Mark 14:3-11--Jesus Anointed at Bethany

Mark 14:3-11
English Standard Version

Jesus Anointed at Bethany
3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. 11 And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to betray him.

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Sticking with the details in the synoptic gospels, this man, Simon the Leper, was also a Pharisee (see Luke 7:37-39).  There probably was some desire by this man to hear Jesus and examine what He had to say, for Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, come into Jerusalem on a donkey while the people shouted "Hosanna," and Jesus had avoided all the traps that the Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, priests, teachers of the Law, and the Herodians had tried to set for Him.  Simon may have been deciding for himself what to make of Jesus, but Luke gives us a good indication that perhaps Simon was looking for a reason to not believe everything he had seen and heard that week.  For, when this woman came and anointed Jesus's feet, Simon said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."  The Pharisees (and most of the other people at that time) were concerned about remaining ceremonially pure for the Passover, and, in Simion's mind, allowing this "unclean" woman to touch Him was making Jesus unclean.  However, we've seen that Jesus can impart His cleanliness to the unclean without them making Him unclean.

The ointment used by the woman was very expensive, and the fragrance filled the whole house.  Judas Iscariot knew exactly how much it was worth--300 denarii, which is close to a year's wages (1 denarius a day, six days a week for 50 weeks a year).  Judas said with his mouth that he was indignant because this ointment could have been sold and the money given to the poor, but we know from other passages that the real reason that Judas was upset was because he was the treasurer for the group and helped himself to the little money that was in the moneybag.

Jesus points out to Simon (and Judas) that wherever the gospel was shared, this woman who was a "sinner" would be talked about because she was anointing His body for burial before the events that were about to unfold (telling Simon and Judas that He knew all about how the plot to kill Him, yet Judas only started to be provoked in his heart to betray Jesus at this time, or possibly a few days earlier at a similar event according to John 12).  Judas was motivated by selfish ambition and greed.  He wanted to be close to Jesus because he thought Jesus was going to be a political figure and he wanted to ride the gravy train.  When it became clear that Jesus didn't share those interests, Judas probably wanted to force the issue to make Jesus get into a confrontation with His enemies, likely assuming that there was no way that Jesus would ever really be delivered over unto death.  The devil was using Judas to try to tempt Jesus to not go to the cross, but it is not until the Last Supper when we see that Satan actually enters Judas.

We don't see it here, but Luke tells us that Jesus used this opportunity to teach Simon and His disciples that this woman loved Him much because she had been forgiven much, and the unstated lesson was that Simon did not love Jesus much because he didn't recognize his need for forgiveness and had not been forgiven by Jesus.  Jesus wasn't at Simon's house trying to make friends or to try to convince the Pharisees to not kill Him.  Jesus was the same person He always was.

It pleased the chief priests greatly that Judas Iscariot, one of "The Twelve" wanted to betray Jesus, so it was at this time that they promised to give him money if he would do so--maybe these events showed them his heart, or maybe they just knew he was motivated by greed like they were, for Jesus often spoke of how the religious elites were greedy.  Things have changed drastically in just a day or so from the Pharisees plotting to arrest Jesus during the Feast but kill Him later to now they wanted to kill Him as soon as possible--maybe even before the Feast that was only a couple of days away.