For Love Of Money

“Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.” 

I  must admit that this passage from the Gospel of John (12:1-3) read this Monday at the beginning of Holy Week makes me wonder.  Why is this Mary, who anointed Jesus’ feet, the sister of Martha and Lazarus while in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew the woman is unnamed and pours costly perfumed oil on Jesus’ head – not on his feet (Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9).  In Luke she is a weeping, unnamed, and sinful woman who bathed his feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with ointment (Luke 7:36-50).  It’s all quite confusing.

Perhaps what best sets John apart from the Synoptic Gospels is what follows the anointing.  In Mark and Matthew right away we jump to Judas the Iscariot and his betrayal of Jesus.  Not so in Luke where the betrayal occurs much later.  However, in John we immediately hear the hypocrite Judas criticize Mary for not selling the oil to benefit the poor.  We learn that Judas didn’t care about the poor and “was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.”

Perhaps John helps us to better understand what was behind Judas’ betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.  We know why Mary or the unnamed woman anointed, washed, and cried.  She loved Jesus.  For Judas, he carried the money that seduced him for so it has been said: “money is the root of all evil.” 

This saying can be found in the first letter to Timothy where it reads: “For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” (1 Timothy 6:10).  And so Judas did. 

Deacon David Pierce