Anointing of Jesus

• ANCIENT SOURCES: see Anointing of Jesus (sources)
• LIST OF SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see Category:Anointing of Jesus (subject)
• This page is edited by Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan, United States

The Anointing of Jesus refers to an episode in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, according to the Gospels of Mark (14:3–9), Matthew (26:6-13), Luke (7:36-50), and John (12:1-8).

Overview

The anointing of Jesus by a woman during a banquet, and the controversy that such an act generated, are recorded with some substantial differences by Mark-Matthew, Luke, and John.

In Mark and Matthew, the dinner happened at Bethany after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. The host was "Simon the leper", and an unnamed woman anointed Jesus' "head," provoking the reaction of "some who were there" (Mark), or "the disciples" of Jesus (Matthew), because of the costly anointment she used.

Luke knew the story of the anointment, but located it (apparently in Galilee) long before the events of the last week in Jerusalem. An unnamed woman anointed Jesus' feet in the house of "one of the Pharisees," named "Simon." The reaction of the Pharisees had nothing to do with the cost of the anointment but with the woman's sinfulness. Later Christian tradition would identify the unnamed woman of the story with Mary Magdalene, with no textual foundation.

According to the Gospel of John, Lazarus was the one who "six days before the Passover" and before the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem hosted the banquet in his house at Bethany (=Mark-Matthew) when his sister Mary anointed Jesus' feet (=Luke) provoking the reaction of Judas Iscariot (similarly to Mark-Matthew).

It is very unlikely that there were originally two (or three) separate incidents (one at the house of the Pharisees in Galilee, and one/two at Bethany). The presence of common literary details in the Synoptics (i.e. the "alabaster jar" and the host's name, "Simon") and John (i.e. the Bethany location and the reference to "the poor") demonstrate that the oral tradition had produced a single written narrative in Greek. The anointment of Jesus' head in Mark-Matthew gives a messianic emphasis to the event, which is missing in Luke and John (who both had a strong interest in downplaying any politically charged details).

The Mark-Matthew version should be then considered closer to the original. Luke transformed the story into yet another example of Jesus' forgiving attitude toward the sinners. John maintained the original setting but made the anointment an act of hospitality by Lazarus and his sisters with no messianic emphasis; John even eliminated any reference to the Cleansing of the Temple as he wanted to focus on the religious conflict around the identity of Jesus. John, however, preserved an astonishingly accurate chronological detail ("six days before the Passover") which more logically locates the episode just after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (as claimed by Mark-Matthew). On his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, Jesus spent the Sabbath at Jericho. The first day of the week, he left Jericho and walked the 15 miles to Jerusalem. He made his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem late in the afternoon. He then went to spend the night at Bethany, where was symbolically welcomed and anointed as the Messiah.

Gabriele Boccaccini, University of Michigan

External links

• Wikipedia