Marginal Christianity

53. Mark 14:1-9: The Anointing The chief priests and scribes are plotting a quiet way to put Jesus to death. That’s the backstory here and for the rest of the gospel (vv.1-2). The Anointing at Bethany Jesus, meanwhile, King Jesus, Messiah Jesus, is dining among his people, Simon the leper and his friends in Bethany. Maybe he was a former leper who had been healed by Jesus. If his leprosy was active he could not have hosted this party in his home. The woman, likely a prostitute though not Mary Magdalene, enters the party. She goes directly to Jesus, bearing a vial of “costly ointment.” In an act of devotion she breaks the jar and pours it over his head. An impulsive act, perhaps, wasteful according to her critics, Jesus nonetheless accepts it, commends it, and recasts it as anointing of “my body beforehand for its burial” (v.8). Other members of this gathering are p.o.’d by her action and angrily upbraid her for not selling the ointment and giving the money to the poor. Whe...

The chief priests and scribes are plotting a quiet way to put Jesus to death. That’s the backstory here and for the rest of the gospel (vv.1-2). The Anointing at Bethany Jesus, meanwhile, King Jesus, Messiah Jesus, is dining among his people, Simon the leper and his friends in Bethany. Maybe he was a former leper who had been healed by Jesus. If his leprosy was active he could not have hosted this party in his home. The woman, likely a prostitute though not Mary Magdalene, enters the party. She goes directly to Jesus, bearing a vial of “costly ointment.” In an act of devotion she breaks the jar and pours it over his head. An impulsive act, perhaps, wasteful according to her critics, Jesus nonetheless accepts it, commends it, and recasts it as anointing of “my body beforehand for its burial” (v.8). Other members of this gathering are p.o.’d by her action and angrily upbraid her for not selling the ointment and giving the money to the poor. Whether this is a genuine co...