Prelude 

         In John's gospel, this episode is intimately tied with what precedes it. Chapter 11 tells the story of the raising of Lazarus and, in fact, begins with an allusion to chapter 12: "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick." (John 11:1-2)  Call it a preview of coming attractions.
        Briefly told, the sisters send word to Jesus of their brother's illness (11:3), but Jesus chooses to take his own time traveling there (11:5-16). More is going on in this scene than the illness of a dear friend. In John's gospel, Jesus is always far ahead of those who follow. His words are very often misunderstood, which is very evident in this chapter, where he heads to Bethany with a larger purpose than healing a loved one. As he nears, Martha meets him outside of town (11:17-27), and shares the news of Lazarus' death. Does she understand when he says, "I am the resurrection and the life..."? She responds with a creed of  lofty titles (Messiah, Son of God, Coming One), but has the impact of him being the "resurrection" and "life" itself flown over her head also?
         Mary then comes to Jesus at Martha's prodding, falling at his feet when she does. "If you had been here, Lord, my brother would not have died," she says through her tears. She, a friend, also cannot see the bigger picture. The two of them are surrounded by (professional?) mourners, and when he asks about Lazarus' body, these others speak Jesus' own line - "Come and see!"  However, theirs is an invitation to observe death, not life. This is too much, and Jesus weeps in frustration (11:28-37). From there he goes to the tomb and, by his very word, raises Lazarus from the dead (11:38-44) - a foretaste of what lies around the next bend in Jerusalem. The die is cast, his opponents now decide the time has come for this "one man to die that the whole nation not be destroyed" (11:45-57). Passover is near. Thus we arrive at this text.

Reflection 

         Can you imagine such a meal? A dinner after a funeral provides an opportunity for remembering the deceased and reconnecting ties that have been strained or broken, but what happens when the deceased is no longer dead? What do you talk about? No matter how much time has elapsed between Lazarus' resurrection and this meal (11:54 says that Jesus went to Ephraim and "remained there," but does not indicate how long), the aroma of that event still lingers. Is it a pleasing odor? Recall the "stench" of a body four days in the tomb (11:39), but is that the abiding smell surrounding this meal? Gospel storyteller John purposefully weaves his account in such a way that whatever this "Word made flesh" (1:14), Jesus, says and does shakes the foundations undergirding everyone who encounters him. In fact, his death upon the cross will throw the world into a decisive crisis (see 12:31-32 and 9:39, where "judgment" in Greek is "krisis"). If the aroma of what previously happened in Bethany is too pleasing, then perhaps we have not really smelled it.
         Why did Mary anoint Jesus' feet during this meal? Was it just simple devotion, out of friendship for her beloved rabbi? Was she putting into action something no words could express at such a meal? I personally remember sitting at my own father's feet in his hospital room before he died, seeking to convey something I did not know how to speak. Was Mary aware of Jesus' impending death? Did she, as Jesus said (12:7), consciously buy the perfume for his funeral, or was her purchase only later revealed (even to her) to have been for this purpose? How often do our actions take on new meaning after we have done them? Regardless of her motivations (which we do not know), the fragrance of the costly oil filled the room as she anointed Jesus' feet (soon, in Jerusalem, Jesus would wash the feet of his disciples, 13:1-20).
         The smell was too much for Judas Iscariot. Was it merely Mary's perfumed oil against which he reacted, or was the stench of the tomb earlier still bothering him? Or, as the text says, was it all just a matter of greed on his part? Whether it be for the poor or for his own pocket, money was not the real issue. Of course, 300 denarii have their own aroma, for good or for ill. However, the real fragrance beginning to waft through the room is from the impending crucifixion of Jesus, of which his disciples have caught only a faint sniff. All too soon everything will change. No longer will they sense his physical presence, but as he is lifted up, a time of "krisis" for all, the scent of salvation will pervade the world (3:17).
         From here begins John's telling of the events in Jerusalem. A crowd gathers when they hear of Jesus and Lazarus together (12:9), in response to which the religious elite include Lazarus as a target in their plot to dispense with the Jesus problem (12:10-11). The next day Jesus enters the City of David (12:12-19). [In the Lenten lectionary sequence of year C, in fact, "Palm Sunday" comes the week after this text is a suggested reading].