John 12:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

As David also says, "Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness" (Ps 44:8). And the great Peter says, "Let all the house of Israel know that God has made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).

For the flesh assumed by the Word was anointed by the divine Spirit who came upon the Virgin's womb. It became the same as the Word, that is, God, and filled the world with blessing, as Mary's myrrh filled the whole house with fragrance.

What are the "hairs" with which the feet were wiped? Certainly they are the saints, who adorn the head of God and His supreme authority. Since they exist for the glory of God, they can be called His adornment.

They also became partakers of the anointing of the Lord's flesh, as David calls them "partakers" (Ps 44:8). The Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, "He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God" (2 Cor 1:21).

Everywhere we learn that those who live according to Christ are called christs, that is, anointed ones. Therefore by the hairs with which Jesus' feet were wiped, and which partake of the divine anointing, one may understand Christians.

Hair is something dead. Christians too are dead, for they have crucified the flesh (Gal 5:24), have put to death the members which are on the earth (Col 3:3), and have died to the world.

Hair adorns the head and constitutes its glory. The saints also constitute the glory of God, since their light shines before men and the Father is glorified through them (Mt 5:16). They make their eating and drinking unto the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31), and in their members they glorify Him.

And you, since Jesus has raised your mind like another Lazarus, receive Him into the house of your soul. Let the one who has been raised recline with Him. Anoint the Lord's feet six days before Passover, before the Passover of the age to come arrives, while you live in this world created in six days.

By Christ's "feet" one may understand the Apostle and the Gospel, and in general the commandments, for through them He walks in us. Therefore add myrrh to these commandments, that is, a disposition composed of various virtues, the highest of which is faith, hot like nard.

For if you do not show a warm, zealous, and virtuous disposition toward these commandments, and if you do not wipe them with mortified members as with hairs, and receive them into yourself, you will not be able to make your house fragrant.

By the Lord's "feet" one may also understand the lesser brethren, in whose person Christ comes to each person's door and asks for what is needed. Anoint them with the myrrh of almsgiving.

Many give alms for show, and therefore receive no benefit for themselves, for they receive their reward here (Mt 6:1-2). But you wipe with the hair of your head and receive the benefit for your soul. Gather the fruit of almsgiving into the governing part of the soul.

If you have anything dead and soulless, like hair, perfume it with this good anointing. For it is said, "Redeem your sins by almsgiving" (Dan 4:24).

They take Mary as the evangelical teaching, like myrrh anointing the Lord’s feet. That is, it anoints His divine economy on earth, which filled with fragrance the whole earth, the house of all mankind.

Others call Martha the Jewish synagogue, which desires to serve God through bodily rites. They call Mary the Church from the Gentiles, which offers Christ spiritual sacrifices and fragrant faith, and seals the Eucharist from His holy Flesh through mystical communion.

She brings a litra, or pound, which is the perfect weight for perfect faith. "And the house was filled with the fragrance of the myrrh." The knowledge of Christ, as a fragrance, was to fill the world.

When the house was filled with the fragrance of the myrrh, this symbolically indicated what was soon to be accomplished spiritually. Immediately after the Passion, the whole universe, like a great house, was filled with the fragrance of Christ’s myrrh.

Thus by the sensible fragrant myrrh she prefigured the spiritual reality. For His body, pierced like an alabaster vessel broken open, filled the whole world with the fragrance of knowledge.

Nothing here is idle speech. Everything accords worthily with the mystery. In Greek, pistis means faith. You sought how to fulfill righteousness. The righteous shall live by faith (Hab 2:4).

Anoint the feet of Jesus. By living well, walk in the footsteps of the Lord. Wipe the feet of Christ with your hair. If you have surplus, give it to the needy, and you have wiped the Lord's feet.

Clearly, hair is surplus to the body. You know how to dispose of what is surplus to you. It is surplus for you, but necessary for the feet of the Lord.

Perhaps the Lord's feet are in need upon the earth. For of whom, if not of His members, will He say at the end: As you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me (Mt 25:40)?

That is, the Lord says: You spent your abundance, but you rendered service to My feet.

Here a harmony is required among the three evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There is no doubt that they report one and the same event in Bethany.

At that time the disciples also, as all three evangelists mention, expressed displeasure at the woman, evidently because of the pouring out of costly ointment. Matthew and Mark say that the ointment was poured upon the Lord's head.

John says that it was poured upon His feet. There will be no contradiction here if we take as a rule that each evangelist may report only one fact, while both were parts of the event.

So in this case let us proceed from the fact that the woman poured ointment not only on the Lord's head, but also on His feet.

Mary, the other sister of Lazarus, took a pound of pure, precious ointment of nard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment.

We have heard what happened. Let us penetrate the mystery. Every soul, if it wishes to be faithful, should anoint the Lord's feet with precious ointment, together with Mary.

This ointment was righteousness, and therefore it was exactly a pound. It was pure, precious ointment of nard. We should understand the expression pure, pistici, as indicating some locality from which this precious ointment was obtained.

Yet this is not an idle phrase. It bears a hidden meaning. Πίστις in Greek means faith, fides. You desired to act righteously. The righteous shall live by faith (cf. Rom 1:17).

Anoint the feet of Jesus. By righteous life, walk in the footsteps of the Lord. Wipe them with your hair. If you have abundance, give it to the poor, and you have wiped the Lord's feet.

Hair seems to be a surplus part of the body. You possess what is surplus for you. For you it is excess, but for the Lord's feet it is necessary.

Perhaps the Lord's feet are in need upon the earth. For of what, if not of His members, will He say at the end: As you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me (Mt 25:40)?

That is: You spent what was surplus for you, but you rendered service to My feet.

The word pistici, which blessed Augustine here attempts to interpret, is of Greek origin and means true or genuine. Yet blessed Augustine sees in this adjective a certain indication of place.

And the house was filled with fragrance. The world was filled with good repute, for fragrance is good repute. Those who live badly and call themselves Christians harm Christ.

Of them it is said that through them the name of the Lord is blasphemed (cf. Rom 2:24). If the name of God is blasphemed through such people, then through the good the Lord's name is glorified.

Hear the Apostle: For we are the fragrance of Christ in every place (cf. 2 Cor 2:15). It is also said in the Song of Songs: Your name is as ointment poured forth (Song 1:3).

Listen to the apostolic exhortation: We are the fragrance of Christ in every place, among those being saved and among those perishing. To one we are the scent of life unto life, to the other the scent of death unto death. And who is sufficient for these things? (cf. 2 Cor 2:15-16).

The present passage from the Holy Gospel gives us occasion to speak about this fragrance, so that we may say enough and you may listen attentively.

And so the Apostle says: And who is sufficient for these things? What then? Are we sufficient to speak of this, or are you sufficient to hear it?

Certainly we are not sufficient. But He is sufficient who, through us, has deigned to say what is useful for you to hear.

See the Apostle. He is this fragrance, as he himself said. Yet for some this fragrance is the scent of life unto life, while for others it is the scent of death unto death. Still, it is fragrance.

Does he say: To some we are a fragrance unto life, and to others a stench unto death? He called himself a fragrance, not a stench.

He called himself fragrance in both cases. To some it is unto life, and to others unto death. Blessed are those who live in the fragrance. But whose misery is greater than that of those who die in the fragrance?

Someone will say: Who is the one whom fragrance kills? This question belongs to the matter of which the Apostle says: And who is sufficient for these things?

In what wondrous way does God make the good live in fragrance and the evil die in fragrance? How does this happen?

I shall disclose its meaning as far as the Lord has deigned to suggest it to me. Perhaps a deeper meaning lies hidden there, into which I have not been given entrance.

Yet the meaning, as far as I have been able to grasp it, should not remain hidden from you.

Through report, the Apostle Paul became known everywhere. He performed good works, lived righteously, preached righteousness in word, and showed it in deeds. He was a marvelous teacher and faithful steward.

Some loved him, and some hated him. He himself says in one place that some preached Christ not sincerely, but out of hatred, thinking, as he says, to add weight to my chains.

But what does he add? Whether in pretense or in truth, let Christ be preached (see Phil 1:15-18).

It is as though he said: Both those who love me and those who hate me carry the message about Him. The former live in the fragrance. The latter are dead in the fragrance.

Yet in both preachings, let the name of Christ sound forth. Let the world be filled with fragrance.

You loved him as one living righteously, and you came to live in the fragrance. You hated him as one living righteously, and you died in the fragrance.

Because you wished to die, did you therefore turn that fragrance into a stench? Lay aside hatred, and the fragrance will not kill you.

In this she preserved the likeness of kinship with Jacob, as no false daughter. Yet she far surpassed the patriarch in faith and deed. He portrayed the shadow, but she touched and worshiped the Truth Himself.

Jacob did this twice, when he fled from envy preparing murder, and when he returned after the divine vision in Bethel (Gen 28:18, Gen 35:14). Yet even in this he does not equal the daughter's piety.

He could do no more than anoint a stone, in the image of the Cornerstone. She touched and anointed the holy, living, and God-fashioned temple of the uncreated and eternal God.

More than this, worshiping in Him the God who exists inseparably, she confesses with Him and through Him the one indivisible Lord. In visible beauty she perceived invisible glory. In touchable flesh she knew the untouchable and unapproachable God the Word.

His coming down to us did not diminish the glory of the invisible God in their eyes. The humility of His reclining at table with men did not dishonor, in their eyes, the splendor of God's almightiness.

The weak covering of the flesh did not lessen their mind's judgment concerning the excellence of the Unapproachable One. Their sincere love for His condescension did not weaken fear and trembling before His immeasurable power.

Led by visible signs to invisible power, they wondered all the more at the marvel of His voluntary poverty. By words realized in deeds more than by speech about miracles, they were enlightened in mind.

They were taught the almighty power of the Master's dominion, and so trembled still more before His becoming man in love for mankind.

Seeing healings bestowed through a touch upon the hems of His garments, they worshiped God, who acts unhindered and pours help from His treasury. Reflecting on the resurrection of the dead, they marveled exceedingly at death's dwelling together with mortals.

Therefore, tempering fear with love, they possessed an insatiable longing for Christ. Of one soul and one faith, they divided between themselves the service of the One and the Same, in whom God and perfect man are united.

One woman cared for what was human, because of His condescension to us. The other offered zeal pleasing to God and most fragrant as a sacrifice, pouring ointment on His life-bearing temple as upon an altar.

She did this not carelessly, but attentively. Kissing and wiping the sanctuary with her natural covering, she placed upon her head a crown of glory. It was not made of corruptible and earthly matter, but shone with rays of divine splendor.

If, according to Moses, everyone who touches the altar shall be sanctified (Ex 29:37), what should be said of her who touched the altar of the Lord Himself?

With what words shall we adorn the unity of soul among these kin? Truly, their deeds surpass every praise.

For you, Martha, the confession of Christ is enough for a crown of glory (Jn 11:27). For you, Lazarus, it is enough for gaining glory to be called Christ's friend (Jn 11:3).

For you, Mary, the judgment from God is enough. For it is said, Mary has chosen the good portion for herself, which shall not be taken from her (Lk 10:42).

Mary, lover of stillness, was a singular bee flying over the meadows of divine contemplations. She became a foreigner and a migrant from a stained life, and reached a life serene and fitting for peaceful things divine.

Here there is a gentle breeze, and there is the Lord (3 Kgs 19:12), according to Elijah's revelation. From this divine life flows the knowledge of divine and human things, as it is written: Learn and know that I am God (Ps 45:11).

She was a pure dove, quietly taking her wings and arriving at the calm and blessed harbor of stillness. Through this she was initiated into what prophets and righteous men desired.

Jacob, who fled the threatening spear, met God prosperously and anointed the pillar, the memorial, as has often been said. Mary was far from the influx of tangled and accidental reasonings that disturb the quiet storehouse of thought and mind.

She clearly heard blessedness from God and was counted worthy to embrace with her flesh, that is, with her hair, the Uncontainable One.

But the Jew who is in blindness attacks our reasoning and says: Do not blaspheme, Christian. For it is written, No one shall see My face and live, says the Lord (Ex 33:20).

But senseless man, in your law it is written what Jacob said: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved (Gen 32:30). For human life is manifested in sight.

If this is so, I shall neither reject your word nor leave my own without witness. Indeed, to comprehend God is impossible and inaccessible for man.

Yet it is very easy for the Almighty Himself to give men knowledge of God. He manifests Himself to the worthy as He wills. For it is written: I multiplied visions, and through the hands of the prophets I was made like (Hos 12:10).

Therefore Jacob saw God and did not lie. He saw Him in the way the One who appeared was well pleased to appear. God can manifest Himself as He wills.

Nothing hinders Him or restrains His determination, although even the highest beings cannot endure His boundless glory.

So Mary also saw God made man without change. She poured the fragrance upon His holy and co-worshiped temple, that is, upon Him Himself. For the union is indivisible, and the mystery of piety is without confusion.

The confession of the One of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, is indissoluble.

Beloved, do not marvel when you hear something strange and discordant from those who are strangers to the truth. They are brothers of the blind traitor Judas, who senselessly censured such a God-pleasing offering at the supper.

But what is the incorrupt judgment concerning this? It exposes Judas as a thief and receives Mary as a lover of God. It declares what she did a benefaction and opposes those who attacked her.

It also says this through the evangelist Matthew: Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a good work for Me (Mt 26:10). And I reward the love of this deed with eternal remembrance.

For wherever this Gospel of the kingdom is preached in the whole world, what she has done shall also be spoken of in remembrance of her (Mt 26:13, Mt 24:14).

Mary's sowing is worthy, and so is her harvest. The fruit is worthy of good desire. She hastened to fulfill the Scripture, and was anticipated by divine grace that crowned her.

She understood what was sung among the prophets, and knew the timely fulfillment of the prophecy. She heard Solomon singing, While the king was at his reclining, my nard gave forth its fragrance (Song 1:12).

She understood the King of kings and Lord of lords, foretold by the king who was His servant. Therefore, delaying for no other work, she both fulfilled the teaching and brought to the One who needs nothing what had been prepared beforehand.

Thus she received the most glorious and unerring judgment.

With her, may we all know the One and the Same. Worshiping the Lord, begotten from the Father before the ages, co-eternal and without beginning, ineffably and unspeakably, from the uncreated essence, may we attain His blessedness.

In the last times He was incarnate from the undefiled Virgin, without change and without confusion, beyond reason and word. May we receive blessedness from Him in mercy and endless life. For to Him is glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto unceasing ages of ages. Amen.

The word ἑνωθέντα means united or constructed. The phrase and there is the Lord is the reading of the Alexandrian and some other manuscripts. The text departs both from the Septuagint and from the Hebrew. Human life is manifested in sight. The phrase αὐτὸν ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ refers to the temple, or body, of Christ God. Instead of ὡς οὗ, one should evidently read ἕως οὗ, as in the Greek text of the Septuagint. She had time to hear the teaching of Christ.

What soul so abounds in myrrh and tears that it has anointed Christ Himself, the inexhaustible Myrrh? But perhaps, hearing this, someone will say: I imitate the sinful woman (Lk 7:37-38), and I bring, if not myrrh, then tears.

Where is the supper? Where is Christ? Where is the forgiveness of sins? Where? Listen. I will tell you plainly. In the Church. In your inner chamber. Why do I say, in the Church? In your heart.

There is Christ. There pour out myrrh upon Him. There shed tears. But you say, I have no myrrh and no alabaster vessel. Do you have no myrrh? No, you have myrrh, grace. You have an alabaster vessel, the heart. You have tears, confession. You have hair, meek sighs.

Bring these, consecrate these, and you will receive forgiveness.

Matthew (Mt 26:6) and Mark (Mk 14:3), the supper was prepared in the house of Simon the leper. According to St. John also, Lazarus was one of those reclining, one of the guests. Therefore he was not the host who entertained them. Simon, who received the heavenly Guest, is called a leper. This suggests that he was one of those healed by Jesus from that terrible disease, which separated the sick man from human intercourse. Filled with gratitude toward the heavenly Healer, Simon prepared for Him a supper of love. To the same supper he invited the raised Lazarus, as one who had been deemed worthy of the wondrous mercy of Jesus Christ. "Martha served." She had appeared so before (Lk 10:40). In this way, and not otherwise, she could express her grateful love to Him who had raised her brother. "Lazarus was one of those who reclined." This also showed that the former dead man was now in full health. "Then Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus." The Evangelists Matthew and Mark narrate the same event. But St. Luke speaks of another woman (Lk 7:37-50). The event in St. Luke took place in the city of Nain (Lk 7:11, 37), not in Bethany. That was in the house of Simon the Pharisee, while this was in the house of Simon the leper. There a sinful woman anointed His feet. Here it is Mary, the pious sister of Lazarus. There the Savior receives the act as the expression of repentant love (Lk 7:41-50). In Mary's act the Savior shows a preparation for His burial. The event at Nain occurred after the second Passover. The event at Bethany took place immediately before the Savior's sufferings on the Cross. Therefore the academician Renan was frivolous if he himself took the woman mentioned by St. Luke to be Mary, Lazarus' sister. He shamelessly slandered St. Luke when he wrote of him, "He takes Mary of Bethany for a converted sinner." "She took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard." Nard is an aromatic plant (Song 1:11, 12, 13; 4:13), cultivated in southern India. From its roots oil was pressed, the finest of aromatic liquids, and it was an object of luxury. This aromatic liquid was prepared best in Tarsus, a city of Asia Minor. The nard is πιστικος, from πιστις, meaning true nard, unadulterated nard. According to the Arabic translation it is "pure nard." According to Pliny, there was nardus sincera and pseudonardus, pure nard and false, or adulterated, nard. According to Pliny, pure nard is known by its lightness, red color, pleasant fragrance, and astringent, agreeable taste. In the adulterated kind, oily extracts of other aromatic plants were mixed with Indian nard. Most often these were Cretan or Syrian nard, lower in quality than Indian nard. Whole, pure nard was costly and valued very highly. According to Judas' estimate (Jude 1:5), Mary's vessel of nard could have brought three hundred denarii, in our reckoning up to sixty rubles. Among the ancients, before supper, feet were washed and sometimes anointed with oil (Talmud, tractate Menachot 85). Children were especially obliged to render this service to parents. In Aristophanes we read: "My daughter first washed me and anointed my feet" (Vesperae, v. 605). Thus blessed Mary acted, according to St. John's account. St. Matthew and Mark mention the anointing of the head. Among the Jews this anointing served as a sign of respect shown to a teacher (Lightfoot on Mt 26:7). The same custom existed among the Greeks, according to Athenaeus. Thus Mary first poured the precious myrrh upon the Lord's head. Then she anointed His feet with it. The rite expressed Mary's filial love for the heavenly Teacher. Yet only the wealthy could use a whole pound of fragrant nard for such a rite. How rich Mary was in love, though she was not rich in money. It was not enough for her that costly oil was used. She wiped the anointed feet not with a towel, but with the hair of her head. What reverent love!