John 12

It’s not clear what day Jesus arrived in Bethany. Some say Saturday, which it seems would have had him traveling on the Jewish day of rest. Not hard to imagine, perhaps, given that he broke other laws of the Pharisees. The Bible doesn’t say Jews can’t travel on the Sabbath. That was a law of the Pharisees. It’s hard to figure out the day Jesus arrived because the writer doesn’t say if he’s including Passover in the six days. Also, it’s hard to tell if Passover started on Friday evening, as many scholars say they think it did, or on Thursday, when Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples on the night Jewish authorities arrested him. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke seem to agree that Passover had already started when Jesus ate that Thursday evening meal. But in the Gospel of John, Passover seems to begin a day later, at sundown, the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath on Friday night.

See note for 11:55.

375 milliliters, almost half a liter.

Nard was a lavishly expensive, imported perfume made from the roots and stems of spikenard plants that grow in India, China, and the Himalayas of Nepal. People in the ancient Middle East considered it a rare luxury. Merchants selling it in the Jewish homeland may have carried it some 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to market. People often bought perfumes and kept them on hand for someone to anoint their bodies for burial. The strong perfume masked the odor of decomposition. Nard has a deep earthy smell, some say like cyprus wood. Open a flask of it and the aroma quickly fills a room.

Similar versions of a woman anointing Jesus with perfume show up in Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; Luke 7:36-38. When we pull together details from all those stories, we get the suggestion that Mary had a bad reputation in town and that she broke open an alabaster flask to pour oil on both the head and feet of Jesus. With 12 ounces (almost half a liter) of perfume, she would have had enough to anoint his head and feet. When she wiped his feet with her hair, she was able to carry away at least some of the fragrance with her. Some scholars say there are two stories reported: Matthew, Mark, and John tell of Mary or an unidentified woman anointing Jesus in Bethany; Luke reporting the story of a sinful woman anointing Jesus while he was ministering in the northern region around Capernaum and Nain.

Judas put the value at 300 denarii. Romans seemed to consider one denarius an appropriate salary for a day’s labor. That salary shows up frequently in first-century writings.

The powerful Greek word is kleptais, from which we get the English word “kleptomanic.”

The word is “hosanna.” It literally means “Oh save.” It later evolved into a term used in worship services to express praise, perhaps a bit like the “Hallelujah!” that people sometimes whisper in worship services today when a preacher finishes the sermon.

Literally, “The daughter of Zion.” “Zion” was a nickname for the city of Jerusalem.

Zechariah 9:9. For Matthew’s version, which suggests Jesus rode a donkey and a donkey’s colt, see Matthew 21:7 and the footnote.

Andrew also came from Bethsaida.

Many Bible experts say Jesus was talking not only about the crucifixion that lifts him above the ground and leaves him hanging there to die. It’s also a reference to his resurrection and then again to his ascension into heaven. So, he was lifted three times. By dying and rising again, he gave people confidence that what he said about eternal life was true. The Christian movement was born, and eternal life was made available to everyone willing to embrace the welcoming Jesus.

Isaiah 53:1. It’s unclear exactly what this meant, both in the original Isaiah passage and in John’s application of it. The paraphrase here is one suggestion of what John may have meant.

Isaiah 6:10.

That’s exactly what happened to Jewish Christians in the years that followed. They had to choose between traditional Jewish faith or faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah. Some stayed with Jesus. Others returned to the comparative safety to their familiar comfort zone.