John 12:1-11 | What's happening (and who's involved)?
Do you remember last week how I said as we get nearer to the most important part of a narrative, it seems to slow down and it really zeroes in? Well this section does just that. There is a lot to unpack of very key details here.
It is six days before the Passover and Jesus is at Bethany. Remember that Jesus is currently having to stay under the radar lest He be caught and killed. He does not head straight to Jerusalem. He instead goes to be with the family of the man who was just raised. They are eating a meal and we have described to us the actions of a few of them. Jesus sits at the table, Lazarus sits with Him, Martha is serving, and then Mary does something amazing. She anoints the feet of Jesus.
Scripture gives us a little more detail here. Mary poured a pound of spikenard (or myrrh) upon the feet of Jesus and begins wiping His feet with her hair. In an interesting note, the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Now this is something we will be getting into with more detail throughout the week so I am not going to be spending a whole lot of time on it now, but I want to be sure that it is emphasized here.
As a result of Mary's offering, Judas ridicules her. He realized he lost some opportunity to snag some money from it. You can say that this is a bit of biblical foreshadowing of Judas. Nevertheless, Jesus rebukes Judas' comment and recognizes that this anointing is for His burial. Myrrh was commonly used as burial ointment. It helped keep the odor of death at bay. In this case, Jesus is predicting His death that is coming.
Word spread of Jesus arriving at Bethany, so many of the Jews came to see not just Him, but Lazarus who was raised from the dead. Seeing this caused many to believe in Jesus. You can imagine, that did not make the Jewish leaders happy. As a result, they did not only plot to kill Jesus, but Lazarus as well! By this point, Jesus had developed quite the reputation. And that is what will carry us into our next section.
What observations are you making?
It is six days before the Passover and Jesus is at Bethany. Remember that Jesus is currently having to stay under the radar lest He be caught and killed. He does not head straight to Jerusalem. He instead goes to be with the family of the man who was just raised. They are eating a meal and we have described to us the actions of a few of them. Jesus sits at the table, Lazarus sits with Him, Martha is serving, and then Mary does something amazing. She anoints the feet of Jesus.
Scripture gives us a little more detail here. Mary poured a pound of spikenard (or myrrh) upon the feet of Jesus and begins wiping His feet with her hair. In an interesting note, the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Now this is something we will be getting into with more detail throughout the week so I am not going to be spending a whole lot of time on it now, but I want to be sure that it is emphasized here.
As a result of Mary's offering, Judas ridicules her. He realized he lost some opportunity to snag some money from it. You can say that this is a bit of biblical foreshadowing of Judas. Nevertheless, Jesus rebukes Judas' comment and recognizes that this anointing is for His burial. Myrrh was commonly used as burial ointment. It helped keep the odor of death at bay. In this case, Jesus is predicting His death that is coming.
Word spread of Jesus arriving at Bethany, so many of the Jews came to see not just Him, but Lazarus who was raised from the dead. Seeing this caused many to believe in Jesus. You can imagine, that did not make the Jewish leaders happy. As a result, they did not only plot to kill Jesus, but Lazarus as well! By this point, Jesus had developed quite the reputation. And that is what will carry us into our next section.
What observations are you making?
Posted in John
Recent
John 12:1-11 | What's happening (and who's involved)?
November 17th, 2025
Passage of the Week: John 12:1-11
November 16th, 2025
John 11:45-57 | Prayer Prompts
November 15th, 2025
John 11:45-57 | What am I going to do about it?
November 14th, 2025
John 11:45-57 | What's the lesson for me today?
November 13th, 2025
Archive
2025
January
Proverbs 27:5Proverbs 27:6Proverbs 27:7Proverbs 27:8Proverbs 27:9Proverbs 27:10Proverbs 27:11Proverbs 27:12Proverbs 27:13Proverbs 27:14Proverbs 27:15-16Proverbs 27:17Proverbs 27:18Proverbs 27:19Proverbs 27:20Proverbs 27:21Proverbs 27:22Proverbs 27:23Proverbs 27:24Proverbs 27:25-27Proverbs 28:1Proverbs 28:2Proverbs 28:3Proverbs 28:4Proverbs 28:5Proverbs 28:6Proverbs 28:7-8Proverbs 28:9Proverbs 28:10Proverbs 28:11Proverbs 28:12
February
Proverbs 28:13Proverbs 28:14Proverbs 28:15Proverbs 28:16Proverbs 28:17Proverbs 28:18Proverbs 28:19Proverbs 28:20Proverbs 28:21Proverbs 28:22Proverbs 28:23Proverbs 28:24Proverbs 28:25Proverbs 28:26Proverbs 28:27Proverbs 28:28Proverbs 29:1Proverbs 29:2Proverbs 29:3Proverbs 29:4Proverbs 29:5Proverbs 29:6Proverbs 29:7Proverbs 29:8Proverbs 29:9Proverbs 29:10Proverbs 29:11Proverbs 29:12
March
Proverbs 29:13Proverbs 29:14Proverbs 29:15Proverbs 29:16Proverbs 29:17Proverbs 29:18Proverbs 29:19Proverbs 29:20Proverbs 29:21Proverbs 29:22Proverbs 29:23Proverbs 29:24Proverbs 29:25Proverbs 29:26Proverbs 29:27Proverbs 30:1-3Proverbs 30:4Proverbs 30:5Proverbs 30:6Proverbs 30:7-9Proverbs 30:10Proverbs 30:11Proverbs 30:12Proverbs 30:13Proverbs 30:14Proverbs 30:15aProverbs 30:15b-16Proverbs 30:17Proverbs 30:18-19Proverbs 30:20Proverbs 30:21-23
No Comments