![\"Mary](\"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/Mary-anoints.jpg\" "\\"Mary")
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Six days before Passover (hence Friday if Passover was on the following Thursday evening and Saturday if it was, as John seems to suggest, at sunset on Friday), Martha served a special dinner at the home in Bethany that she shared with her brother Lazarus and her sister Mary.\u00a0 Jesus was the guest of honor, and during the course of the meal, Mary entered and anointed Jesus\u2019 feet.<\/p>\n
Much of this scene is paralleled in Mark 14:2\u20139 and Matt 26:6\u201313, but these two evangelists locate it between the Olivet Discourse and Judas\u2019 agreement to betray Jesus later in Jesus\u2019 final week.\u00a0 Accordingly its explicit symbolism, connecting it with Jesus’ coming death and burial, will be discussed further on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
However, as a prologue to our journey through the Savior\u2019s final week, considering another, implicit level of symbolism may provide depth to Jesus\u2019 role as \u201cthe Christ.\u201d\u00a0 In ancient Israel, Davidic kings and the high priests were anointed\u2014in Hebrew such an anointed figure was a masiach<\/em>, or messiah.\u00a0 In Greek he was known as christos<\/em>, or Christ.\u00a0 With this in mind, John\u2019s placement of the anointing before<\/em> the Triumphal Entry can be seen as portraying Jesus as the rightful king<\/em> who enters Jerusalem with authority.\u00a0 The location of the anointing in Mark and Matthew on Wednesday of Holy Week signals a shift in emphasis as Jesus begins to function as the anointed priest<\/em> who makes the ultimate sacrifice for his people.<\/p>\n Reflection<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The anointing by Mary on Friday or Saturday and that by the unnamed woman on Wednesday did not make Jesus the Christ, a position that he held from the foundation of the world.\u00a0 But these incidents can serve to remind us of the dual nature of Jesus\u2019 mission, as we recall that he is not just a <\/em>messiah but was in fact the<\/em> Messiah.\u00a0 They also provide a stirring testimony of the faith of these women.\u00a0 Whereas the disciples, who had gained powerful testimonies of who<\/em> Jesus was\u2014the Son of God\u2014nonetheless revealed on the road to Jerusalem that they had not quite come to understand what<\/em> he had come to do, these women, whom Jesus said had anointed him in preparation for his burial, seem to have known that he had come to Jerusalem to die as a sacrifice for all.<\/p>\n