscariot objects, citing waste, but Jesus defends the act as preparation for His burial and notes that the poor will always be present but He will not. (Friday/Saturday before Palm Sunday; no specific holiday.)
- A large crowd gathers in Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus; the chief priests plot to kill Lazarus as well, since many believe in Jesus because of the resurrection miracle. (Saturday before Palm Sunday; no specific holiday.)
- Jesus instructs two disciples (Peter and John, per harmonization) to proceed to Bethphage, locate a tethered donkey and its colt (unridden), untie them, and bring them to Him, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9. (Palm Sunday morning.)
Holy Wednesday: Anointing of Yeshua by Mary
"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much"
In the New Testament account of Holy Week, after Palm Sunday, the Sanhedrin gathered and plotted to kill Jesus before the feast of Pesach.[7] On the Wednesday before his death, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. As he sat at the supper table with his disciples, a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head and feet with a costly oil of spikenard.[8] The disciples were indignant, asking why the oil was not instead sold and the money given to the poor.[9]
The Parable of the Two Debtors is a parable of Jesus. It appears in Luke 7:36–7:50, where Jesus uses the parable to explain that the woman who has anointed him loves him more than his host, because she has been forgiven of greater sins.
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." - C.S. Lewis
The parable is told in response to an unspoken reaction by Jesus' host, who is named Simon (and is sometimes identified with Simon the Leper):
One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat at the table. Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner." (Luke 7:36-39, World English Bible)
According to Luke, Jesus responds as follows:
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."He said, "Teacher, say on."
"A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they couldn't pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?"
Simon answered, "He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most."
He said to him, "You have judged correctly." Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
— Luke 7:40-47, World English Bible
The denarius in this parable is a coin worth a labourer's daily wage.[3] In Roman Catholic tradition, the woman is identified with Mary Magdalene, although Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally disagree.[1] By the standards of the time, Simon the Pharisee has indeed been a poor host: at the very least he should have provided water so that Jesus could wash his dusty feet, and a kiss would have been the normal greeting.
But Judas Iscariot wanted to keep the money for himself.[10][11] Then Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered to deliver Jesus to them in exchange for money. From this moment on, Judas sought an opportunity to betray Jesus.[12]
In reference to Judas Iscariot's intent to betray Jesus, formed on Holy Wednesday, the day is sometimes called "Spy Wednesday".[13][14][15] The word spy, as used in the term, means "ambush, ambuscade, snare".[16] Additionally, among the disciples, Judas clandestinely was a spy and Wednesday was the day he chose to betray Jesus.
the Hymn of Kassiani is sung. The hymn, (written in the 9th century by Kassia) tells of the woman who washed Christ's feet in the house of Simon the Leper (Luke 7:36–50). Much of the hymn is written from the perspective of the sinful woman:
O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, sensing Your Divinity, takes upon herself the duty of a myrrh-bearer. With lamentations she brings you myrrh in anticipation of your entombment. "Woe to me!" she cries, "for me night has become a frenzy of licentiousness, a dark and moonless love of sin. Receive the fountain of my tears, O You who gather into clouds the waters of the sea. Incline unto me, unto the sighings of my heart, O You who bowed the heavens by your ineffable condescension. I will wash your immaculate feet with kisses and dry them again with the tresses of my hair; those very feet at whose sound Eve hid herself in fear when she heard You walking in Paradise in the twilight of the day. As for the multitude of my sins and the depths of Your judgments, who can search them out, O Savior of souls, my Savior? Do not disdain me Your handmaiden, O You who are boundless in mercy.
Library of Light Edition 1.0 — Last revised: April 2026
Expanded Bethany Traditions
Bethany — The House of Friendship
Bethany becomes one of the most intimate locations in the Gospel story.
Here are:
- Martha,
- Mary,
- Lazarus,
- meals,
- friendship,
- death and restoration,
- anointing,
- preparation for Passion.
Jerusalem is the place of public confrontation.
Bethany is repeatedly the place of hospitality and friendship.
Martha and Mary
Luke 10 preserves the famous contrast.
Martha is occupied with serving.
Mary sits at Yeshua’s feet listening.
Yeshua says Mary has chosen “the good portion.”
Christian tradition often interprets the sisters as symbols of:
active life — Martha
contemplative life — Mary
The strongest reading does not denigrate service.
It asks whether service has become anxious enough to lose the presence it is meant to serve.
Martha in John 11
John prevents Martha from being reduced to “the busy sister.”
She gives one of the Gospel’s strongest Christological confessions before Lazarus is raised.
Martha is both:
servant and theologian.
Mary at the Feet
Mary repeatedly appears at Yeshua’s feet:
- listening,
- grieving,
- anointing.
Her posture becomes one of deep receptivity and devotion.
The Anointing and Burial
Yeshua interprets the anointing in relation to his burial.
The fragrance fills the house.
The scene is sensuous and excessive:
valuable perfume,
hair,
feet,
fragrance,
public intimacy.
Love appears as lavish gift.
Head or Feet?
Matthew and Mark describe an unnamed woman pouring perfume on Yeshua’s head.
John identifies Mary of Bethany and emphasizes the feet.
A harmony may preserve both dimensions, but the distinct evangelist textures should remain visible.
Anointing the head evokes kingship.
Anointing the feet evokes humility and devotion.
Together:
King and servant, burial and enthronement.
Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the “Sinful Woman”
Western Christian tradition often merged:
- Mary Magdalene,
- Mary of Bethany,
- Luke’s unnamed sinful woman who anoints Yeshua.
The canonical texts do not explicitly identify all three as the same person.
Eastern Christianity traditionally keeps them more clearly distinct.
This is an important place to preserve the difference between:
Gospel identities and later Western conflation.
“She Has Done a Beautiful Thing”
Yeshua defends the woman:
“She has done a beautiful thing to me.” — Mark 14:6, RSV
The disciples calculate utility.
Yeshua recognizes beauty and timing.
The act cannot be reduced to economic efficiency.
Judas’s Objection
John puts the objection especially into the mouth of Judas.
The contrast becomes stark:
Mary pours out costly love.
Judas calculates value and moves toward betrayal.
Alabaster and Nard
Nard was an expensive aromatic perfume imported over long distances.
The alabaster jar and spikenard became enduring Passion symbols.
The fragrance anticipates burial spices while also functioning like royal anointing.
“Wherever the Gospel Is Preached”
Mark and Matthew preserve Yeshua’s extraordinary promise that what the woman has done will be told in memory of her wherever the Gospel is proclaimed.
Her act becomes part of the Gospel itself.
Bethany as Threshold
Bethany sits on the threshold of Holy Week.
The story moves:
Lazarus raised
meal
anointing
Palm Sunday
Jerusalem
Passion
The house of friendship becomes the last sanctuary before confrontation.
A Larger Bethany Page
This page can function not only as “the anointing” but as the Bethany household dossier:
Martha,
Mary,
Lazarus,
hospitality,
contemplation,
resurrection,
anointing,
friendship.
Bethany represents the intimate community around Yeshua that public ministry alone does not show.
A Distinct Earlier Anointing: The Sinful Woman — Luke 7:36–50
This scene should be kept clearly distinct from the Bethany anointing, even though later Western Christian tradition often blended the women and episodes together.
The Setting
Luke places the event much earlier in Yeshua’s ministry.
A Pharisee named Simon invites Yeshua to eat at his house.
An unnamed woman of the city, known as a sinner, enters carrying an alabaster flask of ointment.
She stands behind Yeshua at his feet weeping.
Her tears wet his feet.
She wipes them with her hair,
kisses them,
and anoints them.
This is not explicitly Mary of Bethany in Luke.
Nor does Luke call her Mary Magdalene.
Simon’s Inner Judgment
Simon silently concludes that if Yeshua were truly a prophet, he would know what sort of woman is touching him.
The irony is that Yeshua immediately reveals that he does know—both the woman and Simon’s unspoken judgment.
The Parable of the Two Debtors
Yeshua tells of two debtors:
one owes much,
one owes little,
both are forgiven.
He asks:
Which will love the creditor more?
Simon answers:
the one forgiven more.
The parable turns the entire dinner into a mirror.
The Missing Hospitality
Yeshua contrasts Simon and the woman.
Simon offered no water for his feet.
She washed them with tears.
Simon gave no kiss.
She has not stopped kissing his feet.
Simon gave no oil.
She anointed him with perfume.
The socially condemned woman becomes the true host.
“She Loved Much”
Yeshua says:
“her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.” — Luke 7:47, RSV
The relation between forgiveness and love has generated much theological reflection.
The parable suggests that awareness of forgiven debt produces abundant love.
The scene is therefore not glorification of sin.
It is revelation of what happens when shame gives way to mercy.
“Your Faith Has Saved You”
Yeshua ends:
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” — Luke 7:50, RSV
The final word is not “remain the sinful woman.”
It is peace.
Distinguishing the Gospel Anointings
For clarity:
Luke 7 — Simon the Pharisee
- earlier in the ministry
- unnamed woman known as a sinner
- tears and hair
- feet anointed
- forgiveness and the Two Debtors
Matthew 26 / Mark 14 — Bethany, Simon the Leper
- immediately before the Passion
- unnamed woman
- costly perfume
- head anointed
- burial interpretation
John 12 — Bethany
- Mary of Bethany named
- Lazarus and Martha present
- feet anointed with nard
- hair
- Judas objects
- burial interpretation
Later Western tradition often associated the sinful woman, Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Bethany.
Eastern Christianity generally maintained clearer distinctions among them.
That later conflation is itself an important part of Christian history—but it should not erase the differences in the canonical texts.