John Calvin Commentary John 12

Jesus came to Bethany. We see that those who thought that Christ would not come to the feast (John 11:56) judged too rashly, and this reminds us that we should not be so hasty, but instead wait patiently and quietly until the season, which is unknown to us, arrives. Now Jesus came first to Bethany, so that from there he might go three days afterwards to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, he intended to give Judas a fit time and place for betraying him, so that he might present himself, ready to be sacrificed, at the appointed time. For he is not ignorant of what is to take place, but willingly comes forward to be sacrificed.

Having come to Bethany six days before the passover, he remained there four days, which may easily be inferred from Matthew and Mark. John does not state on what day the banquet was made for him, at which he was anointed by Mary; but it seems probable that it took place not long after he had arrived.

Some think that the anointing mentioned by Matthew (Matthew 26:7) and Mark (Mark 14:3) is different from what is mentioned here, but they are mistaken. They have been led to adopt this view by a calculation of time, because the two Evangelists (Matthew 26:2; Mark 14:1), before relating that Christ was anointed, speak of two days as having elapsed. But the solution is easy and may be given in two ways.

For John does not say that Christ was anointed on the first day after his arrival, so this might have happened even when he was preparing to depart. Yet, as I have already said, another conjecture is more probable: that he was anointed at least one or two days before his departure. This is because it is certain that Judas had made a bargain with the priests before Christ sent two of his disciples to prepare the Passover. Now, at the very least, one day must have intervened.

The Evangelists add that he sought a convenient opportunity for betraying Christ (Matthew 26:16) after having received the bribe. Therefore, when, after mentioning two days, they add the history of the anointing, they place last in the narrative what happened first. The reason for this is that after relating Christ’s words, You know that after two days the Son of man shall be betrayed (Matthew 26:2), they now add—what had been formerly omitted—how and on what occasion he was betrayed by his disciple. Thus, there is a perfect agreement in the account of his having been anointed at Bethany.

Therefore, there they made him a banquet. Matthew (Matthew 26:7) and Mark (Mark 14:3) say that he then ate supper at the house of Simon the leper. John does not mention the house, but shows plainly enough that it was in some other place than the house of Lazarus and Martha that he ate supper, for he says that Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him, that is, one who had been invited along with Christ.

Nor does it involve any contradiction that Matthew and Mark relate that the head of Christ was anointed, while John relates that his feet were anointed. The usual practice was the anointing of the head, and on this account Pliny considers it an instance of excessive luxury that some anointed the ankles.

The three Evangelists agree in this: that Mary did not anoint Christ sparingly, but poured on him a large quantity of ointment. What John says about the feet amounts to this: that the whole body of Christ, down to the feet, was anointed. There is an amplification in the word feet, which appears more fully from what follows, when he adds that Mary wiped his feet with her hair.

And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. It was not a simple liquid extracted from spikenard, but a compound of many fragrant substances; and therefore it is no wonder that the whole house was filled with the odor.

One of his disciples, therefore, says. Next follows the murmuring of Judas, which Matthew attributes to the disciples indiscriminately (Matthew 16:8), and Mark to some of them (Mark 14:4); but it is customary in Scripture to apply to many, by way of synecdoche, what belongs to one or to a few. Yet I think it is probable that the murmuring proceeded from Judas alone, and that the rest were induced to give him their assent, as murmurings, by fanning a flame, easily kindle in us a variety of dispositions; and especially as we are too prone to form unfavorable judgments, slanders are readily embraced by us.

But the credulity which the Spirit of God reproves in the Apostles is a warning to us not to be too easy and credulous in listening to calumnious statements.

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred denarii? A pound of ordinary ointment, Pliny tells us, cost not more than ten denarii; but the same Pliny says that the highest price of the best ointment was three hundred and ten denarii. Now the Evangelists agree that this was the most costly ointment, and therefore Judas is correct in valuing a pound of it at three hundred denarii — a sum which, according to the computation of Budaeus, amounts to fifty livres of French money.

And as almost every kind of luxury involves excess and superfluity, the greater the waste of money, the more plausible reason Judas had for murmuring; as if he had said, “Had Mary spent little, there would have been some excuse for her; but now, since, in a matter of no importance, she has wasted a vast sum of money, has she not done an injury to the poor, who might have obtained great relief from such a sum? What she has done, therefore, admits of no apology.”