From Bethany toward Jerusalem, a Reflection on John 12:1-6

We are reading this lesson during Lent, two weeks before Good Friday and Easter. Jesus is in Bethany, on the way to Jerusalem.

Jesus is in the home of Lazarus. Look back at Chapter 11. Jesus had called Lazarus from his tomb precipitating the plots for his death. Mary anoints him with nard, an allusion to burial--or reminding us that kings were anointed. And Judas is there--Judas, the one who will betray him.

Judas objects to what he characterizes as wasteful spending. John tells us that Judas didn't really care about the poor, but that he was planning to use the money for himself.

Although an anointing of Jesus by a woman is told in the other Gospels, only in John is it tied so closely to the death of Jesus. Fred Craddock in Preaching through the Christian Year C lists ways in which John's account is passion-specific:

1) The anointing is set between the decision of his enemies to kill Jesus and his entry into Jerusalem.
2) The anointing takes place in Bethany where Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb.
3) It takes place at a Passover feast--Jesus died as the Passover lamb (19:31-37).
4) Judas is also at the banquet table.
5) Jesus explicitly refers to his burial (v.7).