John Calvin Commentary John 12:7

"Jesus therefore said, Suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying." — John 12:7 (ASV)

Let her alone. When Christ bids them let Mary alone, He shows that they act improperly and unjustly who disturb their neighbors without a good reason, and raise a disturbance about nothing. Christ’s reply, as given by the other Evangelists, is longer, but the meaning is the same. The anointing, which Judas finds fault with, is defended on the grounds that it will serve for His burial.

Christ, therefore, does not approve of it as an ordinary service, or one which ought to be commonly used in the Church; for if He had intended that a service of this sort should be performed daily, He could have said something else instead of speaking of it as connected with His burial.

God certainly does not approve of outward display. Furthermore, perceiving that the mind of man is too prone to carnal observances, He frequently instructs us to be sober and moderate in their use. Those persons, therefore, are absurd interpreters who infer from Christ’s reply that costly and magnificent worship is pleasing to God; for He rather excuses Mary on the grounds that she rendered to Him an extraordinary service, which ought not to be regarded as a perpetual rule for the worship of God.

For the day of my burial she hath kept it. When He says that the ointment was kept, He means that it was not poured unseasonably, but with due regard for the time when it occurred; for a thing is said to be kept, which is reserved in store to be brought out at a fit time and place.

It is certain that if any person, at an earlier time, had burdened Him with costly delicacies, He would not have endured it. But He affirms that Mary did not do this as a customary matter, but in order to discharge her last duty towards Him. Besides, the anointing of bodies was not at that time a useless ceremony, but rather a spiritual symbol, to place before their eyes the hope of a resurrection.

The promises were still obscure; Christ had not risen, who is justly designated the first-fruits of them that rise (1 Corinthians 15:20). Believers, therefore, needed such aids to direct them to Christ, who was still absent; and, accordingly, the anointing of Christ was not at that time superfluous, for He was soon to be buried, and He was anointed as if He were to be laid in the tomb.

The disciples were not yet aware of this, and Mary unquestionably was suddenly moved to do, under the direction of the Spirit of God, what she had not previously intended. But Christ applies to the hope of His resurrection what they so greatly disapproved, so that the usefulness, which He pointed out to them in this action, might lead them to renounce the fretful and wicked opinion they had formed about it.

As it was the will of God that the early stage of His ancient people should be guided by such practices, so, in the present day, it would be foolish to attempt the same thing; nor could it be done without offering an insult to Christ, who has driven away such shadows by the brightness of His coming.

But as His resurrection had not yet brought the fulfillment of the shadows of the Law, it was proper that His burial should be adorned by an outward ceremony. The fragrance of His resurrection now has sufficient power, without spikenard and costly ointments, to give life to the whole world. But let us remember that, in judging the actions of men, we ought to abide by the decision of Christ alone, at whose tribunal we must one day stand.