Jesus is Anointed for Burial

It has been a long time in the three previous years, that Jesus and his disciples have encircled Israel, preaching the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, lame and infirm and showing utter sovereignty over nature.  Nearing the end of the three divine years of ministry,  the disciples are commanded to prepare for the oncoming Passover feast.   Jesus never lessened the importance of the Law or Torah and commandments of God:  he made it clear he had come to fulfill the law and not to do away with it---and here in the hours before the 'agony and ecstasy of the surrender and the Cross,  before the Last Supper, and before the agony of the Garden, Jesus and his disciples enter the house of Simon the Leper,  for a dinner.

The title of the man 'the Leper' adds an element of surprise to the dinner, as no Jewish citizen of Israel would normally dine with a Leper.   Most lepers had to abide by both Torah and civil laws regarding leprosy: until declared ceremonially clean, by a Priest of the temple, one could neither dine nor fraternize with a person who had leprosy, a term which included many diseases and conditions of the skin,  but certainly also the one now known as 'Hansen's Disease'.   Most likely,  fellowshipping with the man before the Passover at so close a range it is likely that by this time, the man was pronounced 'clean', or possibly even he had been among the leprous persons whom Jesus had healed.  The designation of 'the Leper' probably remained as a warning, though to many even after a person was either allowed to stay in their residence, isolated and quarantined, or return from an isolated village of lepers.

There are several Simons listed in the Scriptures: one is even noted as a brother of Jesus.  There is not enough evidence in the scriptures to definitively say which Simon this is,  but it is worthy to note that Judas and Simon are mentioned together in at least two passages (Matt 13:55 10:4) in which Simon is referred to Simon the Canaanite, and later mention of Simon Zelotes, but the 'Zelotes' rather than a surname is a political designation meaning 'Zealot', an Israeli nationalistic movement of the time. (Acts)

John 5:71 He spake of Judas Iscariot [the son] of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Jesus rebukes Simon and his guests during the course of the dinner, which might have insulted Judas more personally than is generally considered, but Thayers counts the 'Simons' as different people though others do not.

The Woman of Ill Repute and the Anointing for Burial

6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. 8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation , saying , To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial . 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done , be told for a memorial of her.

The Precious Ointment and the Alabaster Box As Jesus dines with Simon the Leper, a woman enters carrying an 'alabaster box' which contains a 'precious ointment'. Other gospels report her as a woman "who was a sinner", and at one point, someone at the dinner is astounded that the Holy Lord would allow such a woman to touch him.

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman [this is] that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. John 7:39

Prophets were holy, and often like priests, did not allow any to touch them, particularly in the course of the office of a priestly function, and in ancient times, as with some Orthodox and Hasidic Jews today, women other than wives or family members are not to touch observant men at all. This woman however, according to the account in Mark, pours the ointment from the jar over the head of the Savior, and washes his feet in tears with her hair, which, under normal circumstances would certainly raise eyebrows. Jesus however was not given to the legalities of religion: He saw the heart of the woman, and was not constrained by his religious host and his guests. More than one thing is going on in the pouring of the ointment over his head: 1. The woman is deeply repentant, and the Messiah receives her repentance: he notes elsewhere that those forgiven much, loves much:

7"Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loveth little.

Loving much was the Messiah's theme so often, and during his earthly ministry he never turned away the repentant. Whatever the woman's sin, or whatever she had seen the Messiah do, she was deeply moved to take what was to most women of the time a costly substance often used as 'savings' and pour it out over his head in utter gratitude and a fragrant thanksgiving. The alabaster jar 'alabastron' in Greek, was a large jar fashioned as one piece, with a tall neck that came without a lid, but instead sealed or as part of the jar. When one used the ointment, identified both as 'myron' and as 'spikenard' or 'nard' or a mixture, one broke the neck of the bottle and then poured it out. The woman appears to have had only this costly thing in her life, and in recognition of the great forgiveness he had afforded, it was a heart felt gift to the one who had already shown he could forgive sin.

2. The Pouring of the Ointment Denotes the High Priesthood of Jesus, Yshua

uoIn Leviticus and in Exodus, there are specific instructions for the pouring out of a special Temple fragrance which dedicates and graces the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the priests and High Priest:

Leviticus 8:12 And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

The spices for the priests and the furniture and fixtures of the Ark were specific: one ointment or fragrance was for the Ark , and others for the rest of the Tabernacle and priests. The mixtures were so specific, and so commanded by God, that if any made the mixture or used it for any other purpose, they were 'karet' or to be cut completely and finally off from the Congregation of Israel. Among the ingredients was Myrrh:

Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half so much, [even] two hundred and fifty [shekels], and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty [shekels]

Nard or spikenard is mentioned in the Song of Songs in the 'garden enclosed' in the perfect place of communion with the Lord and Savior, or King of Israel. These are the substances poured out on the Messiah. The pouring out of ointment on the High Priest is also mentioned in Psalms:

Psa 133:1 [[A Song of degrees of David.]] Behold, how good and how pleasant [it is] for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psa 133:2 [It is] like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; Psa 133:3 As the dew of Hermon, [and as the dew] that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, [even] life for evermore.

Psalm 133:2 directly points to the unity of the brethren in conjunction with the 'precious ointment' which flows down the beard of Aaron the High Priest, running down to the hem of his garments marked with bells and pomegranates: the reminder of the unique office of the High Priest, and the Garden which must never be forgotten.

3.The Pouring Out of the Precious Ointment Marks His forthcoming Sacrifice and burial.

Jesus himself refers to the pouring out as the anointing for his burial. In this we have a prophetic similitude, in which the expression of the preparation in the pouring points to the soon to come death and burial of the Lord. There is yet another consideration, that the woman with the oil is utterly commended by Yshua, Jesus for the outpouring: why? There is no sacrifice or sin/trespass offering that was not accompanied by an anointing:

And thou shalt offer every day a bullock [for] a sin offering for atonement: and thou shalt cleanse the altar, when thou hast made an atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to sanctify it.

Jesus commends the woman, and notes that wherever the Gospel is preached, she will be remembered: this is fulfilled prophecy.

The Poor Ye Have Always With You Many who read this passage, like the disciples wonder at the waste of the ointment. Jesus recall was the one who told the rich young ruler to forsake all that he had, sell it and give it to the poor, and follow me. Jesus cared more about the poor than any other religious leader or founder of a man made religion: he constantly commended the poor to Israel's heart, calling them 'blessed. Here though, the concern is for the cost of the ointment, since the apostles and Yshua were 'travelling light'. Neither Jesus nor the woman though were being carelessly extravagant: Jesus could see all that the event meant and how holy it was, and wished nothing more than that it was done as a prophetic expression which would point to the work of God. He was King and Priest: Spikenard and Myrrh were both Kingly spices as well as pertaining to the ministry of the Temple, which Jesus was trying to communicate was the body which would built as the 'temple that could not be destroyed'. The premiere lesson is that obedience was better than sacrifice: in this instance the thing was of God, and all the gifts to the poor could not compensate for what God was commanding must be shown. The great anointing of our priest and King superceded for moments the sweet gift of alms for the poor, and left us all, rich beyond words. Till next time, ekbest