John Calvin Commentary John 12:2

"So they made him a supper there: and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with him." — John 12:2 (ASV)

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.