Mark 14:1

We have here instances,

I. Of the kindness of Christ's friends, and the provision made of respect and honour for him. Some friends he had, even in and about Jerusalem, that loved him, and never thought they could do enough for him, among whom, though Israel be not gathered, he is, and will be, glorious.

1. Here was one friend, that was so kind as to invite him to sup with him; and he was so kind as to accept the invitation, Mar 14:3. Though he had a prospect of his death approaching, yet he did not abandon himself to a melancholy retirement from all company, but conversed as freely with his friends as usual.

2. Here was another friend, that was so kind as to anoint his head with very precious ointment as he sat at meat. This was an extraordinary piece of respect paid him by a good woman that thought nothing too good to bestow upon Christ, and to do him honour. Now the scripture was fulfilled, When the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof, Sol 1:12. Let us anoint Christ as our Beloved, kiss him with a kiss of affection; and anoint him as our Sovereign, kiss him with a kiss of allegiance. Did he pour out his soul unto death for us, and shall we think any box of ointment too precious to pour out upon him? It is observable that she took care to pour it all out upon Christ's head; she broke the box (so we read it); but because it was an alabaster box, not easily broken, nor was it necessary that it should be broken, to get out the ointment, some read it, she shook the box, or knocked it to the ground, to loosen what was in it, that it might be got out the better; or, she rubbed and scraped out all that stuck tot he sides of it. Christ must have been honoured with all we have, and we must not think to keep back any part of the price. Do we give him the precious ointment of our best affections? Let him have them all; love him with all the heart.

Now, (1.) There were those that put a worse construction upon this than it deserved. They called it a waste of the ointment, Mar 14:4. Because they could not have found their hearts to put themselves to such an expense for the honouring of Christ, they thought that she was prodigal, who did. Note, As the vile person ought to be called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful (Isa 32:5); so the liberal and bountiful ought not to be called wasteful. They pretend it might have been sold, and given to the poor, Mar 14:5. But as a common piety to the corban will not excuse from a particular charity to a poor parent (Mar 7:11), so a common charity to the poor will not excuse from a particular act of piety to the Lord Jesus. What thy hand finds to do, that is good, do it with thy might.

(2.) Our Lord Jesus put a better construction upon it than, for aught that appears, was designed. Probably, she intended no more, than to show the great honour she had for him, before all the company, and to complete his entertainment. But Christ makes it to be an act of great faith, as well as great love (Mar 14:8); "She is come aforehand, to anoint my body to the burying, as if she foresaw that my resurrection would prevent her doing it afterward." This funeral rite was a kind of presage of, or prelude to, his death approaching. See how Christ's heart was filled with the thoughts of his death, how every thing was construed with a reference to that, and how familiarly he spoke of it upon all occasions. It is usual for those who are condemned to die, to have their coffins prepared, and other provision made for their funerals, while they are yet alive; and so Christ accepted this. Christ's death and burial were the lowest steps of his humiliation, and therefore, though he cheerfully submitted to them, yet he would have some marks of honour to attend them, which might help to take off the offence of the cross, and be an intimation how precious in the sight of the Lord the death of his saints is. Christ never rode in triumph into Jerusalem, but when he came thither to suffer; nor had ever his head anointed, but for his burial.

(3.) He recommended this piece of heroic piety to the applause of the church in all ages; Wherever this gospel shall be preached, it shall be spoken of, for a memorial of her, Mar 14:9. Note, The honour which attends well-doing, even in this world, is sufficient to balance the reproach and contempt that are cast upon it. The memory of the just is blessed, and they that had trial of cruel mockings, yet obtained a good report, Heb 11:6, Heb 11:39. Thus was this good woman repaid for her box of ointment, Nec oleum perdidit nec operam - She lost neither her oil nor her labour. She got by it that good name which is better than precious ointment. Those that honour Christ he will honour.

II. Of the malice of Christ's enemies, and the preparation made by them to do him mischief.

1. The chief priests, his open enemies, consulted how they might put him to death, Mar 14:1, Mar 14:2. The feast of the passover was now at hand, and at that feast he must be crucified, (1.) That his death and suffering might be the more public, and that all Israel, even those of the dispersion, who came from all parts to the feast, might be witnesses of it, and of the wonders that attended it. (2.) That the Anti-type might answer to the type. Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us, and brought us out of the house of bondage, at the same time that the paschal lamb was sacrificed, and Israel's deliverance out of Egypt was commemorated.

Now see, [1.] How spiteful Christ's enemies were; they did not think it enough to banish or imprison him, for they aimed not only to silence him, and stop his progress for the future, but to be revenged on him for all the good he had done. [2.] How subtle they were; Not on the feast-day, when the people are together; they do not say, Lest they should be disturbed in their devotions, and diverted from them, but, Lest there should be an uproar (Mar 14:2); lest they should rise, and rescue him, and fall foul upon those that attempt any thing against him. They who desired nothing more than the praise of men, dreaded nothing more than the rage and displeasure of men.

2. Judas, his disguised enemy, contracted with them for the betraying of him, Mar 14:10, Mar 14:11. He is said to be one of the twelve that were Christ's family, intimate with him, trained up for the service of the kingdom; and he went to the chief priests, to tender his service in this affair.

(1.) That which he proposed to them, was, to betray Christ to them, and to give them notice when and where they might find him, and seize him, without making an uproar among the people, which they were afraid of, if they should seize him when he appeared in public, in the midst of his admirers. Did he know then what help it was they wanted, and where they were run aground in their counsels? It is probable that he did not, for the debate was held in their close cabal. Did they know that he had a mind to serve them, and make court to him? No, they could not imagine that any of his intimates should be so base; but Satan, who was entered into Judas, knew what occasion they had for him, and could guide him to be guide to them, who were contriving to take Jesus. Note, The spirit that works in all the children of disobedience, knows how to bring them in to the assistance one of another in a wicked project, and then to harden them in it, with the fancy that Providence favours them.

(2.) That which he proposed to himself, was, to get money by the bargain; he had what he aimed at, when they promised to give him money. Covetousness was Judas's master - lust, his own iniquity, and that betrayed him to the sin of betraying his Master; the devil suited his temptation to that, and so conquered him. It is not said, They promised him preferment (he was not ambitious of that), but, they promised him money. See what need we have to double our guard against the sin that most easily besets us. Perhaps it was Judas's covetousness that brought him at first to follow Christ, having a promise that he should be cash-keeper, or purser, to the society, and he loved in his heart to be fingering money; and now that there was money to be got on the other side, he was as ready to betray him as ever he had been to follow him. Note, Where the principle of men's profession of religion is carnal and worldly, and the serving of a secular interest, the very same principle, whenever the wind turns, will be the bitter root of a vile and scandalous apostasy.

(3.) Having secured the money, he set himself to make good his bargain; he sought how he might conveniently betray him, how he might seasonably deliver him up, so as to answer the intention of those who had hired him. See what need we have to be careful that we do not ensnare ourselves in sinful engagements. If at any time we be so ensnared in the words of our mouths, we are concerned to deliver ourselves by a speedy retreat, Pro 6:1-5. It is a rule in our law, as well as in our religion, that an obligation to do an evil thing is null and void; it binds to repentance, not to performance. See how the way of sin is down-hill - when men are in, they must be on; and what wicked contrivances many have in their sinful pursuits, to compass their designs conveniently; but such conveniences will prove mischiefs in the end.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ch. Mar_14:1-2. The Sanhedrim in Council

1. After two days] From St Matthew’s account we gather that it was as they entered Bethany that our Lord Himself reminded the Apostles (Mat_26:1-2) that after two days the Passover would be celebrated, and the Son of Man be delivered up to be crucified. He thus indicated the precise time when “the Hour” so often spoken of before should come, and again speaks of its accompanying circumstances of unutterable degradation and infamy—death by Crucifixion.

and of unleavened bread] The Passover took place on the 14th of Nisan, and the “Feast of unleavened bread” commenced on the 15th and lasted for seven days, deriving its name from the Mazzoth, or unleavened cakes, which was the only bread allowed during that week (Exo_12:34; Exo_12:39; Deu_16:3). From their close connection they are generally treated as one, both in the Old and in the New Testament, and Josephus, on one occasion, even describes it as “a feast for eight days.” Jos. Antiq. II. 15. 1; Edersheim, p. 177.

and the chief priests] While our Lord was in quiet retirement at Bethany the rulers of the nation were holding a formal consultation in the court of the palace of Caiaphas (Mat_26:3) how they could put Him to death. Disappointed as they had been in ensnaring Him into matter for a capital charge, they saw that their influence was lost unless they were willing to take extreme measures, and the events of the Triumphal Entry had convinced them of the hold He had gained over many of the nation, especially the bold and hardy mountaineers of Galilee. The only place where He appeared in public after the nights had been spent at Bethany was the Temple, but to seize Him there would in the present excited state of popular feeling certainly lead to a tumult, and a tumult to the interposition of Pilate, who during the Passover kept a double garrison in the tower of Antonia, and himself had come up to Jerusalem.

by craft] It was formally resolved therefore to take Him by craft, and for this purpose to wait and take advantage of the course of events and of any favourable opportunity which might present itself.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See this passage explained in the notes at Mat. 26:1-16.

Mar 14:1

And of unleavened bread - So called because at that feast no other bread was used but that which had been made without leaven or yeast.

By craft - By subtlety (Matthew); that is, by some secret plan that would secure possession of him without exciting the opposition of the people.

Mar 14:3

Ointment - This word does not convey quite the proper meaning. This was a perfume. It was used only to give a pleasant odor, and was liquid.

Of spikenard - The “nard,” from which this perfume was made, is a plant of the East Indies, with a small, slender stalk, and a heavy, thick root. The best perfume is obtained from the root, though the stalk and fruit are used for that purpose.

And she brake the box - This may mean no more than that she broke the “seal” of the box, so that it could be poured out. Boxes of perfumes are often sealed or made fast with wax, to prevent the perfume from escaping. It was not likely that she would break the box itself when it was unnecessary, and when the unguent, being liquid, would have been wasted; nor from a broken box or vial could she easily have “poured it” on his head.

Mar 14:5

Three hundred pence - About forty dollars (or 9 British pounds). See the notes at Mat 26:7.

Mar 14:8

She hath done what she could - She has showed the highest attachment in her power; and it was, as it is now, a sufficient argument against there being any “real” waste, that it was done for the honor of Christ. See this passage explained in the notes at Mat. 26:1-16.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mar_14:1-9

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper.

Working for Christ

The home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus at Bethany, about two miles from Jerusalem across the Mount of Olives, had been the scene of some of the calmest and happiest moments of our Lords life. We know something of the sweetness of a quiet home after work and anxiety and worry-the labourer knows it, the man of business knows it. We can therefore understand how restful to the Lord Jesus, after those angry scenes that had been gathering around Him all day in the temple, were the peaceful evenings of this week in the home at Bethany. There are two things which we should notice about that home as we follow Jesus thither.

I. It was a home of true family love, or Jesus would not have sought its shelter so often as He did. What tender memories cluster round the childhood that has been spent in such a home! What a foretaste of the home beyond the grave, the haven where we would be!

II. It was a home where Jesus always was a welcome guest, whither He was summoned in every trouble, where He was the Companion, the Guide, and the familiar Friend. Are our homes like that? Is He felt and acknowledged to be the Master of the house? the unseen Guest at every meal? the unseen Hearer of every conversation? Is His blessing asked on every meal, on every undertaking, on every event? But now, as we stand with Jesus at Bethany, look what one of the sisters is doing to Him as He sits at meat, either in her own house, or in one of a similar type where she is hardly less at home. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus. Beloved, is there not something like that that we can do for Jesus in this Holy Week? Is there not something that we can bring and lay at His feet while we are watching with him through the hours of His Passion? Something that will be an earnest of our love-some secret sin which it would really cost us something to give up? And cannot we find something, too, in our family life, or in the part we have to play in it? Is there not some new departure we might make for Jesus sake, to make our homes a little less unworthy to be His dwelling place? (Henry S. Miles, M. A.)

Mary anointing Christ

What she is said to have done. This standard for our service is, you perceive, at once stimulating and encouraging. It is stimulating, for we are never to think that we have done enough while there is anything more we can do; and it is encouraging, for it tells us that though we can do but little, that little will be accepted, nay, considered by our gracious Master as enough. We are not to condemn ourselves, or to repine, because we can do no more. But something else must be noticed here.

I. Mary did more than she was aware of doing. It is an affecting circumstance, brethren, that wherever our Lord was, and however engaged, His death seems to have been always in His mind. It was in His mind here at a social meal, and what we should have called a happy one, with those He loved the very best on earth around Him, and with the love of some of them towards Him in the liveliest exercise. It is a cheering truth, brethren, that we can never measure the use to which a gracious Saviour may turn our poor doings. As His designs in our afflictions often lie deeper than we can penetrate, so do His designs in the services to which He prompts us. We do this, and we do that, and we mourn that it is so little, and that so little good to our fellow men and so little honour to our God will come from it; but we know not what will come from it. That little thing is in the hand of a great, omnipotent God, and His mighty arm can bend and turn it we know not how or whither.

II. We must now ask what Marys motives probably were in this extraordinary act.

1. The strongest of them perhaps was a feeling of grateful love for her blessed Lord. He had just raised her brother from the dead; had just shown a sympathy and affection for herself and Martha, which might well astonish her; had put an honour on her family she must have felt to be surpassingly great. Thank Him, she perhaps said within herself, I could not when Lazarus came forth. I cannot now. My tongue will not move, and if it would, words are too poor to thank Him. But what can I do? Kings and great men are sometimes anointed at their splendid banquets. My Lord is to be at Simons feast. I will go and buy the most precious ointment Jerusalem affords, and at that feast I will anoint Him. It will be nothing to Him, but if He will suffer it, it will be much to me. Do something to show that you are thankful for blessings, though that something be but little.

2. Mary was probably influenced also by another motive-a desire to put honour on Christ. Let others hate Him, and spurn Him, she must have said, Oh for some opportunity of showing how I honour Him. It is an easy thing, brethren, to honour Christ when others are honouring Him, but real love delights to honour Him when none others will.

III. Let us now come to the judgment men passed on Marys conduct. They censured it, and strongly. Men are generally made angry by any act of love for Christ which rises above their own standard-above their own ideas of the love which is due to Him. They can generally, too, find something in the warm-hearted Christians conduct to give a colour to their displeasure. Why was this waste of the ointment made? It was a plausible question; it seemed a reasonable one. And observe, too, men can generally assign some good motive in themselves for the censure they pass on others. And mark, also, Christs real disciples will sometimes join with others in censuring the zealous Christian. There were some that had indignation. But yet again, the censures passed on the servant of Christ often have their origin in some one hypocritical, bad man. Who began this cavilling, this murmuring against Mary? We turn to St. Johns Gospel, and he tells us it was Judas-Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. Trace to their source the bitter censures with which many a faithful Christian is for a time assailed, you will often find it in the secret, unthought of baseness of some low, hypocritical man.

IV. The history now brings before us the notice our Lord took of this womans conduct. He, first, vindicated it. And observe how He vindicates Mary-with a wonderful gentleness towards those who had blamed her. The practical lesson is, brethren, to adore the blessed Jesus for taking us and our conduct under His protection, and while acting through His grace as He would have us, to feel ourselves safe, and more than safe, in His hands. He that toucheth you, He says, toucheth the apple of My eye. But this is not all-our Saviour recompenses this grateful woman as well as vindicates her. Wheresoever, He says, this gospel shall be preached, throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. Our Lord had said long before, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. But here He anticipates this; there is a reward for this woman on the earth, and a wide and large one. And now, turning from Mary and her conduct, let us think of ourselves and our conduct. What have we done for Christ? We love Him because He first loved us-there is the secret of Christian obedience, Christian self-denial, Christian devotedness. (C. Bradley, M. A.)

The box of ointment

I. The nature of the act. It was done to Christ. It was inspired by a right sentiment. If we give all that we possess to Christ still it is less than He deserves. Her regret is not that she gave so much, but so little.

II. The lessons. An action is precisely of the value of the motive by which it has been actuated. We must, moreover, take into account the difference of positions and mental tendencies. Good intention, which is no other thing than love, may deceive itself, without doubt, but it does not always deceive itself. In the Divine flame which the Spirit kindles the light is inseparable from the heat. He who seeks to do the will of God will know the mind of God. Even in giving to the poor it is possible to make serious mistakes. True charity does not open the heart without expanding the mind. (Alexander Finer, D. D.)

A womans memorial

It well exhibits, in a single illustration, the appropriateness, the motive, the measure, and the reward of Christian zeal (Mar_14:3-9).

I. We start out with a recognition, on our part, of a settled rule of activity. All of Christs friends are expected to do something for Him.

1. Work and sacrifice are not inconsistent with even the highest spirituality, leer this is the same Mary whose other story is so familiar to us all. She was the one who used to sit at Jesus feet (Luk_10:39) in all the serene quiet of communion with her Lord; yet now who would say that Mary at the Masters head might not be as fine a theme for the artists pencil? Piety is practical, and practical piety is not the less picturesque and attractive because it has in such an instance become demonstrative.

2. Our Lord always needed help while He was on the earth. There were rich women among those whom He had helped, at whose generous hands He received money (Luk_8:2-3). And His cause needs help now.

3. It is a mere temptation of the devil to assert that ones work for Jesus Christ is vitiated by the full gladness a loving soul feels in it. Some timid and self-distrustful believers are stumbled by the fear that their sacrifices for our blessed Master are meritless because they enjoy making them. There used to be rehearsed an old legend of an aged prophetess passing through a crowd with a censer of fire in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other. Being asked why she carried so singular a burden, she replied, This fire is to burn heaven with, and this water is to quench hell with: so that men may hereafter serve God without desire for reward or fear of retribution. Such a speech may appear becoming for a mere devotees utterance; but there is no warrant for anything like it in the Bible. Heaven is offered for our encouragement in zeal (Rom_2:7). Hell is often exhibited that it might be feared (Mat_10:28).

II. Next to this, the story of this alabaster box suggests a lesson concerning the motive which underlies all true Christian activity.

1. In the case of this woman, we are told that her action grew out of her grateful affection for her Lord. Every gesture shows her tenderness; she wiped His very feet with her own hair (Joh_12:3). This was what gave her offering its supreme value.

2. Herein lies the principle which has for all ages the widest application. It is not so much what we do for our Saviour, nor the way in which we do it, as it is the feeling which prompts us in the doing of anything that receives His welcome. It is the affection pervading the zeal which renders the zeal precious.

3. It may as well be expected that the kindness which proceeds from pure love will sometimes meet with misconstruction. Those who look upon zeal far beyond their own in disinterested affection, will frequently be overheard to pass uncharitable misjudgments upon it. We find (Joh_12:4-6) that it was only Judas Iscariot after all, on this occasion, who took the lead in assigning wrong motives to the woman, and he did not so much care for the poor as he did for his own bag of treasure. No matter how much our humble endeavours to honour our Lord Jesus may be derided, it will be helpful to remember they are fully appreciated by Him.

4. This is the principle which uplifts and enobles even commonplace zeal When true honest love is the motive, do we not all agree that it is slight ministrations more than great conspicuous efforts which touch the heart of one who receives them? The more unnoticed to every eye except ours, the more dear are the glances of tenderness we receive. It is the delicacy, not the bulk, of the kindness which constitutes its charm.

IV. The final lesson of this story is concerning the reward of Christian zeal. Higher encomium was never pronounced than that which this woman received from the Master.

1. It was Jesus that gave the approval. Set that over against the fault finding of Judas! If we do our duty, we have a right to appeal away from anybody who carps. When Christ justifies, who is he that condemns? Some of us have read of the ancient classic orator, who, having no favour in the theatre, went into the temple and gestured before the statues of the gods; he said they better understood him. Thus may maligned believers retire from the world that misjudges them, and comfort themselves with Jesus recognition.

2. Jesus said this woman should be remembered very widely-wherever the gospel should go. Men know what is good and fine when they see it. And they stand ready to commend it. Even Lord Byron had wit enough to see that-

The drying up a single tear has more

Of honest fame, than shedding seas of gore.

Some of the grandest lives in history have had only little show to make. Care burdened women, invalids on couches, ill-clad and ill-fed sons of toil, maid servants, man servants, apprentices and hirelings with few unoccupied hours, timid hearts, uneducated minds, sailors kept on ships, soldiers held in garrisons-these, with only a poor chance, have done such service that the world remembers them with its widest renown (Psa_112:5-6).

3. It was just this parable of Jesus which became Marys memorial. A word sometimes lasts longer than a marble slab. We must learn to be content with the approval of God and our own consciences. Nothing will ever be forgotten that is worth a record in Gods book. Those who die in the Lord will find their works follow them, and the worthy fame remains behind: The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot. Only we are to recollect that love alone gives character and value to all zeal. That was a most suggestive remark of old Thomas a Kempis: He doeth much, who loveth much; and he also doeth much, who doeth well. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

The sacrifice of love

I. The sacrifice of love. Observe-

1. What Mary gave. The alabastron of precious and perfumed ointment. Rare and costly. Love does not measure its offering by a bare utility; nor by a legal claim.

2. What Mary did. Anointed with this precious ointment. Things worthy of our highest uses are honoured when used in the lowliest uses of religion. What is worthy of our head, honoured by being laid at the Masters feet.

II. The rebuke of covetousness. Judass criticism.

1. Waste! because his plan was not adopted. He thought not of the good that was done, but of what might have been done.

2. He had an excuse. The poor! He was one of those who are always looking at home; who do so with shut eyes; who see little, and do less.

III. The argument of wisdom.

1. I shall not be here long. Jesus is not long-in this life-with any of us. Let us make much of this guest. Do what we can now.

2. You will always have the poor. These Jesus loved and eared for. This legacy was not forgotten (Act_4:31-37). Nor are the spiritually poor forgotten.

Learn-

1. To love Jesus and show it.

2. That no gift consecrated to Jesus is wasted.

3. The best gift is a broken heart, the perfume of whose penitence and faith is pleasant to the Lord. (J. C. Gray.)

Profusion not waste

I. A motive. Mary no doubt intended well. Her right intention would hardly have been questioned by the murmuring disciples themselves. Whatever may be said of her work, nothing can be said of her motive but that it was purely and altogether good. Now motive is of first importance in the estimate we form of any act whatever, small or great. Motive of some kind there must be, or the act cannot be moral; it becomes merely mechanical. The motive too must be good, or the act cannot be otherwise than bad. It need not, however, appear so, and frequently does not. Words are not necessarily the garb of truth, nor appearances the signs and pledges of corresponding realities. However good the motive may be it does not follow that the act as such will be equally good. That is, there may be something more and higher in the motive than appears in the act. This may arise from ignorance, from our not knowing how to make the act better; or it may result from the nature of the act itself, as being essentially humble and commonplace. But a deeper cause is found in our inability to do what we would. We seem to do our very best, we put forth and strain our resources to the utmost, and yet, after all, come short, and sometimes sadly short, of our preconceived desires and hopes. There is, however, another and brighter side to this. Our work is not considered absolutely by itself. The motive that inspires it counts for something, it may be for much.

II. From the motive to this act let us pass to the act itself, with especial reference to the impression produced by it on those who witnessed it. Mary intended well, I have said: she also as certainly did well. This appears in part from what has been already said, but the fact deserves and will repay still further exposition. She hath done what she could, is the testimony borne to her conduct by the Saviour Himself, which alone were commendation sufficient, as it implies that she had acted up to the full measure of her ability. But to this He adds: She hath wrought a good work on Me, thus greatly enlarging and heightening the commendation, especially as the term rendered good means what is noble and beautiful. Her work was thus good because it was the spontaneous overflow of a profoundly grateful affection for the restoration of her brother Lazarus to life. It was thus good because it was in effect an act of complete abandonment and loving devotion of her whole self to Christ as her one and only Saviour. No doubt there was something extraordinary in the form which this declaration took; but then there was something extraordinary in the sensibility of Marys nature. But if Judas was first and chief he was quickly followed by others; for evil is alike contagious and confederate. Complaining is easy, and also infectious, and is often practised by some as though it were a virtue. Mark, then, our Lords reply to their common protest, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? etc. A restrictive economy, He virtually tells us, a bare and rigid utility is not at any time the distinguishing characteristic of what is purest and noblest in human conduct. Utility has its own sphere. Economy is a duty even where it is not a necessity. But there are whole regions of thought and action into which neither the one nor the other can enter, or, entering, can reign alone. There must be beauty as well as utility, there must be generosity as well as economy, there must be splendour, magnificence, profusion, seeming waste even, or human life will lose much of its charm. The like profusion is seen in the Word of God as in His works. Shall men, then, in the service of faith and piety, be so unlike God as to confine themselves within the narrow range of a definite economy, or bind themselves to the strict and positive demands of a rigorous utility? Is this what they do in regard to any other kind of service, and with reference to interests that are purely secular and material? Shall it be called waste for a vehement and self-forgetting love to pour costly perfumes on the head and feet of an adored Redeemer, and yet not waste to consume them daily in the gratification of a bodily sense? No one inspired only with what is called the enthusiasm of humanity will say so. Still less will anyone who can profess in the words of the apostle, as giving the animating and impellent principle of his whole life, The love of Christ constraineth me. But, in truth, utility has a much larger sphere than is usually assigned to it. That is not the only useful thing which simply helps a man to exist; nor is it, when viewed comparatively with other things, even the most useful. The same principle applies to faith and love, especially to the latter; while of this latter it may further be said, that its utility is greatest when utility is least the motive to its exercise. That is not love which looks directly to personal advantage, and knows how to regulate its fervour by prudential considerations of profit and loss.

III. Marys recompense.

1. Christ vindicated her conduct against the angry complaints of His disciples.

2. He did more: He accepted and commended her work as good-as truly and nobly beautiful. This itself would be recompense enough for her. She could, and would, desire nothing more, and nothing better. What more and better, indeed, could any one desire, for any work whatever, than the applauding well done of Jesus?

3. Yet more there was in her case. She received assurance of everlasting reputation and honour. Here was marvellous and unparalleled distinction, no deed of merely human creature was ever promised a renown so great. And though this renown could of itself add but little to her future felicity, yet the promise of it, as indicating what the Saviour thought of her deed, must have been to her a deep and unfailing source of most holy satisfaction and delight. Nothing of this kind is, of course, possible to us; nor need we desire it. We may, however, learn from it, or rather from both forms of Marys recompense combined, that whatever is done for Christ shall not, even to ourselves, be in vain.

4. With gracious recompense, there was also natural result. The house, says one evangelist, was filled with the odour of the ointment. Mary accomplished more than she intended, anointing not only Jesus, but all who were with Him, and even the house itself. The fact is very suggestive, giving us at the same time a lesson both of admonition and of encouragement. Continuity and diffusion mark all we do. The thought is stupendously solemn, and ought to be solemnly laid to heart. It is one to inspire us with gladdening hope, or else to fill us with terrible dismay. (Prof. J. Stacey, D. D.)

The broken vase

The affectionate Mary, in the devout prodigality of her love, gave-not a part-but the whole of the precious contents, and did not spare the vase itself, in which they were held, and which was broken in the service of Christ. She gave the whole to Christ, and to Him alone. Thus also she took care, in her reverence for Christ, that the spikenard and the vessel (things of precious value, and of frequent use in banquets and festive pleasures of this world for mans gratification and luxury) having now been used for this sacred service of anointing the body of Christ, should never be applied to any other less holy purpose. This act of Mary, providing that what had been thus consecrated to the anointing of Christs body, should never be afterwards employed in secular uses, is exemplary to us; and the same spirit of reverence appears to have guided the Church in setting apart from all profane and common uses, by consecration, places and things for the service of Christs mystical body, and for the entertainment of His presence; and this same reverential spirit seems also to animate her in consuming at the Lords Table what remains of the consecrated elements in the Communion of His Body and Blood. (Bishop Christopher Wordsworth.)

Costly offerings acceptable to God

There is just one principle that runs through all the teaching of the two Testaments concerning what men do for their Maker, and that is that God does not want, and cannot otherwise than lightly esteem that which costs us nothing, and that the value of any service or sacrifice which we render for His sake, is, that whatever may be its intrinsic meanness or meagreness, it is, as from us, our very best, not given lightly or cheaply or unthinkingly, but with care and cost and crucifixion of our self-indulgence; and then again, that it is such gifts, whether they are the adornment of the temple, or the box of alabaster-that these are gifts which God equally and always delights in. (Bishop H. C. Potter.)

Broken things useful to God

It is on crushed grain that man is fed; it is by bruised plants that he is restored to health. It was by broken pitchers that Gideon triumphed; it was from a wasted barrel and empty cruse that the prophet was sustained; it was on boards and broken pieces of the ship that Paul and his companions were saved. It was amid the fragments of broken humanity that the promise of the higher life was given; though not a bone of Him was broken, yet it is by the broken life of Christ that His people shall live eternally; it was by the scattering of the Jews that the Gentiles were brought in; it was by the bruised and torn bodies of the saints that the truth was so made to triumph that it became a saying, that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. It is by this broken box, that throughout the wide world it is proclaimed how blessed and glorious a thing it is to do a whole thing for Christ. When the true story of all things shall be known, then will it appear how precious in Gods sight, how powerful in His hands, were many broken things. Broken earthly hopes will be found to have been necessary to the bringing in of the better hope which endures forever. Broken bodily constitutions will be found to have been needful in some cases to the attainment of that land where the body shall be weary and sore no more; broken earthly fortunes, to the winning of the wealth beyond the reach of rust and moth and thief; broken earthly honour, to the being crowned with the diadem which fadeth not away. Yes! even for what we have to accomplish here, it often needs that we should be broken up into personal helplessness ere we can accomplish anything; that the excellency of the power may be not of man but of God. It is along a channel marred, and, as we should say, of no worth, that the precious ointment flows. Therefore, when any of Gods people are broken and marred, let them bethink themselves of this shattered box, and how from it there flowed forth that ointment which anointed Jesus for His burial, and how it gave materials for that story which every gospel should tell. (P. B. Power.)

She brake the box

If relics were needed for the instruction of the Church of God, we can well understand how among the choicest of them would be found the remnants of this alabaster box. This broken vessel would not only be a monument of love, but a preacher with varied eloquence; at once pathetic and practical, tender and even stern; appealing to sentiment, and yet thundering against mere sentimentality; its jagged edges preaching fact in this world which men are always telling us is a world of fact; and saying, Religion is fact-fact from God to man, and back from man to God again. It may be that, as we studied these poor fragments of the past, our minds might pass from the stem teachings of those jagged edges to the sweet scent which diffused itself therefrom; and so, impalpable and invisible as that scent, sweet-savoured thoughts might steal into the secret recesses of our being, and we might be won to more decided action for our Lord. We can understand the broken vessel being carried into the exchange, the counting house, and the shop, and one man shrinking from it as he heard its story, and another pouring out his gold as its depth and power struck deep into his soul. We can picture it to ourselves on the table of the philosopher, as with his midnight lamp beside it, he sits contemplating it with his hands spread over his temples, and rises from his cold, unsanctified study, unable to understand why the woman did this deed, and why anyone should now be called to do the like; and we can imagine it now arresting with its broken form, now beguiling with even the remembrance of its perfume, some strong intellect, which longs to know the reality of things, and bows before the majesty and substance of true love as offered and accepted here. We can understand how it would make a missionary of this one, whose deeds would be known to all, and of another for Christs sake a lone midnight watcher of the sick, whose deeds would be known to none-from the light of love shining from this broken vessel, as the lamps shone from the broken pitchers of Gideon, we can see thousands fleeing, as the bats and owls before the morning sun; and others, opening and expanding as the flowers into bloom and scent. Were relics needed for the conversion of man from his selfishness, his half-heartedness, his ignorance of the power of love, first above all things we would carry through the world the cross of Calvary and its thorny crown, and next to them this alabaster box. (P. B. Power.)

Anointing

Anointing was employed in the East for several purposes: first, for pleasure, it being a great luxury in that climate; and the ointments were prepared from oils with great difficulty. They represented the very best fragrance that could be compounded. They were used by a person upon himself; and it was a significant act of esteem when ointment was presented by friend to friend. Ointments were also used in the coronation and ordination of kings and priests; and so they came to signify sacredness through reverence. Ointments were further used in the burial of the dead, and so came to signify the sorrow of love. But in every case, whether for gifts, or for pleasure, or for sacred uses of consecration or burial, it was not the intrinsic value of the ointment, but the thought which went with it, that gave it significance. It represented deep heart feeling, loyalty; deep religious consecration; sorrow and hope. These various feelings, which have but very little expression awarded to them, choose symbols; and these symbols almost lose their original meaning, and take this second attributive meaning. (H. W. Beecher.)

An alabaster box of ointment-Marys gift

In climates where the skin gets feverish with dust, the use of oil in anointing the person is still a common practice. It is so in India; it was so in ancient Greece and Rome. It keeps the skin cool and soothes it, and is held to be healthful. In warmer climes the senses are more delicate, and the smells often more strong and disagreeable, and sweet odours are therefore greatly in demand. In Egypt today, the guests would be perfumed by being fumigated with a fragrant incense; and as spices are still used to give to the breath, the skin, the garments, an agreeable odour, so was it then. In any house the Saviour would have had His head anointed with oil. It was like the washing of the feet, a refreshment. In India these anointings with fragrant oils and perfumes are largely practised after bathing, and especially at feasts and marriages, so that the act of Mary was not something embarrassing and peculiar, but only the very highest form of a service which was expected and welcome. But, instead of the anointing with oil, which would have cost less probably than the widows mite, she has provided a rich anointing oil. Judas estimated its value at three hundred pence; Pliny says it sold generally for three hundred pence a pound of twelve ounces. It was something of the same kind as attar of roses; made chiefly by gathering the essential oil from the leaves of an Indian plant, the spikenard, described by Dioscorides, 1,800 years ago, as growing in the Himalayas, and still found there, and used today in the preparation of costly perfumes. Except in drops, it was, of course, only used by kings and by the richest classes; was costly enough to be made a royal present. Three hundred pence would be worth as much in those clays as £60 would be in England today. Mary must have been a woman of property to be able to bring such a holy anointing oil; unless, as is equally probable, this amount was the total of her lowly savings, and she with her royal gift, like the widow with her lowly offering, gives all she had. If there be none other to anoint Him, she will not let His sacred head lack what honour she can bring. And if some reject Him, she will make it clear that to do Him the least and most transient honour is worth, in her view, the sacrifice of all she has. And so, with wondrous lavishness of generous love, she buys and brings to the feast the costly unguent. It is enclosed in an alabaster vase or phial, such as some which may be seen in the British Museum today, thousands of years old, and not unlike the alabaster vases that are still made in vast numbers and sold in toy shops and fairs for a few pence; the softness of the stone permitting it to be then, as now, easily turned in a lathe. (R. Glover.)

There is no word for box in the original; and there is no reason to suppose that the vessel, in which the perfume was contained, would be of the nature or shape of a box. Doubtless alabaster boxes would be in use among ladies to hold their jewels, cosmetics, perfumes, etc.; but it would, most probably, be in some kind of minute bottles that the volatile scents themselves would be kept. The expression in the original is simply, having an alabaster of ointment. Pliny expressly says that perfumes are best preserved in alabasters. The vessel, because made of alabaster, was called an alabaster, just as, with ourselves, a particular garment, because made of waterproof stuff, is called a waterproof. And a small glass vessel for drinking out of is called, generically, a glass. Herodotus uses the identical expression employed by the Evangelist. He says that the Icthyophagi were sent by Cambyses to the Ethiopians, bearing, as gifts, a purple cloak, a golden necklace, an alabaster of perfume, and a cask of palm wine. (J. Morison, D. D.)

Wasted aroma

Just as soon as these people saw the ointment spilling on the head of Christ, they said: Why this waste? Why, that ointment might have been sold and given to the poor! Ye hypocrites! What did they care about the poor? I do not believe that one of them that made the complaint ever gave a farthing to the poor. I think Judas was most indignant, and he sold his Master for thirty pieces of silver. There is nothing that makes a stingy man so cross as to see generosity in others. If this woman of the text had brought in an old worn-out box, with some stale perfume, and given that to Christ, they could have endured it; but to have her bring in a vessel on which had been expended the adroitness of skilled artizans, and containing perfume that had usually been reserved for palatial and queenly use, they could not stand it. And so it is often the case in communities and in churches that those are the most unpopular men who give the most. Judas cannot bear to see the alabaster box broken at the feet of Christ. There is a man who gives a thousand dollars to the missionary cause. Men cry out: What a waste! Whats the use of sending out New Testaments and missionaries, and spending your money in that way? Why dont you send ploughs, and corn threshers, and locomotives, and telegraphs? But is it a waste? Ask the nations that have been saved; have not religious blessings always preceded financial blessings? Show me a community where the gospel of Christ triumphs, and I will show you a community prospered in a worldly sense. Is it a waste to comfort the distressed, to instruct the ignorant, to baulk immorality, to capture for God the innumerable hosts of men who with quick feet were tramping the way to hell! If a man buys railroad stock, it may decline. If a man invests in a bank, the cashier may abscond. If a man goes into partnership, his associate may sink the store. Alas, for the man who has nothing better than greenbacks and government securities! God ever and anon blows up the money safe, and with a hurricane of marine disaster dismasts the merchantmen, and from the blackened heavens He hurls into the Exchange the hissing thunderbolts of His wrath. People cry up this investment and cry down the other; but I tell you there is no safe investment save that which is made in the bank of which God holds the keys. The interest in that is always being paid, and there are eternal dividends. God will change that gold into crowns that shall never lose their lustre, and into sceptres that shall forever wave over a land where the poorest inhabitant is richer than all the wealth of earth tossed up into one glittering coin! So, if I stand this morning before men who are now of small means, but who once were greatly prospered, and who in the days of their prosperity were benevolent, let me ask you to sit down and count up your investments. All the loaves of bread you ever gave to the hungry, they are yours yet; all the shoes you ever gave to the barefooted, they are yours yet; all the dollars you ever gave to churches and schools and colleges, they are yours yet. Bank clerks sometimes make mistakes about deposits; but God keeps an unfailing record of all Christian deposits; and, though on the great judgment, there may be a run upon that bank, ten thousand times ten thousand men will get back all they ever gave to Christ; get all back, heaped up, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. A young Christian woman starts to instruct the freedmen of the South, with a spelling book in one hand and a Bible in the other. She goes aboard a steamer for Savannah. Through days, and months, and years she toils among the freedmen of the South; and one day there comes up a poisonous breath from the swamp, and a fever smites her brow, and far away from home, watched tearfully by those whom she has come to save, she drops into an early grave. Oh, what a waste!-waste of beauty, waste of talent, waste of affection, waste of everything, cries the world. Why, she might have been the joy of her fathers house; she might have been the pride of the drawing room. But, in the day when rewards are given for earnest Christian work, her inheritance will make insignificant all the treasure of Croesus. Not wasted, her gentle words; not wasted, her home sickness; not wasted, her heart aches; not wasted, her tears of loneliness; not wasted, the pangs of her last hour; not wasted, the sweat on her dying pillow. The freedman thought it was the breath of the magnolia in the thicket; the planter thought it was the sweetness of the acacia coming up from the hedge. No! no! it was the fragrance of an alabaster box poured on the head of Christ. One day our world will burn up. So great have been its abominations and disorders that one would think that when the flames touched it a horrible stench would roll into the skies; the coal mines consuming, the impurities of great cities burning, you might think that a lost spirit from the pit would stagger back at the sickening odour. But no. I suppose on that day a cloud of incense will roll into the skies, all the wilderness of tropical flowers on fire, the mountains of frankincense, the white sheet of the water lilies, the million tufts of heliotrope, the trellises of honeysuckle, the walls of morning glory. The earth shall be a burning censer, held up before the throne of God with all the odours of the hemispheres. But on that day a sweeter gale shall waft into the skies. It will come up from ages past, from altars of devotion, and hovels of poverty, and beds of pain, and stakes of martyrdom, and from all the places where good men and women have suffered for God and died for the truth. It will be the fragrance of ten thousand boxes of alabaster, which, through the long reach of the ages, were poured on the head of Christ. (Dr. Talmage.)

Blinding influence of prejudice

A man said to Mr. Dawson, I like your sermons very much, but the after meetings I despise. When the prayer meeting begins I always go up into the gallery and look down, and I am disgusted. Well, replied Mr. Dawson, the reason is, you go on the top of your neighbours house, and look down his chimney to examine his fire, and of course you get only smoke in your eyes!

The anointing at Bethany

I. This prophecy by Christ has been fulfilled.

1. Unlikely as it must have seemed that the simple act of devotion here named should be known in all the world, it has literally come to pass. It is told in all the languages of men, till there is scarcely a patch of coral in the wide sea large enough for a man to stand upon where this incident is not known. It should increase our confidence in all our Lords promises. It is a witness that the rest will be found true as their time comes.

2. Wherever this story has been told, it has received the commendation of those who have heard it. The Lords judgment has been confirmed: not that of those who had indignation within themselves, and considered the ointment wasted.

II. Why was this woman able to do so praiseworthy an act? How did she know so much better than the others that Christ was to die, and that this was an appropriate act in view of His death?

1. She had paid attention to His words. She was a good hearer. Her ear was single, and her whole mind was full of truth.

2. Her act was the result of her character and feeling, not of her reasoning. She gave to Him, because she was Mary and He was Christ. It was the impulse of love. (Alex. McKenzie, D. D.)

The offering of devotion

The time will come when to do a thing for Christ and to have it accepted by Him will be work and accomplishment enough. If He is pleased, we shall not care to look beyond for recompense. If the spikenard is pleasant to Him, we shall not ask that the house be filled with its fragrance. But the fragrance will fill the house. The poor are best cared for where Christ is the best served. Virtue is strongest where piety is purest. Let Him be satisfied and the world is blessed. Let us break at His feet the alabaster which holds our life, that the spikenard may anoint Him. Go out and stand before men and open the box of stone. Then men will be drawn to you and to your devotion. Soon kings will swing the golden censer, and nations will east incense on the glowing coals, and the perfume will make the air sweet: while many voices from earth and from heaven blend in the song of adoration unto Him that loved us. (Alex. McKenzie, D. D.)

The anointing at Bethany

In this narrative of Marys good work and the indignation of the apostles, we have an example of all those views and all those judgments which have their foundation in the favourite principle of utilitarianism, and which is so often falsely applied to the wounding of pious hearts, and to the hindrance of that justifiable worship in the Church of Christ, which seeks to express worthily the sentiment of reverence and of love, and which is in itself productive of the highest blessing.

I.

(1) In Mary we have set before us an image of ardent love;

(2) in Judas an example of great hypocrisy;

(3) in the rest of the apostles an instance of the ease with which even good men are often scandalized when Gods purpose happens to differ from their own preconceptions.

II.

(1) In the acceptance of Marys offering of the ointment, we have the mercy of God displayed in receiving and hallowing mans gift when bestowed on Him;

(2) in the rejection of Judas, who impenitently hardened himself at the sight of Marys devotion, an instance is given us of the righteous judgment of the Almighty against the sinner. (W. Denton, M. A.)

The true principle of Christian expenditure

It is commonly argued that whatever may have been the appropriateness of that earlier devotion which built and beautified the temple, it is superannuated, inappropriate, and even (as some tell us) unwarranted now. Those costly and almost barbaric splendours, it is said, were appropriate to a race in its infancy, and to a religion in the germ. But the temple and the ritual of Judaism have flowered into the sanctuary and the service of the Church of Christ. Not to Mount Gerizim nor Jerusalem do men need to journey to worship the Father, says the Founder of that Church Himself. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. If one would show his devotion to Him, says this same Teacher, sell all that thou hast and give to the poor. It is not to adorn temples and garnish holy places that Christianity is called nowadays, but to rear hospitals, and shelter orphans, and feed the hungry. It is a diviner thing to send bread to some starving household, or to minister in some plague smitten Memphis or New Orleans, to some fevered sufferer, than to build all the altars and adorn all the sanctuaries that ever were reared. No! it is not-not one whit diviner-noble and Christ-like as such service surely is. Let us come to a distinct understanding here as to an issue concerning which, in the popular mind, there is much confusion and much more misapprehension. If it be asked, Is there not an order and sequence in which things equally excellent may wisely and rightly be done, the answer is plain enough. If anybody is starving or houseless or orphaned, the first thing to do is to feed and shelter and succour them. And so long as such work is undone, we may wisely postpone other work, equally meritorious and honourable. But it should be clearly understood that if in some ages a disproportionate amount of time and money and attention have been given to the aesthetics of religion, in others the same disproportion has characterized that which has been given to what may justly be called the sentimentalism of religion. An enormous amount of indiscriminate almsgiving both in our own and other generations has bred only shiftlessness, indolence, unthrift, and even downright vies. God forbid that we should hastily close our hand or our heart against any needier brother! But God most of all forbid that we thrust him down into a condition of chronic pauperism by the wanton and selfish facility with which we buy our privilege of being comfortably let alone by him with an alms or a dole. Better a thousand times that our gifts should enrich a cathedral already thrice adorned, and clothe its walls already hung with groaning profusion of enrichment, for then, at least, someone coming after us may be prompted to see and own that, whatever fault of taste or congruity may offend him, there has not been building and beautifying without cost and sacrifice Those wonderful men of an earlier generation toiled singly and supremely to give to God their best, and to spend their art and toil where, often if not ordinarily, it could be seen and owned and adequately appreciated by no other eye than His. This, I maintain, is alone the one sufficient motive for cost, and beauty, and even lavish outlay, in the building and adornment of the House of God. We may well rejoice and be thankful when any Christian disciple strives anywhere to do anything that tells out to God and men, whether in wood, or stone, or gold, or precious stones, that such an one would fain consecrate to Him the best and costliest that human hands can bring. When any poor penuriousness cries out upon such an outlay, To what purpose is this waste? the pitiful objection is silenced by that answer of the Masters to her who broke ever His feet the alabaster box of ointment very precious, Verily, I say unto you, etc. And why was it to be told? for the spreading of her fame? No, but for the inculcation of her example. (Bishop H. C. Potter.)

Contrast between Mary and Judas

The Messiah, although going to death, let me lavish my all on Him, was Marys thought; Going to death, and therefore not the Messiah, let me make what I can out of Him, was the thought of Judas. (T. M. Lindsay, D. D.)

Costly gifts acceptable to Christ

There is a great principle involved in this womans offering, or rather in our Lords acceptance of it, which is this, that we may give that which is costly to adorn and beautify the sanctuary of God and His worship. God Himself enjoined on the Jews that they should make a tabernacle of worship of such materials as gold, and purple, and fine linen, and precious stones; and the man after Gods own heart collected a vast treasure of gold and costly materials to build and beautify a temple which was to be exceeding magnificent. But since then a new dispensation has been given, which had its foundations in the deepest humiliation-in the manger of Bethlehem-in the journeyings of a poor, homeless man, with the simple peasants His companions-ending in the cross and in the sepulchre. Is there place in such a kingdom for generous men and women to lavish precious things on His sanctuaries and the accompaniments of His worship? Now this incident at the end of the Lords life, taken together with that at its beginning, when God-directed men offered to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, teaches us that there is. Just as this woman was led by a Divine instinct to lavish upon His Person what was costly and fragrant, so the Church has, by the same Divine instinct, been led to pour at His feet the richest treasures of the nations she has subdued to His faith. The Church has done what she could. At least her faithful sons and daughters have. At first, in her days of persecution, she could worship only in catacombs, and in her days of poverty she could only offer what was rude; but when she subdued her persecutors and emerged from her poverty, then also she did what she could. The grandest efforts of architectural skill have been raised to the honour of Christ, the greater part built in the form of the cross on which He hung to redeem us. The noblest paintings are of His acts and sufferings; and the most elevating strains of music are accompaniments of His worship. It is too true that many have taken part in these offices who have not, like Mary, sat at His feet, and chosen the good part; but what we are now concerned with is, whether this incident warrants those who have first given themselves to Him to offer in and for His worship what has cost labour and treasure and skill. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 14:1-9. After two days was the feast of the passover — For an explanation of these verses, see the notes on Mat 26:1-13. Of ointment of spike-nard, very precious — “Either the word πιστικη,” says Dr. Whitby, “answers to the Syriac, pisthaca, and then it may be rendered, nardus spicata, ointment made of the spikes of nard; or, if it be of a Greek original, I think Theophylact well renders it πιστικη η αδολος και μετα πιστεως κατασκευασθεισα, that is, nard unadulterated and prepared with fidelity; the great price it bore tempting many to adulterate it, as Dioscorides and Pliny tell us.” Nard is a plant which was highly valued by the ancients, both as an article of luxury and medicine. The ointment made of it was used at baths and feasts as a favourite perfume. From a passage in Horace, it appears that this ointment was so valuable among the Romans, that as much as could be contained in a small box of precious stone was considered as a sort of equivalent for a large vessel of wine, and a proper quota for a guest to contribute at an entertainment, according to the ancient custom. Hor., lib. 4. ode 12. This author mentions the Assyrian, and Dioscorides the Syrian nard; but, it appears, the best is produced in the East Indies. “The root of this plant is very small and slender. It puts forth a long and small stalk, and has several ears or spikes, even with the ground, which has given it the name of spikenard; the taste is bitter, acrid, and aromatic, and the smell agreeable.” — Calmet. She brake the box and poured it on his head — As this spikenard was a liquid, and there appears to be no reason for breaking the box in order to get out the liquor, Knatchbull, Hammond, and some others maintain, that συντριψασα, the word here used, ought not to be translated she brake, but only that she shook the box, namely, so as to break the coagulated parts of the rich balsam, and bring it to such a degree of liquidity, that it might be fit to be poured out; and thus Dr. Waterland translates it. Dr. Doddridge and others, however, think the original word does not so naturally express this, and therefore imagine that the woman broke off the top of the vessel in which the balsam was contained. Dr. Campbell renders it, She broke open the box, observing, “I have chosen these words as sufficiently denoting that it required an uncommon effort to bring out the contents, which is all that the word here necessarily implies; and it is a circumstance that ought not to be altogether overlooked, being an additional evidence of the woman’s zeal for doing honour to her Lord. That the term ought not to be rendered shook, is to me evident. I know no example of it in this meaning in any author, sacred or profane. Verbs denoting to shake, frequently occur in Scripture. But the word is never συντριβω, but τινασσω, σειω, σαλευω.” Mr. Harmer understands it of the breaking the cement with which the vessel was closely stopped, a circumstance which, he thinks, appears natural, and an explanation which is justified by the phraseology of Propertius, a writer of the same age. There were some that had indignation — At this which the woman had done, being incited thereto by Judas; and said — Probably to the woman, Why was this waste of the ointment made — Of this rich and costly balsam? And they murmured against her — Spake privately among themselves against the woman, for what she had done. But Jesus, knowing every thing they spake or thought, said, Why trouble ye her — Without cause? She hath wrought a good work on me — Hath given a great proof of her firm faith, and fervent love to me; and therefore, instead of meriting your censure, deserves your commendation. She hath done what she could — To testify her affection for me. She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying — Matthew, προς το ενταφιασαι με, corpus meum ad funus componere, to prepare my body for its burial. This vindication of the woman suggests the reason why Jesus permitted so expensive a compliment to be paid to him. Being desirous to impress his disciples with the thought of his death, he embraced every opportunity of inculcating it, whether by word or deed.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 120. — REMAINING TRANSACTIONS OF TUESDAY PRECEDING THE CRUCIFIXION, Mar_14:1-11.

(See notes on Mat_26:1-16.).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Mar_14:1. Render: After two days was the Passover and the Azuma (or Leavenless Feast). The Passover was the lamb slain on the 14th Nisan (Exo_12:6-11); the Azuma was the festival which began on 15th Nisan, and lasted seven days (Exo_12:15-20).

Mar_14:3-9. This incident, which happened on the evening before Palm Sunday (chap. 11), is inserted here in order to explain the circumstances that led to Christ’s betrayal. It is recorded in a similar connexion by both Matthew (Mat_26:6-13) and John (Joh_12:1-8). Another anointing is mentioned in Luk_7:36-50.

Mar_14:3. A woman.—See Joh_11:2. An alabaster box.—Omit “box.” Vases or phials for holding unguents were made at Alabastron in Egypt out of a stone found in the neighbouring mountains, and so the word came to be used of any vessel employed for a purpose of that kind. Spikenard.—Pure nard. Pliny says (Nat. Hist. xii. 26) that the nard leaf, especially the best, was often adulterated with a very common herb.

Mar_14:4-5. This indignant murmuring began with Judas (Joh_12:4). Three hundred pence.—Equal in purchasing power to £30 of our money—a “denarius” being the day’s wage of a labourer.

Mar_14:8. Come aforehand.—She took the initiative as to anointing, etc. The word occurs elsewhere only in 1Co_11:21, and (passive) Gal_6:1.

Mar_14:10. To betray.—That he might deliver Him to them. Perhaps his thought was: “The Master Himself declares His death and burial are at hand. He has said over and over again that He must be delivered unto the chief priests. Why, then, should not I win their favour, and at the same time earn some money, by helping them to apprehend Him quietly?”

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mar_14:1-11

(PARALLELS: Mat_26:1-16; Luk_22:1-6; Joh_12:1-8.)

The anointing of Christ’s body to the burying.—

I. The feast and the anointing.—“Jesus, six days before the Passover”—the last Passover He was to celebrate with His disciples before He suffered—“came to Bethany, where Lazarus was,” whom He had, a short time before, “raised from the dead.” “There”—“in the house of Simon the leper”—“they made Him a supper,” at which were present, in different capacities, all three members of that family which is distinguished above all others as “the family which Jesus loved.” “Martha served,” i.e. attended to the preparation and management of the feast—an employment suited to her character and abilities, and deserving of praise rather than blame if confined within the bounds of a decent hospitality, and a proper attention to the comforts of the guests. Lazarus, the dead-alive, was “one of those who sat at table with” Jesus. Mary, the other sister, on this as on a former occasion (Luk_10:39), is found still “choosing the better part”: for which she draws upon herself, as before, the censure of those who could not appreciate her conduct, and the approbation of her Divine Lord. This time Mary, “having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious, brake the box, and poured it on His head,” anointed also His feet, wiping them with her hair—an action which, according to the habits of those days, expressed the highest possible respect and veneration for the Person so honoured. And not that Person only, but the whole company, came in for a share of the gratification which such a costly preparation of the apothecary’s art was adapted to convey to the senses; nay, so diffusive was the benefit, that “the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.”

II. The objection made by Judas and others.—All were benefited; but not all were pleased. There was one in particular whom neither the honour paid to his Master nor the enjoyment afforded to himself could restrain from giving vent to the ill-humour which this proceeding had excited in his breast (Joh_12:4-5); and his specious complaint is quickly taken up by others (Mat_26:8-9). The objection, were it ever so valid in itself, was not so in the mouth of Judas, not being made in good faith (Joh_12:6). Our Lord and His disciples, on the principle that “the labourer is worthy of his hire,” subsisted on the contributions of the charitably-disposed. These were deposited in a box like that described in 2Ki_12:9. Our Lord’s was a poor-box, both as receiving the money contributed for the support of such poor men as Himself and His immediate followers, and also because distribution was made out of it to those whose wants were more pressing than their own (Joh_13:29). This box was placed in the custody of Judas, our Lord’s design probably being to soothe and partially gratify his mercenary instincts, and thus save him from falling into those grosser offences of dishonesty and treachery which he afterwards committed. But so deep-rooted was his ruling passion, that the very expedient which was intended to keep him out of temptation only served to lead him into it: not content with having the keeping of the box, he also purloined its contents; and, so far from caring for the poor, actually embezzled the funds set apart for them.

III. The vindication of Mary by our Lord.—Judas, when he made this objection, spoke in bad faith, and therefore deserved no answer. But as there were others present, who may have sincerely thought that here was an extravagant outlay, and that the money might have been better spent, our Lord vouchsafes a reply, both for their satisfaction, and for the instruction of all to whom this gospel should come (Mar_14:6-9).

1. The judgment which had been passed on the proceeding was equally rash and uncharitable. Hasty censure is always to be avoided, especially in the presence of those more competent to express an opinion. If Mary’s conduct had been really blamable, there was One present who might have rebuked her with authority. But He did not. After that, to trouble or find fault with her was to cast reflexions on Him. If she was wrong in committing the act, He was wrong in permitting it. But He does not vindicate Himself—that was unnecessary. He interferes solely on the woman’s account. “Let her alone; why trouble ye her?” Munificence like hers, even if it were misdirected, should rather be encouraged than checked. Such examples are not likely to be generally followed. But was this woman’s liberality misdirected? Jesus emphatically declares it was not. “She hath wrought a good work on Me.” The cost of this ointment would have procured her many luxuries, which she has chosen to go without, in order that nothing may be wanting to the honour and gratification of her Lord. She has set an example of self-denial and consecration of her talents to the service of religion, much needed in a world where “all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”

2. “The poor” having been mentioned, Jesus would not have it supposed for a moment that their interests were with Him a matter of secondary importance. Therefore, before going on to reveal the true significance and appropriateness of Mary’s action, He pauses a moment to shew that His approval and acceptance of her offering is by no means to be considered a disparagement of the proposed alternative. “There is a time,” He says, “for everything; and the present is a very peculiar time, and has a duty which can be performed at no other time. That duty is, to pay the last honours to the person of your dying Master and Lord. I go; but I leave the poor behind Me. Do them good, when you can do Me no more good.” Or rather, “Do them good, and you will still be doing Me good” (Mat_25:40).

3. We are not to understand, by the words “She is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying,” that Mary was aware of her Lord’s imminent death, or that she entertained any expectation of it. No reason can be assigned why she alone, of all His disciples, should have been able to penetrate the mystery in which everything connected with His death and passion was, up to that time, enveloped. Indeed, had she foreseen the events of the next few days, she would surely have kept this ointment a little longer, and poured it upon the lifeless clay, instead of the warm flesh and blood, of her beloved Lord. Jesus, therefore, in these words kindly puts a construction upon her action of which she herself had no idea, taking occasion, at the same time, to give a clearer intimation of coming events than He had yet done.

IV. The purposes for which this incident was recorded.—

1. First, and specially, as a just tribute of honour to the woman herself (Mar_14:9).

2. Secondly, in common with all Scripture, “for our learning.”

(1) Learn hence a lesson of generous self-sacrifice in the promotion of God’s honour and our Master’s cause. In such a cause there is room not only for liberality, but also for that unstinted profuseness which may, now and then, go beyond the mark, and require to be restrained, rather than stimulated, by those whose duty it is to direct it. See Exo_36:5-6; Act_4:34-37; 2Co_8:1-4.

(2) Remember that the poor are Christ’s peculiar legacy to His Church. Who would not feel honoured to be entrusted with such a charge? Who would not be anxious to acquit himself, to the utmost of his power, of the obligations of it?

(3) Since we have not our Lord Himself always with us, and can no longer do honour to His person, let us take every opportunity of shewing our dutiful respect for His memory. Mary “did what she could.” It was not in her power to avert the Great Sacrifice which was foreordained from before the foundation of the world, or even to retard it for a single day; but what she did was not the less “a good work,” nor she who did it the less blessed in her deed. Let us follow her example as best we may. If we cannot anoint our Lord’s body for the burying, let us at least embalm the memory of His precious death and passion in our heart of hearts, and let us thankfully receive those holy mysteries in which He is pleased to convey to us the spiritual benefits pertaining thereto.

Mar_14:6-9. Christ honouring loving service.—Of all who were present, no one seems to have taken the woman’s part except Jesus. But that exception made up for the lack of all else. He defended her from their attack; He vindicated the wisdom and rightness of her deed. But He did more. He uttered words revealing His appreciation, and securing its undying honour.

I. Jesus speaks of “this gospel.”—Gospel is a familiar term, but, like many other familiar words, it is often used without any idea as to what it means. To many the term expresses the summation of theology with all its abstractions and metaphysics—a subject that, as regarded by them, has little to attract, and as little to profit. To others the gospel means religion, and religion, as they regard it, with its impossible requirements and irksome ordinances. The gospel is simply God’s spell, i.e. God’s story. And just because it is God’s spell it is a good spell, the spell or story of Him who is pre-eminently the good. There are many gospels—endless varieties of good tidings, and of good tidings of great joy. Any news that brings gladness to the heart, any intelligence from near or far that relieves from fear and fills the mouth with laughter or with song is a gospel—that is, it is good news. But we do not call such news a gospel. We reserve that term for God’s news. It is not theology or religion, and it is nothing that is undesirable or hurtful; but it is the blissful announcement that Jesus lived and died and rose again on our behalf. It is the good news of a Divine and All-sufficient Helper for us who were without strength. It is the good news of Christ having done, in the grace of God, on our behalf, not only what we could not do for ourselves, but all that was needful to be done in order to our salvation. This is the gospel we preach. There are other good things, but this is the best.

II. Christ intimates that this gospel is to be preached in the whole world.—There are little gospels of men, human inventions sought sometimes to be put into the place of God’s gospel. They create a stir for a little while and within a little sphere, but it is only for a little while and within a little sphere. Our candles burn out, but the sun shines on. The gospel, however, is not only not to die out, but it is to be spread abroad. That is the work assigned to the redeemed Church, the duty to which it is specially called. Here a Church may be negligent; there one professing himself to be wise may urge what he deems to be a better way; yonder another may venture to go farther and condemn even the little that is being done to win the world to Christ; but all these things do not alter by a thousandth part the reality of obligation, do not recall by a shadow the “marching orders” given by the Leader of the redeemed hosts of God. Of course there are still those who tell us that charity begins at home; but it is getting to be discovered that they very truthfully describe their own charity—it begins at home, and it stays there, for it is a kind of weak invalid, not strong enough by any means to venture outside. They tell us that zeal for the foreign field leads to neglect of the home field, although, from all Christendom, they cannot quote one exception to the rule that as the missionary spirit grows in any Church it increases its home power and labour. The early Church did not first do all that could be done at home before thought was taken for those outside. It did not first spend all that it needed on itself, and then give the remainder, if remainder there happened to be, to the conquest of the world. It acted in a different spirit; for it acted in the spirit of Him who desired that this great gospel of love, this great story of salvation, should be spread throughout the whole world.

III. Love of Christ is the proof and test of discipleship.—The religion of Christ is distinguished by many features from all other professed religions, but by no feature more than this, that it demands love for its Author. It is true that not love but faith is the condition of salvation. But then faith is thus set as the condition only that love may be reached. There cannot be love till there is faith. Christ must be recognised, seen somewhat as He is, and believed in as worthy of trust, before love can be felt. Hence faith must precede love—faith, not love, must be the condition of salvation. But if faith be the condition of salvation, love is largely salvation itself. “Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

IV. The reward accorded by Christ to personal devotion.—It was a bold thing for any one to promise. It shews the marvellous self-consciousness of Christ that He pledged remembrance and fame. Such language on the lips of any mere man would be insufferable. The egotism would disgust; the bombast would anger. But Christ was no mere man. In the consciousness that He was more than man—that in Him as the Divine One was all that men could need—He bade men come to Him, proclaimed Himself their life and light, and declared that without Him they could do nothing. And so here He pledges immortality of renown. No one else could have done that. Only He who is Lord of all and the Father of the ages.—G. Gladstone.

Mar_14:10-11. Judas Iscariot.—There are three motives which lead men to attach themselves to a new movement. Men may be moved either by conviction, or by contagious enthusiasm, or by self-interest. To this last class belonged Judas.

I. In a double sense he came from without.—He came from a distance; his nature was never stirred by the passing sincerity of contagious enthusiasm. He threw in his lot with the followers of Christ with deliberation, and with faith, only so far as calculation is faith. He did believe that our Lord would achieve a great success; he may have believed, as others did, though with more self-interested speculativeness than others, that the new Prophet was the Messiah, the destined King. At any rate the venture is worth some risk. He joins the society. His gifts win for him a place among the foremost. Whenever good fortune smiles, he cannot fail to share in it. And good fortune seemed to smile. The great works of Christ and His mighty and enthralling words drew the people; they heard Him gladly. The impression of His greatness deepened and spread. Impression grew into expectation. Expectation became impatient. The Prophet Teacher must submit to the people’s will. They determined to take Him by force and make Him a king. All this Judas must have perceived; and the gladness of imminent success must have been his. But the attitude of our Lord at this moment must have surprised many. Instead of courting this popular movement, He retired from it. He withdrew Himself; and His withdrawal chilled the growing enthusiasm. Changes in the popular mood are readily gauged by those who touch the world on its financial side, and Judas’ position gave him opportunity of noticing the first symptoms of waning popularity. He felt the pulse of public opinion, and he knew when it began to beat with calmness; he could calculate that calmness might lapse into indifference. A little, a very little change in the popular temper, and the whole situation would be reversed; and Judas would find that he had cast in his lot with a losing and not with a winning cause. Now what would be the natural conduct of a person without any moral convictions under such circumstances? He must, to use a slang expression, hedge; so that, whatever happened, he would be safe to win. And this is precisely what Judas does. Without breaking with the party of Christ, he opens up negotiations with the other side. It is the precaution of worldly wisdom. Judas is the type of the man who has no principle. He is for God or for God’s enemies with equal readiness, so long as he himself is safe.

II. Judas did not fall at once and unwarned.—Characters grow: the features which attract or repel us are products of will and circumstances; for character is not a gift, but a formation. Judas had the same chances of better things which his brother-apostles had. There were mixed motives, no doubt, in the hearts of all. The comrades of Judas had weaknesses and worldly desires, even as he had; but they yielded themselves to the good influence which was so near them. But in Judas the self-interest was allowed to grow; he fostered it in thought; he nourished it by habitual embezzlements of the funds entrusted to him. Character grows from habits; and he adopted bad ones. This was not all. He thrust away from himself the helping hand which Christ’s love extended to him. From the earliest time to the latest moment Christ sought to save the traitor from himself. Let us recall Christ’s method. He did not receive recruits without caution. He sought to arm with weapons against self-deception those who volunteered to follow Him. Above all things, He made it clear that riches and worldly wealth were not to be looked for by those who would come after Him. Not unwarned then (we may well conclude) did Judas attach himself to Christ’s company. There were after-warnings also. Generally the tone of our Lord’s teaching respecting worldliness was one constant warning. But besides this there were utterances of our Lord’s which, in the light of Judas’ character, sound like direct and special efforts to awake him from his dream of self. We may, for example, read in the light of Judas’ designs the parable of the unjust steward. The faithless steward may secure for himself a refuge among those partners of his guilt whom he has placed under an obligation—yes, in the world, in earthly habitations, it may be so; but such methods will secure no welcome, when men fail, in eternal habitations. Or, again, the parable of the wedding garment had its message for the traitor. It was one thing to refuse to come to the wedding; it was another to come, and to come in the beggarly array of one’s worldliness. Still more emphatic is the warning given at the time when our Lord had by His action refused the kingdom, and when consequently doubts began to grow strong in the mind of Judas. “Did not I choose you the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” Must not the soul of Judas have whispered to itself, “It is I. To this image must I come if I allow this thing to gain the mastery over me”? Christ’s efforts to save His disciple sinking into such an abyss of baseness did not end here. As the crisis draws near, He puts forth fresh and final attempts to save him. “Ye are not all clean,” He said, at the time when it was not yet too late for the traitor to cleanse his fault. But the words of Christ wake no softening thoughts in the traitor’s mind. One more effort Christ will make. At the supper table He quotes the words, “He that eateth My bread hath lifted up his heel against Me” (Joh_13:18). Later still more explicitly, “One of you shall betray Me” (Joh_13:21). Even then it was not too late. The last step had not been taken by Judas. But, as with a man sliding down a steep place, the impetus of temptation was too strong. He takes the food from the hand of Christ. There is a treachery in the doing so; the Nemesis of base acts is further baseness. “After the sop Satan entered into him” (Joh_13:27). The crisis is passed at that moment. He will not turn back now. “That thou doest, do quickly” (Joh_13:27). “He went out straightway; and it was night.” An hour later his treason was an accomplished fact. The inward story of Judas’ life is a story of help refused and warning disregarded. The tender efforts of his Lord and Master to save him are put away.

III. How far did Judas understand these efforts of Christ on his behalf?—They were warnings to his spirit; the warnings were directed primarily, and at first exclusively, to the moral sense of the man. Christ did not wish Judas to be moved merely by motives of personal alarm, and under their influence alone to abandon his scheme. He sought to awaken the man’s moral sense against himself. But later He brings to bear upon Judas the force of the less worthy motive. He gives the hints of coming betrayal. But Judas, though warned, has dulled his soul by sin. The full significance of all that our Lord spoke does not reach him. Only at the very last, it appears, does he realise that he may be suspected, and even to the moment of the treacherous kiss he hopes that it is other treachery than his own which is known to Christ. Worldly wisdom outwits itself, as vaulting ambition overleaps itself and falls on the other side. The schemer imagines that he has covered the whole ground with his eye before he lays his plans, but there is always a blind spot in his field of vision. Indulging in a secret sin, and judging everything by the standard of his own interests, the sight of anything which conflicts with his interests exasperates Judas. This is the explanation of his astonishing and rash outburst of temper at Bethany. Although he veiled his real meaning by some words about the poor, yet the irritation which he displayed might have provoked suspicion. His speech was imprudent. It may be that he has aroused suspicion. This being so, it is high time that he should secure himself, and take those steps which will open to him retreat and good fortune should the Prophet of Galilee fail. He takes the step; he makes the bargain with the priests; he makes one fatal blunder—his greedy spirit compels him to accept the paltry and inadequate sum of money which was offered. But it is not part of his policy to forsake the discipleship of Christ. It is still possible that Christ may declare Himself with invincible might, and seize in some unexpected way the crown which He seems to have refused. He takes his place with the rest of the disciples. He will keep up the appearance of friendliness and loyalty to the last. Yes, even though it involves the crowning baseness of the hypocrite kiss. “Judas, betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luk_22:48). Judas cannot doubt now that his treason is known. And yet, these other words, “Friend, do that for which thou art come” (Mat_26:50); what might they mean? What might they not? His Master calls him friend, and seemingly acquiesces in what has been done. Can it be that his Master accepts the situation, and sees in it an opportunity for some splendid manifestation of power? Will victory dawn out of the hour of disaster? And if so, may not he, Judas, who devised this thing, yet be reckoned as an instrument of the triumph?

IV. All illusions are soon at an end.—His Master is condemned. All worldly hopes in that direction have disappeared. He has, however, the other side to depend on. He will be honoured as the means of what the priestly party will consider a national triumph. He visits the priests, and, with an affectation of misgiving, expresses doubts concerning his own action. Does he think that they will pamper and coax him, laugh at his misgivings, and belaud him as a patriot who has deserved well of the powers that be? He is quickly undeceived. In the eyes of the priests he is a paid spy, and nothing more. The scales fall from his eyes now. He has sacrificed place, credit, character, friends—and for what? Thirty pieces of silver—of what possible use are these to him? He flings down the price of blood. He goes out alone. He is alone indeed. He has no way to turn. He thought his skill had kept one door open to himself; but both doors are closed upon him. “What shall I do? I cannot dig: to beg I am ashamed.” Did the words come back to him now that his clever device had ended so disastrously? Did he now see that the habitations of worldly men were cruel? Did he see that worldly policy, however much it may be commended, is scorned in heaven? Was that which now, by his own action, seemed unattainable perceived at last to be most desirable? Does it dawn upon his mind now that there is a nobler victory in patience and weakness, even when it suffers, than in hard and unscrupulous triumph? Does that spiritual kingdom seem to his alienated spirit to be a land very far off when now at length he begins to guess at the beauty of its King? Struck down by the heavy blow of disappointment, failure, disaster, he realised now the measureless spiritual distance which he had placed between himself and his Lord. He was as a man placed upon a thin strip of coast, hemmed in behind by hard, unscaleable rocks, and fronting the inexorable waves of the incoming tide. He had no power to take up life again by repentance, and to seek to undo the past by earnest and humble work for others. There seemed nothing for it but to lay down that life which he had not the moral earnestness to value nor the moral courage to face.

V. Is the picture of Judas an unusual one?—Is it only once in a century or a millennium that such a character presents itself? A man possessed of sagacity and shrewdness learns to balance probabilities of success and to ignore the consideration of principle. Enthusiasm for right is inconvenient. Fidelity to conviction, to truth, to honour, interferes sadly with his worldly prospects. Conscience is a troublesome fellow-voyager. It is better that it should be put overboard. The only purpose of life is success. Is the picture far to seek? Yet, wherever such men are to be found, they are the incipient Iscariots of the world. Nay, such are already traitors at heart—traitors to themselves, to mankind, and to God. Absorbing devotion to self disintegrates the character. In the flood time of temptation it goes to pieces. Absorbing devotion to the other One than self, to Him who alone is the true centre of life, consolidates, strengthens, invigorates the character. Day by day those so devoted grow to firmer mould and nobler stature. They are in Christ’s hands, and none can pluck them thence. They fall not; they are founded on a rock.—Bishop Boyd Carpenter.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar_14:1-2. The conspiracy of the priests.—As the priests, with whatever misgivings, had resolved not to recognise Jesus as the Christ, it was inevitable that they should conspire against Him. Not only had He worsted them in every controversy in which they had engaged Him, and put them to shame before the people whom they despised but courted—not only had He proved them to be ignorant of the very Scriptures of which they professed to hold the key: He had also denounced them as disloyal to their Master in heaven, and had invoked on them “woes” so searching and scathing as to pierce even their hard hearts, and to bring a blush even to their brows of brass. And the people had rallied to Him; He was “walking about” in the Temple as if it belonged to Him rather than to them, and enchanting the ears of those on whom they had always securely counted to listen with unbounded deference and admiration. There was not, in fine, room for them and for Him; as He increased they must decrease; and hence they met with a common determination to make an end of Him. Their private animosities were forgotten in the presence of a common danger; and Pharisees and Sadducees, Herodians and Hebrews, elders and scribes, priests and laymen, united for a time against Him who was shaking the very foundations of their authority and power. They met at the house of Caiaphas, hard by the Temple, on the evening of the very day (Tuesday) on which they had been worsted and put to shame. Of the course of their discussion we are told nothing; but the two decisions at which they arrived are recorded. They were

(1) that He must be put to death with the least possible delay; and

(2) that it would not be safe to proceed against Him until the immense multitude of pilgrims had left Jerusalem: “They said [they kept saying], Not during the feast, lest haply there should be a tumult of the people.” But at the very time at which they were saying, “Not till after the feast,” Jesus was forewarning His disciples that “after two days,” on the day on which the feast began, He would be delivered up and crucified! What, then, was it which led them to abandon their resolution, and constrained them to carry out not their own counsel, but “the determinate foreknowledge” of God? Before their meeting was over, as we learn from Luke, an event, wholly unexpected by them, had happened, which held out to them the hope of carrying out their cruel and wicked purpose sooner than they had anticipated, and without exciting the tumult which they dreaded. Judas Iscariot had at last made up his mind to betray the Master who had disappointed all his hopes of wealth and distinction; and, on gaining access to them, had covenanted to deliver Him to the priests secretly, “without tumult.” Providence itself would seem, to some of them, to have come to their help, although in the questionable shape of a thief and a traitor. Hence they rescinded their former resolution, and entered on a course in which they exactly fulfilled the prediction of Jesus. After two days He was delivered up to them, and crucified.—S. Cox, D.D.

Mar_14:3-9. The anointing at Bethany.—

1. In Christ’s company it is possible to have the extremes of character and disposition. The self-denying, loving woman, and the selfish and avaricious professing disciple.

2. Hypocrisy will always uncloak itself to sneer at deeds of loving sacrifice.

3. In Christ’s company the heart lovingly devoted to Him must be prepared for bitter trials. There are Judases and murmurers.

4. Right doing, based on simple, loving faith in Jesus, will be cherished and remembered by the Master, though despised by men.—J. E. Hargreaves.

A woman’s devotion to Christ—

I. Displayed.—

1. Upon a public occasion. A great supper.

2. In time of danger. Near crucifixion.

3. After a great blessing. Resurrection of Lazarus.

4. Beautiful in its traits.

(1) Costly.

(2) Modest.

(3) Loving.

(4) Suitable.

(5) Pleasant.

II. Condemned.—

1. By one closely allied to Christ. Profession is not piety.

2. In a secular spirit.

3. In the name of philanthropy.

4. For his own benefit.

III. Defended.—

1. Christ prohibits interference with it.

2. He announces it as exactly seasonable.

3. He accepts it as sublimely useful. She did more than she thought. Goodness immortal in its results.—B. D. Johns.

Mar_14:3. Love the best motive for work.—It is not good to set about the performance even of right things from second-rate motives, for the action thus inspired must of necessity be second-rate also. We dwarf our best actions, and get into stereotyped modes of service, which tend to formalism, simply because we do not work from personal love to the living, personal Christ. See how Mary’s love operated. It would not let her be content with simply doing duty and acting after the precedent of others. Duty is very good when you can get nothing better, but after all it is a cold and somewhat stern mistress. He who works from a sense of duty generally seeks to get off with doing as little as he can, and will not undertake anything that is not prescribed. But he who works from the impulse of love is constantly trying how much he can do for Jesus. Had Mary waited for a precedent, she had never done this action which so gladdened the Redeemer’s heart. How much of the Christian effort of these days is mere imitation! Mary had her own reasons for loving the Lord, and she took her own way of shewing her love. So it ought to be with us. No human thing, no earthly model, no precedent, should shut out from our view the Lord, and to Him everything ought to be rendered. This will give inventiveness and originality to our piety, so that the offering brought by each shall have as much individuality and distinctiveness about it as there is about the fragrance of the lily or the perfume of the violet.—W. M. Taylor, D.D.

Mar_14:4-5. Christian liberality.—The nearest parallel in our own day is where lavish expenditure is made upon objects which, however intimately connected with the honour of religion, are yet not strictly necessary—such as the erection of new churches of noble design and costly construction, or the handsome and lavish adorning of the old. In such cases there is always some narrow-minded person ready to cry out, “Why this waste of what might have been given to the poor?” And though we do not desire to impute to any man other motives than those he avows, yet this we may safely say: that such objectors are not generally observed to care or to do more for the poor than those whom they condemn. Such an outlay as Mary’s was, may, it is true, arise from mere ostentation; and then it is liable to the charge not only of extravagance, but of hypocrisy. But when it is prompted by love unfeigned, and by a sincere desire to spare no expense in doing honour to the Greatest of Benefactors and the Best of Friends, it is not only commendable in itself, but it will always be found united with an equally unstinted expenditure on those objects which are strictly charitable. So true it is that “the liberal man deviseth liberal things”; whereas a covetous person is never without an excuse for saving his money, whether the Saviour’s person is to be honoured or His poor to be fed.

Profusion is not necessarily waste.—No one will doubt that there is a law of utility, a law of economy, which man must observe; but we must also learn that there are spheres of motive and duty where the rigid laws of utility will not apply and where economy is niggard. God teaches this in creation, where “Beauty and Utility walked hand in hand.” He teaches it in His Holy Word, where truth is unfolded to us clad in infinite loveliness.—H. M. Jackson.

All is not waste that looks like waste.—Had Mary been hindered from discharging herself of the emotion that swelled within her and panted for some escape, then there would have been waste. She would have been defrauded of increase in love. The permitted expression of it according to its own impulse nourished and fed it, and left her so much more qualified and provided to be a blessing to the poor. To let me have my way sometimes in expending freely upon a sentiment, a fine or tender sentiment, without reference to utility or thought of other and more serviceable channels in which my energy might flow—this is not waste, inasmuch as it helps to enlarge and elevate me, and thus conduces to render me more capable and prepared to do good.—N. R. Wood.

Mar_14:6-9. The law of Christian devotion.—Our Lord’s answer goes very deep into the whole subject of Christian consecration, both of self and of possessions.

1. He lays down first the great motive of it all—“she hath wrought a good work on Me.” The absolute singleness of its reference to Him made it “good.” The question is not, “To what purpose?” but “For whose sake?” Everything done from the impulse of simple love to Jesus Christ is “good.” All other devotion of powers or possessions is “waste.”

2. Christ next strips the cavil of its disguise, and shews its insincerity. The solicitude for the poor which had seized the objectors so suddenly would have ample opportunities to express itself. That “whensoever ye will” is a sharp prick to conscience, and is meant to disclose the insincerity of the care which is so occasional, though the misery which it affects to pity is so continual. True benevolence is not an intermittent fountain, but a perennial stream.

3. Farther, our Lord here lays down the principle that circumstances may arise when our supreme love to Him not only warrants, but demands, the temporary neglect of perpetual and ordinary objects of liberality, in order to consecrate all our resources on some great act, which shall worthily express our love, and can only be done once.

4. “She hath done what she could.” There our Lord lays down the measure of acceptable consecration. It is an apology or vindication of the form of the offering; but it is a stringent demand as to its amount. If Mary had had half a dozen more alabaster vases, which she kept unbroken, would she have been so praised? Capacity regulates obligation, both as to the manner and the measure. “Power to its last particle is duty.”

5. We have next set forth the significance which our Lord puts into the service which He accepts. “She is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying.” Love is wiser than it knows, and the purposes which Christ can make its offerings serve are higher and sacreder than the offerer’s intent. “Lord, when saw we Thee—and visited Thee?” We—did we do that? If we take care of the motive, which is our end of the deed, He will take care of the result, which is His end.

6. Finally, we have Christ’s promise of perpetuity for the service which He accepts. If we lay our best in any kind at Christ’s feet, He will take our poor offerings and melt them down to form part of His eternal crown.—A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mar_14:6. God enriched by man’s devotion.—Can we, in reality, add anything to God? Can we ever experience the sweetness of doing something for Him who has done all things for us? Yes; Jehovah is not satisfied with governing men: He cannot rest until He possesses their heart. And that heart must not be captured: it can only be won over, and so bestowed. Thus the Creator becomes a suitor to His creatures; beseeches them to understand Him; is enriched by their intelligence, impoverished by their dulness; is joyful in their affection, saddened at their refusal. And where is this better witnessed than at the supper table of Bethany?—B. H. Alford.

Mar_14:7. The problem, of poverty, and how to deal with it.—

1. The essential claim which this class of mankind has upon the common brotherhood is not one of “charity,” but is founded in religion; it is not a humane sentiment to be gratified, but a law of Christianity to be obeyed.

2. The poor may be considered in the light of Christ’s legacy to His Church in all ages. If there were no poor claiming our sympathy and kindly ministry, what a lack there had been in the training of the Christian graces!

3. We are to perform this high and sacred duty in testimony of our love to Christ, and in gratitude for His love and services in our behalf.—Homiletic Review.

The poor always with us.—If we are wise, we shall be thankful for our own sakes that this is so. The mere sight of them may remind us that this world is not only or chiefly for the rich and prosperous, that “the poor will never cease out of the land,” or even cease from forming the numerical majority of those who are to be sustained by it. The sufferings and distresses of the poor, and even their very follies and vices, may teach us a wholesome lesson, if we remember that they are men of like passions with ourselves, and that we possess our rational and moral nature in common with the most miserable and degraded of our species. But we shall derive little benefit from having the poor always with us unless we learn to consider them as partakers of the same spiritual privileges with ourselves, as fellow-members of the body of Christ—that body in which there is neither rich nor poor, bond nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus. If we thus view our poorer brethren, we shall feel an interest in their welfare, both temporal and eternal, which no other consideration can excite in us. We shall not be content with bestowing a pittance of relief upon a few cases of distress, or contributing our quota to a few charitable institutions. “Putting on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, kindness, meekness, long-suffering,” we shall go forth, as ministering angels, into a world of sin and misery, carrying a healing balm wherever we go. We shall never turn away our face from any scene of distress, or our feet from the path which leads to it. We shall never refuse to “rejoice with them that do rejoice,” or to “weep with them that weep.” Thus soothing and relieving the sorrows of others, we shall forget our own; whispering comfort and hope to the wounded spirit of our brother, we shall lay up a rich store of peace and consolation within our own breast. We shall experience the truth of our Lord’s saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”; and we shall” know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

Mar_14:10-11. Greed in its demoniac greatness.—

1. A child of perfected unbelief as to Christ, God, and mankind.

2. A father of treachery, which has often injured the saints.

3. A companion of avarice, envy, anguish, audacity, despair.—J. P. Lange, D.D.

Mar_14:11. The joy of the wicked is to have success in their crimes. But what joy is this? It is the joy only of a moment, which will be changed into everlasting sorrow. It was easy for our Blessed Saviour to have broken this sacrilegious and, as it may be called, simoniacal bargain by diverting this opportunity, which depended on Himself; but it was necessary that sin should be instrumental in the destruction of sin, and that the Author of life should die to destroy death and his empire.—P. Quesnel.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 14

Mar_14:3-9. Common things idealised.—Suppose that a cultured foreigner should walk over the ruins and examine the sculpture and paintings of a European city. Near the close of the day his soul is filled with a strange, undefinable joy. He has a feeling of awe mixed with gratitude to the God of such beauty and grandeur. It is a feeling to which he cannot give a name, and which he cannot shake off. Oppressed by it, he enters one of the ancient churches. At that moment the organ awakes in the gallery, and fills the twilight with its music. Now it sinks into the faintest whisper or rises into a tempest of melody, and he is entranced. The organ, to him, is not made of wood or metal, nor is its music simply the escaping of the air. It is the voice in which his strange and oppressive joy finds expression. It lifts into distinctness and invests with meaning the emotions which burdened his soul. And these emotions go out in its music as a well-defined and precious sacrifice to the God of the beautiful and the grand. Now as the organ became the voice through which the artist’s undefined joy became definite and went out in service to God, so Christ endowed the offering of Mary with voice and beauty and most heroic purpose, and then accepted it.—N.R. Hamer.

Shew love to the living.—Truly as well as beautifully has one said: “Do not keep all the alabaster boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends are dead. I would rather have a bare coffin without a flower and a funeral without an eulogy than a life without the sweetness of love and sympathy. Let us anoint our friends before-and for their burial. Post-mortem kindness does not cheer the burdened spirit. Flowers on the coffin cast no fragrance backward over the weary days.”

Self-sacrifice fruitful.—A Scotch woman, who had been in the habit of giving a penny a day for the missions, was given by a visitor a sixpence to buy some meat—a luxury which she had not lately enjoyed. But she thought to herself, “I have long done very well on porridge, so I will give the sixpence also to God.” This fact came to the knowledge of a missionary secretary, who narrated it at a missionary breakfast. The host and his guests were profoundly impressed by it, the host himself saying that he had never denied himself a chop for the cause of God. He thereupon subscribed £500 additional, and others of the party followed his example, till a large sum had been raised. It is probable that this poor woman’s sixpence was larger in God’s sight than the thousands contributed by these rich people, for she gave of her poverty, and they out of their abundance. There is nothing so fruitful as self-sacrifice.

Mar_14:4. False estimates of waste.—A Christian gentleman, when blamed by his partner for doing so much for the cause of God, replied, “Your foxhounds cost more in one year than my religion ever cost in two.” People sometimes complain of what they call “waste of life” in establishing Christian missions among savage people or unhealthy climates, e. g. in establishing or maintaining the Nyanza Mission the lives of Bishops Hannington and Parker, of O’Neill, Shergold Smith, Mackay, and several others have been sacrificed. But were those lives “wasted”? There, as elsewhere, it has proved that the “blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

Mar_14:6. Approval of Christ.—When Antimachus, an Ionian poet and musician, repeated one of his compositions before a large audience, his language was so obscure that all his hearers retired with the exception of Plato. Seeing this, he remarked, “I shall read none the less, for Plato is to me one instead of all.” How much more should the disciple of Christ be content with His approval!

Mar_14:7. Christian care for the poor.—When the deacon St. Lawrence was asked, in the Decian persecution, to shew the prefect the most precious treasures of the Church at Rome, he shewed him the sick, the lame, the blind. “It is incredible,” said Lucian, the pagan jeerer and sceptic, “to see the ardour with which those Christians help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator has put it into their heads that they are all brothers.” “These Galileans,” said Julian the apostate, “nourish not only their own poor, but ours as well.” In the year 252 a plague raged in Carthage. The heathen threw out their dead and sick upon the streets, and ran away from them for fear of contagion, and cursed the Christians. St. Cyprian, on the contrary, assembled his congregation, told them to love those who cursed them; and the rich working with their money, the poor with their hands, never rested till the dead were buried, the sick cared for, and the city saved from destruction.

Mar_14:8. Much result from small beginnings.—There was once a child in an English parsonage who shyly gave a sixpence of his very own to “the missionary deputation” as he sat at breakfast. The missionary spent the sixpence on a Prayer Book and took it out to Australia. One Sunday as he was waiting in his church, he saw a young girl peep into the building. He welcomed her with kind words, and finding she was a workhouse girl, sent out from England, who had got a situation at a farm twenty miles inland, he gave her the Prayer Book. Several weeks passed away, and one day a rough-looking man asked to speak to him. “Ain’t you the parson that gave our servant girl a Prayer Book?” His wife, it appeared, was very ill, and interested at hearing from the emigrant girl about the gift of the Prayer Book, sent to beg from the clergyman a pastoral visit. With some difficulty he managed this. The sick woman was comforted, and departed in the faith of Christ. The husband’s mind was impressed. He stirred up his neighbours to build a church at that outlying spot, in which to this day services and sacraments are celebrated. How much can be done even by a little effort!

“She hath done what she could.”—Not long ago, in an American city, there lived a woman who had once been proficient in her trade of dress and cloak-making, but a severe illness shattered her mind and quite unfitted her for pursuing it again. She could not endure to be idle and useless, and so would go about from house to house among the poor, to cut and fit their simple garments, always refusing to take any pay for her labours. “It is a great pleasure to me to do it,” she would say in her childlike way. “God has taken away a great deal of my health and a portion of my mind; I can’t go about among grand folks as I used to; I should get all confused with their rich trimmings, and make mistakes with their new patterns. I can’t be trusted with so much responsibility—it bewilders me. But I love to go from family to family among the poor, especially God’s poor. When I see the mothers worn out with overwork, I like to step in and say, ‘I’ve come in to sew for you a few days.’ When I know they stop going to church because their old Sunday gown isn’t fit to be seen, I like just to take it, and sponge it, and turn it, and set them going again. When I see the children staying away from Sunday school because the weather has got so cold, and their shawls are thin or their cloaks worn out, it makes me happy to wad up the old cloak again, and to do up warm jackets to wear under the thin shawls. It’s true,” she would add, “God doesn’t expect much of me, because He knows that my health is weakly and my mind unsettled, but when the end comes I would like to have Him say, ‘She hath done what she could.’ ”

Mar_14:11. A picture of Judas.—There is a picture in one of the Brussels galleries which possesses awful eloquence. The scene is laid near the Holy City. Night has flung its mantle over home and field and Temple. Three Jewish artisans are resting after toil beside the embers, glowing and lightsome, of a fire. In the foreground their work lies wellnigh done. That work is a cross. A man in full stature fills in the scene. His face is pallid, though strong. His lips seem as though sealed for ever. His eyes, dark and furtive, seem wild. His stride is long, his step firm. In his right hand he grasps a bag of money. As he makes his way to the Temple to fling the fiery pieces upon the pavement, he stumbles upon the workmen who are making that cross which is to be occupied by his innocent Master, and the knowledge of which is degradation and death to Judas.—Dean Lefroy.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

THIRD SECTION

THE PASSION OF CHRIST, AND HIS REST IN THE GRAVE. THE RETIREMENT INTO THE STATE OF THE DEAD. THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH AS THE PASCHAL LAMB

Mar_14:1 to Mar_15:47

________

1. The preparation for the great Passover. The Supper.—The helpless impotency of wickedness in the old Chukrch of God. The determined genius of wickedness in the new Christian Church. The Anointing of the Lord at the Feast preparatory ot His Death; and the sale of the Anointed, or the Treachery, matured at the Feast-table. Mar_14:1-11

(Parallels: Mat_26:1-16; Luk_22:1-6; Joh_12:1-8)

A. The weak Indecision of the Enemies. Mar_14:1-2

1     After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to 2 death. But 1 they said, Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

B. The holy Presentiment of the Female Disciple. Mar_14:3-5

3     And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman, having an alabaster-box of ointment of spikenard, very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it 2 on his head. 4And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, 3 Why was this waste [loss] of the ointment made? 5For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

C. The Lord’s holy Decision Mar_14:6-9

6     And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. 7For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. 8She hath done what she 4 could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. 9Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this 5 gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

D. The Disciple’s wicked Decision. Mar_14:10-11

11     And Judas Iscariot, 6 one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. 11And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Comp. the notes on Matthew.—The peculiarities of Mark in the history of the Passion generally are: life-like pictures, sharply-defined features, original statements of particulars. Peculiarities in this section. The two indications of Jesus’ approaching death, namely, the indecisive deliberations of the Sanhedrim, and the anointing in Bethany, are found united in Mark, as in Matthew; yet he expresses himself regarding the decision of the leaders of the council much more briefly than Matthew,—more decidedly, however, than Luke. In the history of the anointing, he mentions, with John, a fact in addition to the statement as, given by Matthew that Jesus sat at the table. Moreover, he describes the ointment more exactly. And, besides, to him we owe the fresh trait, that the woman broke the alabaster-box; according to several codices, the additional remark is made, that the ointment ran down from His head. In respect to diversity of statement, he assumes an intermediate position between John and Matthew. John names Judas as the murmurer; Matthew, the disciples; Mark says, “some.” With John, he declares the value to be three hundred denarii, and adds the strong word ἐνεβριμῶντο. To the words, Ye have the poor with you always, he appends,—And whensoever ye will, etc. To him again is the clause peculiar, She hath done what she could. The idea that this female disciple anticipates the anointing of Jesus for burial is here more clearly expressed. Peculiarly lively is the expression in regard to the preaching of the Gospel εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον (Matthew, ἐν ὅλῳ, κ.τ.λ.). The treacherous visit of Judas to the high-priest is more briefly given than in Matthew. He does not name the traitor’s question, neither the thirty pieces of silver; yet he emphasizes the joy of the chief priests.

Mar_14:1. The feast of the Passover, and of unleavened bread.—A double feast-season. See Matthew. Comp. Luke’s expression.—After two days.—Probably on Wednesday in the Passion Week, not on Tuesday (See Matthew). The anointing in Bethany was on the previous Saturday. The question is now, In what relation do the sitting of the council and the anointing stand to one another? We could imagine that the first history brings before us the chief priests, how undecided they still are; the second shows how Judas comes and gives advice. We must then assume that the thought of treachery had been brooded over by Judas from Saturday in the preceding week till at least Wednesday in the Passion Week, and came then first to maturity. The remark of Matthew, Mar_14:14, seems to speak against this, “Then Judas went unto.” Judas had undoubtedly gone much earlier to the high priests. To this the statement points, “how they might take Him by craft.” If they had just now decided, “Not on the feast-day,” this is explained by the great triumphs which Jesus, on Palm Sunday, on Monday, and Tuesday, had celebrated over them; and with this, besides, the fact agrees well, that Judas had begun to hesitate during these days. The connection of the two recitals lies, accordingly, in the antithesis of the previous anticipation of the crucifixion on the part of the Lord and the strong presentiment of the female disciple, on the one side, and the much subsequent indecision and short-sightedness of His foes, on the other. But the second point of relation is this, that we see from the first narrative how far the foes had of themselves come; from the second, how Judas drove them to take their boldly wicked step, and succeeded in giving them the last impulse. They said, “Not on the feast-day;” Judas, on the contrary, bethought himself of the first, best opportunity.

Mar_14:3. Of spikenard, very precious.—Upon πιστικῆς, comp. De Wette, Meyer, Lucke on John, vol. ii. p. 493. Not drinkable (πιστός), but veritable, real. Upon the nard, comp. Matthew.—Brake the box (bottle, or flask).—The narrow neck of the small flask. She did not wish to keep or hold back anything: offered up all, gave all away.

Mar_14:4. There were some.—See Matthew. Mark presents, without a doubt, the most accurate historic picture, John defines most sharply the motive, Matthew gives the specially practical historic form.

Mar_14:5. And they murmured against her.—De Wette: They scolded her. Meyer: They addressed her harshly. In ἐμβριμάομαι lies especially the expression of a passionate feeling which we strive to keep back in the utterance.

Mar_14:8. She is come aforehand.—Προλαμβάνειν is the chief conception, not μυρίσαι; hence we see the error of Meyer’s note, “A classic write would have said, προλαβοῦσα ἐμύρισε.”

Mar_14:10. One of the Twelve.—Made prominent, as in Matthew. The tragic point lies not only in this, that one of the Twelve was false, but that he committed that most wicked act of treachery which was the particular sting in the sufferings of Christ. In a wider sense, he extended himself through the whole sufferings of Christ; for the treachery of the disciple who betrayed the Lord to the chief priests, led to the betrayal, on the part of the Sanhedrim, of Christ to the heathen power.

Mar_14:11. Were glad.—They shuddered not, as the traitor laid before them his black design. They understood him. But Judas knew how to lead them still further into wickedness. He filled them with a satanic joy. And while they were still hesitating to take the last step, assuredly not from dread of the sin, but for fear of the people, Judas was watching for the first opportunity to accomplish his purpose.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See Matthew, and the parallel passages in Luke.

2. Judas the betrayer, because he had been most offended at the thought of the death and cross of Christ; Mary the commended disciple, because she was the first that was found possessing a self-sacrificing courage like His own in His way to death.

3. The treachery which springs up in the midst of the disciples of the Evangelical Church surpasses the wicked counsel of the hierarchies in the Middle Ages. The secret and open apostasies from the Evangelical Church to Romanism.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Comp. Matthew.—The council in Jerusalem, and the supper in Bethany, in their relation to the central point of Christ’s death; or, a picture of the uniting of all threads of ancient history in this death.—Not out of the camp of the foes, but out of the circle of the disciples, came the last decision regarding the death of Jesus.—Judas, the enslaved, and yet free, instrument of the deepest revelation of wickedness.—The faithless disciple of Jesus an instructor of the chief council in the way of destruction.—The unexpected turning-points in life, how they rise out of the depths of the spirit-world: 1. Out of the realm of light (Mary); 2. out of the realm of darkness (Judas); 3. out of the struggle between the two.—The ointment in the house at Bethany a savour of death unto death.—Greed in its demoniac greatness: 1. A child of perfected unbelief as to Christ, God, and mankind; 2. a father of treachery, which has often injured the saints; 3. a companion of avarice, envy, anguish, audacity, despair.—Judas determines to take the best opportunity he can to betray the Lord, i.e., in the sanctuary of His secret prayers.—Judas the calculator, and his miscalculation.—The estimation of Mary, and the estimation of Judas. The presentiment-filled spirit in its clear foresight as opposed to the selfish mind in its blindness.—The most multiplied purposes and projects, and over them the deep design of God.—Woman is here again before man, as is so often the case in the Gospel history.

Starke:—Hedinger:—Satan rests not till he has injured Christ and His cause in life, honor, and possessions.—At feast-seasons the devil generally excites the greatest uproar against Christians.—Hedinger:—Nothing is wasted upon Christ. Miserable parsimony, when we refuse Him anything.—The prating of a fault-seeker can soon move others to join.—Quesnel:—The pious must remain silent regarding the world’s judgment. God will speak and conduct their affairs.—Behold, how the godless rejoice if they get an opportunity of fulfilling their wicked wish!—Gerlach:—The greatest praise ever spoken by Jesus regarding an act.—Braune:—The Sanhedrim required him to point out Jesus’ tarrying-place. And Judas is ready to do it.—Brieger:—Exactly what the enemies wished least of all to do, that must they.—To an uproar it came, only to the advantage of hell.—The greatest, most direct, most difficult, but the most blessed thing that ever a sinful being was able to do, namely, to receive the Lord’s word in all simplicity and proceed to act, this did Mary; and this shall maintain her memory on earth till the end of time.—Gossner:—She hath done what she could. From this may every one take comfort, that nothing more than faithfulness is asked from them.—Bauer:—The deeds of love are often in the world turned into shame, because others turn them into an occasion to do evil.

Footnotes:

[1][Mar_14:2.—Lachmann, Tischendorf, after B., C.*, D., read γάρ instead of δέ.]

[2][Mar_14:3.—Lachmann, Tischendorf, B., C., L., Δ. omit κατά.]

[3][Mar_14:4.—Codd. B., C.*, L. want καὶ λέγοντες; Cod. A. has it.]

[4][Mar_14:8.—Codd. B., L. want αὅτη.]

[5][Mar_14:9.—Codd. B., D., L. want τοῦτο; Lachmann brackets and Tischendorf omits.]

[6][Mar_14:10.—Codd. B., C., D. Lachmann omit the article before ’Ιούδας and ’Ισκαρίωτης.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

PART IV. GIVING HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR -- Chapters 14-15.

Chapter 14

1. Seeking by Craft to put Him to Death. (Mar 14:1-2. Mat 26:2-5; Luk 22:1-2.)

2. The Anointing. (Mar 14:3-9. Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:1-8)

3. Judas offers to betray Him. (Mar 14:10-11. Mat 26:14-16; Luk 22:3-6)

4. The last Paschal feast. (Mar 14:12-21. Mat 26:17-24; Luk 22:7-18; Luk 22:21-23)

5. The Lord’s Supper instituted. (Mar 14:22-25. Mat 26:26-29; Luk 22:17-20)

6. Peter’s denial predicted. (Mar 14:26-31. Mat 26:31-35; Luk 22:31-34; Joh 13:36-38)

7. The Suffering in the Garden. (Mar 14:32-42. Mat 26:36-46; Luk 22:39-46)

8. The Betrayal and Arrest of the Lord Jesus. (Mar 14:43-52. Mat 26:47-56; Luk 22:47-53)

9. Before the High Priest and the Sanhedrin. (Mar 14:53-65. Mat 26:47-68; Luk 22:47-55; Joh 18:2-24.)

10. Peter’s denial. (Mar 14:66-72. Mat 26:69-75; Luk 22:56-62; Joh 18:17; Joh 18:25-27.)

1. Seeking by Craft to put Him to Death. Mar 14:1-2

His enemies were plotting, but over all was God and His eternal counsels. They were now ready “to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel determined before to be done” (Act 4:28). The Servant is to die as the true passover lamb and He who had ministered in such a perfect way is to give His life a ransom for many. They had resolved it should not be on the feast day. But God’s will demanded that it should be on that day; and so it was.

2. The Anointing. Mar 14:3-9

The woman is not mentioned by Mark. It was Mary of Bethany, who sat at His feet when He had come to her house and who wept at His feet when Lazarus had died. She alone had grasped the meaning of the Lord’s announcement concerning His death and resurrection. She did not go to the grave as others did. She anointed His body for the burial. What love there was in her heart! How it must have delighted His heart when she did this act of faith and love.

3. Judas offers to betray Him. Mar 14:10-11

The anointing hastened Judas to betray Him (see Joh 12:5-6).

4. The last Paschal feast. Mar 14:12-21

First there was the preparation (Mar 14:12-16) and then the feast itself (Mar 14:17-21). What calmness and dignity is seen in all He does! He knew all what awaited Him. During the feast He announced the coming betrayal. Awful are the words coming from such lips, “Good were it for that man if he had never been born.” The same is true of every human being who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ and dies in sin.

5. The Lord’s Supper instituted. Mar 14:22-25

It is His own supper, the blessed memorial feast. “Do this in remembrance of Me.” They did not know then what it meant. But when the Holy Spirit had come they broke the bread. The passover was the memorial of the deliverance of the people out of Egypt and reminded them of the blood that was sprinkled. A better blood was soon to be shed and a greater deliverance wrought by the Lamb of God. A blessed privilege to carry out His request (1Co 11:23-26).

6. Peter’s denial predicted. Mar 14:26-31

The hymn they sang was composed of Psa 115:1-18; Psa 116:1-19; Psa 117:1-2; Psa 118:1-29. With what emotion of soul He must have sung with His disciples. The shadow of deepest agony and death was upon Him and yet the fullest praise flowed from His lips. He announced the scattering of the sheep and His own smiting by the hand of God. What must it have meant for Him, when He said with His perfect knowledge, “I will smite the shepherd.” That smiting, which took place on the cross, is the heart and mystery of the atonement. Peter’s denial is then predicted.

7. The Suffering in the Garden. Mar 14:32-42

In Gethsemane we are face to face with the most solemn event in the life of the Servant-Son, save that hour, when He hung on the cross, forsaken of God. What was His suffering there? No saint can ever fathom its depths. He did not shrink from death, nor was the agony on account of the physical sufferings He knew were to be His lot; nor was Satan, as some foolishly teach, ready to slay Him. All such statements are dishonoring to Him. He was not in danger of death in Gethsemane. What was the cup He dreaded? The Sinless One, who knew no sin, was now soon to be made sin for us. God’s face upon which He had ever looked was soon to be hid. And what was it when at last He was made sin for us on the cross? One sentence gives us the answer, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

8. The Betrayal and Arrest of the Lord Jesus. Mar 14:43-52

He surrenders Himself as the willing victim. Peter was ready to fight and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Mark omits the healing for he is to picture the Servant in His suffering and all relating to power is now out of place. In John’s Gospel the Lord said one word, “I am,” and those who came to arrest Him fell backward to the ground. John was guided by the Spirit of God to make a record of it. It could have no place in Mark’s Gospel. They all forsook Him and fled. But only Mark tells of a certain young man, who followed and then fled naked. The young man may have been Mark himself.

9. Before the high priest and the Sanhedrin. Mar 14:53-65

We behold the Servant now delivered into the hands of man and behind man stood Satan. Man’s wickedness and Satan’s power are there, and in the midst, in solitary grandeur, stands the perfect Servant-Son. Mark tells us exclusively that the witnesses brought against Him did not agree. The Holy Spirit continues to hold Him up as the perfect Servant, in whose character and service not a flaw could be detected. But He witnesses the good confession and upon that blessed Word of Truth as it came from His lips He is condemned. Then they condemned Him to death and man’s vile hatred energized by Satan cast itself upon the blessed One.

10. Peter’s denial Mar 14:66-72

The Lord had given the true testimony and Peter followed with his shameful denial. Mark gives what the other two evangelists omit, the cock crowing twice. The lessons from Peter’s fall are simple. He had to pass through this terrible experience to become broken down and learn to know his own weakness. And how we all need to know that we are in ourselves good for nothing; “in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing.”

Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 22

CONSPIRACY AGAINST JESUS

Mar 14:1-2; Luk 20:1-2; Mat 26:1-5. “And it came to pass, when Jesus finished all these discourses, He said to His disciples, You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of man is delivered to be crucified.” It is now late Wednesday afternoon, after our Lord has preached constantly all day, beginning in the temple and bidding it adieu about noon; halting and preaching to the Greeks waiting for Him at the gate; and going on over to Mount Olivet, where He delivered that indescribable and inimitable sermon on the judgments. Though He now tells them, as He had so frequently and so positively done, that He is to be crucified, they do not understand it.

“Then the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people were assembled in the hall of the high priest, called Caiaphas. And they issued a verdict that they would take Him by stratagem, and kill Him. But they said, Not at the feast, lest there may be an uproar among the people.” Luke: “For they were afraid of the people.” This conspiracy of the rulers took place Wednesday evening, in the Sanhedrin hall on Mount Zion, in which they passed an edict for His arrest and execution. They were in a serious dilemma because of His popularity, fearing that the people would arise in an incorrigible mob and take Him out of their hands.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Section 1. (Mar 14:1-52.)

The cup chosen.

The Gospel of Mark shows us the Cross in its sin-offering character, as already stated, Matthew giving the trespass-offering. These two Gospels, as having alike the Lord’s cry of abandonment, most evidently represent the offerings which as emphasizing the judgment of sin are not "sweet savor." The distinction has been pointed out in the Introduction (pp. 26-28), and we shall have to touch afresh upon its proofs and illustrations as we go through this closing portion. The essence of the sin-offering is that "cup" which in Matthew’s narrative of the agony in the garden has been already before us, and the Lord’s choice of it there surely characterizes this first section. Matthew and Mark, it will be seen, cling closely together herd as elsewhere, while there is also a difference which is characteristic in the case of each.

1.(1) It is the divine will to which Christ bows in taking the cup. It is not to be wondered at that, here at the outset, that divine will should make itself apparent, overruling, controlling, working by, the various and conflicting wills of men. This is what we find in the introductory portion here, of which the last two verses show how and how far the first two were fulfilled, while what comes between shows what brought about the traitor’s action.

The hearts of the chief priests were set on mischief; but they were permitted thus to bring about the will of God for an infinite blessing. Yet their plots are not permitted to entangle the Lamb of the sacrifice: these are anticipated; and although He is delivered into their hands, yet it is open-eyed and unresisting. They must dishonor themselves by purchasing treachery with the blood-money, soon to be hurled back at them by their miserable tool, with words which must have haunted them ever after. Not even they dare put into the treasury that "price of blood."

(2) In the midst of all this there comes the beauteous story of the woman’s ointment, always to be told wherever the gospel is preached, for a memorial of her: protest as it is against the utilitarianism which in the gospel itself would make Christ of less account than the "poor" who are to be benefited by Him. Ah, let us remember the claims of the Christ of God, if the poor themselves are not to suffer. This utilitarianism may well hide under it a Judas as chief instigator, while it seduces with its fair seeming even true disciples.

The spikenard is for His burial. That which she has that is precious here goes into the grave with Christ; and though He is not there now, the doctrine of Christ goes further for the Christian: for we ourselves are dead and buried with Him, and in Him alone we live, where He is gone. Thus we are identified with Him, to seek His interests only, as He secures ours. Woe will it be to any who sacrifice the claims of Christ for any other. The universe hangs upon Him: "in Him all things subsist:" "all things were created by Him and for Him"; and nothing can be right that is not in its due place of relationship to Him.

(3) The traitor understands more truly than many Christians the significance of the burial of Christ. The three hundred pence are gone for him without possible recovery. The bag he has carried will soon be as unprofitable. He must get what he can, if he sell Christ for it: and all they to whom Christ is offered and who turn away from Him to grasp the world instead, are they not after their manner selling Christ too? and valuing Him perhaps no higher than he did?

2. We follow on now to see the Lord at His last passover with His disciples before He suffers, and instituting His own memorial feast to take its place. The Old Testament is about to give place to the New, and He who is Lord of the sabbath and of the sacrificial rites fulfilled in Him, shows Himself Master of the future which He predicts, and of His own part in it, amid enemies that surround Him, and adverse conditions that seem to hold Him in their grasp. But the ram of consecration can be held only by its horns: it is His very power that makes Him submit and serve, while divine love contemplates the blessed end of all. And those around Him now, the few sheep so soon to be scattered, are the objects of His unfailing care, which would prepare them for the trial so near at hand. This, especially in the synoptics; while John shows us at this time the full out-pouring of His heart, in which, far beyond the present trial, He enters into the blessings of the new era coming in. John’s is the Christian Gospel, and, not here alone but throughout, occupies itself with glories which even Christians have feebly apprehended.

(1) Mark gives, as Matthew does not, the special signs which would assure the disciples when they would have reached the house in which He would eat the passover. Was it not on their account that they were permitted thus to see how perfectly the apprehension of the minutest details of the future was possessed by Him. Dispensationally also, was not the man with but the pitcher of water passing on to the place whence presently the rivers of living water were to flow forth? Indeed, the Old Testament had prepared the place already, which He alone could fill with His glory. Now He is come, for whom it is prepared.

(2) Now they must learn from His own lips that one of the twelve should deliver Him up. It was needful that they should be prepared for this uttermost wickedness, which, however, like so much else, they do not seem to have understood in its real character. It was needful also to the divine love which would not give up even a Judas without warning, to let him know that "even the night" was "light about" him. Scripture too had forewarned and pointed at him. And the Lord adds His awful warning: "good were it for that man if he had not been born."

(3) The institution of the Supper follows, almost in the words of Matthew. Mark omits "for the remission of sins," and for "My Father’s Kingdom" substitutes "the Kingdom of God."

(4) They sing a hymn and go out to the Mount of Olives. And there follows now the warning of the trial coming from the smiting of the Shepherd. All would be stumbled; but He carries on their thoughts to His resurrection and going before them into Galilee. Peter protests more than once in his vehement way that he never would be stumbled; and when the Lord adds that he would that night thrice deny Him, he still more stoutly protests that, though he should die with Him, he will not deny Him. He does not discern that this very strength of his is his weakness. And the others with as little discernment repeat his protest.

3. The agony in Gethsemane is told alike in Matthew and in the present Gospel; and we have already considered it. Not the view of death nor of any attendant suffering could move Christ after this manner. It would be dishonor to Him to suppose it. There is but one thing mighty enough to do so, and this connects it with the surpassing agony of the Cross, the forsaking of God. This, we shall find that Mark, by the abridgement or omission of other things, brings into emphatic prominence: it is the full reality of substitution, the Sinless in the sinner’s place; and it is this that He is anticipating here.

4. Judas comes up with his band of men from the chief priests and scribes, and into such hands He surrenders Himself for the accomplishment of His Father’s will. The disciples are struggling against it, - fighting, and then fleeing. His reproof of them is not given here, but only of the multitudes. Exceptional in Mark is the story of the young man clad in a linen or muslin garment (a sindon), which when they lay hold upon him, he leaves in their hands, and escapes from them naked.

Significant it seems that the sindon, though generally spoken of as a nightdress, was such a wrapper as was used to enwrap the dead, and is actually, in the only other case in the New Testament, applied to that in which the Lord’s body was wrapped (Mat 27:59; Matt. 15: 46; Luk 23:53). It came to be used for any light garment made of this material, and so might be a nightdress; but does not seem to be the word for this specifically.

Its connection with the dead has suggested an allegorical meaning for the story here, at a time when all facts seem to allegorize (if there be even any exception in this way as to Scripture facts). It has been spoken* of as suggestive of the vanity of human effort against the Christ of God. The priests and people, Herod and Pilate, got nothing of the Man against whom they combined but the grave-clothes empty of their temporary occupant. The living Person had escaped: the true life was untouched. And this might be a parable as to all His followers, to whom indeed, as in Christ before God, the vestment of the body is but as it were the light garment of the dead, in whom a hidden life resides not to be touched of death: "the gates of hades cannot prevail against it." In the midst of a hostile world, the Lord of life has well provided for His own.

{*In the Sermons of Henry Melville.}

F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 14

CHAPTER: 14:1-9 (Mar_14:1-9)

THE CRUSE OF OINTMENT

"Now after two days was the feast of the passover and the unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him with subtlety, and to kill Him: for they said, Not during the feast, lest haply there shall be a tumult of the people. And while He was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of spikenard very costly; and she brake the cruse, and poured it over His head. But there were some that had indignation among themselves, saying, To what purpose hath this waste of the ointment been made? For this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred pence, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. But Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on Me. For ye have the poor always with you, and whensoever ye will ye can do them good: but Me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she hath anointed My body aforehand for the burying. And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." Mar_14:1-9 (R.V.)

PERFECTION implies not only the absence of blemishes, but the presence, in equal proportions, of every virtue and every grace. And so the perfect life is full of the most striking, and yet the easiest transitions. We have just read predictions of trial more startling and intense than any in the ancient Scripture. If we knew of Jesus only by the various reports of that discourse, we should think of a recluse like Elijah or the Baptist, and imagine that His disciples, with girded loins, should be more ascetic than St. Anthony. We are next shown Jesus at a supper gracefully accepting the graceful homage of a woman.

From St. John we learn that this feast was given six days before the Passover. The other accounts postponed the mention of it, plainly because of an incident which occurred then, but is vitally connected with a decision arrived at somewhat later by the priests. Two days before the Passover, the council finally determined that Jesus must be destroyed. They recognized all the dangers of that course. It must be done with subtlety; the people must not be aroused; and therefore they said, Not on the feast-day. It is remarkable, however, that at the very time when they so determined, Jesus clearly and calmly made to His disciples exactly the opposite announcement. "After two days the Passover cometh, and the Son of Man is delivered up to be crucified" (Mat_26:2). Thus we find at every turn of the narrative that their plans are over-ruled, and they are unconscious agents of a mysterious design, which their Victim comprehends and accepts. On one side, perplexity snatches at all base expedients; the traitor is welcomed, false witnesses are sought after, and the guards of the sepulcher bribed. On the other side is clear foresight, the deliberate unmasking of Judas, and at the trial a circumspect composure, a lofty silence, and speech more majestic still.

Meanwhile there is a heart no longer light (for He foresees His burial), yet not so burdened that He should decline the entertainment offered Him at Bethany.

This was in the house of Simon the leper, but St. John tells us that Martha served, Lazarus sat at meat, and the woman who anointed Jesus was Mary. We naturally infer some relationship between Simon and this favored family; but the nature of the tie we know not, and no purpose can be served by guessing. Better far to let the mind rest upon the sweet picture of Jesus, at home among those who loved Him; upon the eager service of Martha; upon the man who had known death, somewhat silent, one fancies, a remarkable sight for Jesus, as He sat at meat, and perhaps suggestive of the thought which found utterance a few days afterwards, that a banquet was yet to come, when He also risen from the grave, should drink new wine among His friends in the kingdom of God. And there the adoring face of her who had chosen the better part was turned to her Lord with a love which comprehended His sorrow and His danger, while even the Twelve were blind -- an insight which knew the awful presence of One upon His way to the sepulcher, as well as one who had returned thence. Therefore she produced a cruse of very precious ointment, which had been "kept" for Him, perhaps since her brother was embalmed. And as such alabaster flasks were commonly sealed in making, and only to be opened by breaking off the neck, she crushed the cruse between her hands and poured it on His head. On His feet also, according to St. John, who is chiefly thinking of the embalming of the body, as the others of the anointing of the head. The discovery of contradiction here is worthy of the abject "criticism" which detects in this account a variation upon the story of her who was a sinner. As if two women who loved much might not both express their loyalty, which could not speak, by so fair and feminine a device; or as if it were inconceivable that the blameless Mary should consciously imitate the gentle penitent.

But even as this unworthy controversy breaks in upon the tender story, so did indignation and murmuring spoil that peaceful scene. "Why was not this ointment sold for much, and given to the poor?" It was not common that others should be more thoughtful of the poor than Jesus.

He fed the multitudes they would have sent away; He gave sight to Bartimaeus whom they rebuked. But it is still true, that whenever generous impulses express themselves with lavish hands, some heartless calculator reckons up the value of what is spent, and especially its value to "the poor;" the poor, who would be worse off if the instincts of love were arrested and the human heart frozen. Almshouses are not usually built by those who declaim against church architecture; nor is utilitarianism famous for its charities. And so we are not surprised when St. John tells us how the quarrel was fomented. Iscariot, the dishonest purse bearer, was exasperated at the loss of a chance of theft, perhaps of absconding without being so great a loser at the end of his three unrequited years. True that the chance was gone, and speech would only betray his estrangement from Jesus, upon Whom so much good property was wasted. But evil tempers must express themselves at times, and Judas had craft enough to involve the rest in his misconduct. It is the only indication in the Gospels of intrigue among the Twelve which even indirectly struck at their Master's honor.

Thus, while the fragrance of the ointment filled the house, their parsimony grudged the homage which soothed His heart, and condemned the spontaneous impulse of Mary's love.

It was for her that Jesus interfered, and His words went home.

The poor were always with them: opportunities would never fail those who were so zealous; and whensoever they would they could do them good,--whensoever Judas, for example, would. As for her, she had wrought a good work (a high-minded and lofty work is implied rather than a useful one) upon Him, Whom they should not always have. Soon His body would be in the hands of sinners, desecrated, outraged. And she only had comprehended, however dimly the silent sorrow of her Master; she only had laid to heart His warnings; and, unable to save Him, or even to watch with Him one hour, she (and through all that week none other) had done what she could. She had anointed His body beforehand for the burial, and indeed with clear intention "to prepare Him for burial" (Mat_26:12).

It was for this that His followers had chidden her. Alas, how often do our shrewd calculations and harsh judgments miss the very essence of some problem which only the heart can solve, the silent intention of some deed which is too fine, too sensitive, to explain itself except only to that sympathy which understands us all. Men thought of Jesus as lacking nothing, and would fain divert His honor to the poor; but this woman comprehended the lonely heart, and saw the last inexorable need before Him. Love read the secret in the eyes of love, and this which Mary did shall be told while the world stands, as being among the few human actions which refreshed the lonely One, the purest, the most graceful, and perhaps the last.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

14:1–16:8 The final section of Mark is the narrative of Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection.

14:1-2 The plot by the leading priests and teachers of religious law to kill Jesus (see 3:6; 11:18; 12:12) now comes to a climax.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 14:1. Τὸ πάσχα, the passover) This is said in a strict sense, as in Mar 14:12; for τὰ ἄζυμα, “the feast of unleavened bread,” is added.—μετὰ δυὸ ἡμέρας) That is to say on the following day.[1]

[1] Two days before the Passover.—ED. and TRANSL.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar_14:1-2. See on Mat_26:2-5. Comp. Luk_22:1-2. Including this short introduction of simple historical tenor (in which Luke follows him), Mark is, in the entire narrative of the passion, generally more original, fresh, and free from later additions and amplifications of tradition than Matthew (comp. Weiss, 1861, p. 52 ff.), although the latter again is the more original in various details.

τὸ πάσχα κ. τὰ ἄζυμα] the Passover and the unleavened (חמצות), i.e. the feast of the Passover and (which it likewise is) of the unleavened. Comp. 3 Esdr. Mar_1:19 : ἠγάγοσαν … τὸ πάσχα καὶ τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἀζύμων. On τὰ ἄζυμα as a designation of the feast, comp. 3 Esdr. Mar_1:10 : ἔχοντες τὰ ἄζυμα κατὰ τὰς φυλάς.

ἔλεγον γάρ] This γάρ (see the critical remarks) informs us of the reason of the ἐζήτουν πῶς previously said; for the feast was in their way, so that they could not at once proceed, but believed that they must let it first go quietly by, so that no tumult might occur. Victor Antiochenus remarks: τὴν μὲν ἑορτὴν ὑπερθέσθαι βούλονται· οὐ συγχωροῦντο δὲ, ἐπειδὴ τὴν προφητείαν ἔδει πληροῦσθαι τὴν ἐν τῇ νομικῇ διατυπώσει, ἐν ᾗ τὸ πάσχα ἐδύετο, μηνὶ πρώτῳ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ· ἐν τούτῳ γὰρ τῷ μηνὶ καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τὸ ἀληθινὸν πάσχα ἔδει θυτῆναι. A view right in itself; not, however, according to the Synoptic, but according to the Johannine account of the day of the death of Jesus.

ἔσται] shall be, certainty of what was otherwise to be expected. Hartung, Partikell. II. p. 140.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 14:1-2 . Introduction (Mat 26:1-5 , Luk 22:1-2 ).

Mar 14:1 . ἦν δὲ τὸ π .: the first hint that the visit of Jesus to Jerusalem took place at passover season. τὸ πάσχα καὶ τὰ ἄζυμα : full name of the feast, which consisted of the passover proper beginning on the 14th Nisan, and the seven days of unleavened bread. Mt. and Lk. give each only one of the designations; Mt. the former, Lk. the latter. Mk.’s dual designation a manifest combination of Mt. and Lk., say the followers of Griesbach. μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας , indicates the point of time at which the Sanhedrists began seriously to consider how they could safely get rid of Jesus. Mt. turns this into an announcement by Jesus. Lk. generalises the precise note of time into a statement that the feast was approaching ( ἤγγιζεν ). ἐν δόλῳ , in or with craft. ἐν = בְּ in Heb. Mt. has simply δόλῳ , the dative instr.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chap. 14:1,

1.] τὸ πάσχα καὶ τὰ ἄζ., classed together, because the time of eating the Passover was actually the commencement of the feast of unleavened bread. The announcement by our Lord of his approaching death (Mat 26:2) is omitted by Mark and Luke.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CONSPIRACY AND ANOINTING

14:1-11. The Sanhedrim plan to arrest Jesus stealthily, and to put him to death. He is anointed by a woman at the house of Simon the leper. Judas conspires with the Sanhedrim to deliver him up to them.

Jesus spends the last two days in Bethany. During his absence, the authorities consult about the ways and means of putting him to death, and decide to postpone it till after the feast, when the people, whom they know to be friendly to Jesus, will have left Jerusalem. At some time during these two days, Jesus is entertained at the house of Simon the leper, and during the supper, a woman (John says, Mary, the sister of Lazarus) anoints him with a costly ointment, worth upwards of three hundred denaries (shillings nominally, really more nearly dollars). Some of those present (Mt. says, disciples) were indignant at this waste. But Jesus justifies her act as befitting the time when he is about to be taken away, and when the act therefore acquires the unconscious significance of an anointing for his burial. And he prophesies that the beauty of the act will keep it alive in the memories of men wherever the glad tidings is proclaimed. Apparently from this very feast, Judas goes to the authorities, and conspires to deliver him up to them, causing another change in their plans, so that the intended delay till the close of the feast is given up.

1. τὸ πάσχα καὶ τὰ ἄζυμα—Both of these words are used originally to denote the things entering into the feast of the Passover, the sacrifice of the paschal lamb and the eating of unleavened bread, and then they came to be used, one or the other, to denote the feast itself. The unusual thing here is the use of the two terms to denote with fulness the character of the feast by the mention of both its characteristic marks.

This is the first mention of the Passover in connection with these events. Probably, it is introduced to explain the conclusion of the authorities to postpone the execution of their plot till after the feast, as it was only two days to the beginning of it (v. 2). οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ γραμματεῖς—the chief priests and the scribes. A designation of the Sanhedrim by the two principal classes composing it. ἐν δόλῷ—by cunning; not openly.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By the will of God, against the counsel of men, it came to pass that Christ should be put to death upon the solemn day of the Passover, that in all respects the truth might agree to the figure.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Jews conspire against Christ, 1, 2.

He is anointed in the house of Simon the Leper, 3-9.

Judas Iscariot sells him to the chief priests for thirty pieces

of money, 10, 11.

He orders his disciples to prepare the passover, 12-16.

Predicts his approaching death, 17-21.

Institutes the holy eucharist, 22-26.

Foretells the unfaithfulness of his disciples in general,

27, 28,

and Peter's denial, 29-31.

His agony in the garden, 32-36.

The disciples overcome by sleep, 37-42.

Judas comes with a mob from the chief priests, and betrays him

with a kiss; they seize him, 43-49.

The disciples flee, 50.

A young man following, and about to be apprehended, makes his

escape, 51, 52.

Jesus is brought before the chief priests, and Peter follows at

a distance, 53, 54.

He is examined, insulted, and abused, and condemned on false

evidence, 55-65.

Peter thrice denies him, reflects on his wickedness, and repents

of his sin, 66-72.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIV.

Verse 1. Unleavened breed] After they began to eat unleavened bread: See Clarke on Mt 26:2.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

XIV.

(1, 2) After two days was the feast of the passover.—See Notes on Mat_26:1-5. Better, was the passover, and the feast of unleavened bread. The latter designation is common to St. Mark and St. Luke, as an explanation intended for Gentile readers. The same fact accounts, perhaps, for the omission by both of the name of Caiaphas as the chief mover in the scheme.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

Ver. 1. After two days] Two days after the former discourse. This Sun of righteousness shone most amiably toward his going down.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Though the evangelists generally use the words pasch and azymes promiscuously, yet St. Mark distinguishes them, being really different. The pasch is used for the 14th day of the moon of the first month. But the 15th day, on which they departed out of Egypt, was the feast of the azymes, or the unleavened bread; which continued seven days, till the 21st day of the moon inclusively. (Ven. Bede) --- Pasch is also used for the sabbath day within the seven days of the solemnity; (John xix. 14.) and also for all the sacrifices made during the seven days of the feast.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew saith the same, only he bringeth it in as said to the disciples by Christ. This must be said upon that day in the week which we call Tuesday, for Friday was the passover day, when began the feast of unleavened bread.

See Poole on "Mat 26:1", and following verses to Mat 26:5.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Last Supper. Arrest and Trial of Jesus

1, 2. A council of the Priests against Jesus (Mat_26:1; Luk_22:1). See on Mt.

3-9. The anointing at Bethany (Mat_26:6; Joh_12:1). See on Mt and Jn.

10, 11. Judas betrays Jesus (Mat_26:14; Luk_22:3). See on Mt.

12-16. Preparations for the Last Supper (Mat_26:17; Luk_22:7). See on Mt.

17-26. The Last Supper (Mat_26:20; Luk_22:14; John 13-17; 1Co_11:23). See on Mt, Lk, Jn, 1 Cor.

24. The new testament] RV 'the covenant.' RM 'Some ancient authorities insert new.'

27-31. Jesus foretells Peter's denial. See on Mat_26:31, where the other references are given.

30. Before the cock crow twice] 'Twice' is omitted by important ancient authorities, and is open to some doubt. The other three evangelists speak of only one crowing of the cock.

32-42. Agony in Gethsemane (Mat_26:36; Luk_22:40 : cp. Joh_18:1). See on Mt.

36. Abba] Aramaic for 'father.' Peculiar to Mk.

43-50. Arrest of Jesus (Mat_26:47; Luk_22:47; Joh_18:2). See on Mt and Jn.

51, 52. The young man who followed. The incident being peculiar to St. Mark, and a quite unimportant one, it is often supposed by modern commentators that the young man was the evangelist himself. Mark's mother certainly lived in Jerusalem (Act_12:12). Other conjectures are St. John, James the Lord's brother, or a resident in the house where the last supper had been eaten.

51. A linen cloth] probably a night-dress, but J. Lightfoot thinks that it was a tallith: (i.e. the large or synagogue tallith: see on Mat_23:5), which the young man, for ascetic purposes, wore as his only garment.

53-65. Trial of Jesus (Mat_26:57; Luk_22:54, Luk_22:66). See on Mt and Joh_18:12.

58. I will destroy] Clearly the accusation was that Jesus had plotted to burn or otherwise destroy the Temple. Much less satisfactory is St. Matthew's version, 'I am able to destroy the Temple.' The words, 'that is made without hands,' and 'another made without hands,' are peculiar to Mk. Westcott and Hort give in their margin the remarkable reading, 'but in three days I will effect the resurrection of another (Temple) made without hands.' See on Mat_26:61; Joh_2:19

66-72. Peter denies Jesus (Mat_26:69; Luk_22:55; Joh_18:15, Joh_18:25). See on Mt and Jn.

68. And the cock crew] Omitted by important ancient authorities, and rejected as an interpolation by Westcott and Hort and RM. See on Mar_14:30.

72. The second time] Omitted by important ancient authorities; bracketed by Swete: see on Mar_14:30.

When he thought thereon] An expression of uncertain meaning, but the AV is probably right. Other interpretations:—'having covered his head' (Theophylact, Field), 'he began to weep'; 'he wept vehemently'; 'when he had set his eyes on Jesus, he wept'; 'when he had rushed outside, he wept.'

J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now after two days was the feast of the passover and the unleavened bread; literally, the passover and the unleavened to pasca kai ta azuma . It was one and the same festival. The killing of the Paschal lamb took place on the first of the seven days during which the festival lasted, and during the whole of which they used unleavened bread. Josephus describes it as "the festival of the unleavened, called Phaska by the Jews." The chief priests and the scribes. St. Matthew (Mat_26:3) says, "The chief priests and the elders of the people." The two classes in the Sanhedrim who actually combined to put our Lord to death were those here mentioned by St. Mark. They sought how they might take him with subtlety (en dolw), and kill him. It is, literally, they were seeking (elhtoun). The verb with its tense implies continuous and eager desire. They used subtlety, because they feared lest he should escape out of their hands. Moreover they feared the people, lest they should fight for him, and not suffer him to be taken.

Vers. 1, 2. The plot.

The apprehension and death of Jesus were brought about By a combination between his foes and a professed friend. The avowed enemies employed the necessary force, and secured the authority of the Roman governor for his crucifixion; and the disciple suggested the occasion, the place and time of the capture, and delivered his Master into the hands of the malignant persecutors. The events of the first three days of this Passion week had been such as to enrage the Pharisees and scribes beyond all bounds. The only way in which it seemed possible for them to retain their threatened influence, necessarily diminished and discredited by their repeated public confutation, seemed to be this to strike an immediate and decisive blow at the Prophet whom they were unable to withstand upon the ground of argument and reason.

I THE ENEMIES WHO PLOTTED AGAINST CHRIST. These seem to have included all classes among the higher orders of society in Jerusalem, who, whatever their distinctions, rivalries, and enmities, concurred in hatred of the Holy One and the Just. The chief priests, who were largely Sadducees, the scribes, and the Pharisees, who were the most honored leaders of the people in religion, all joined in plotting against him who attacked their various errors with equal impartiality, and whose success with the people was undermining the power of them all.

II THE CRAFT AND CAUTION OF CHRIST"S ENEMIES. It was in accordance with the nature of such men that they should have recourse to stratagem. Open violence was scarcely after their manner, and was out of the question in this case; for many of the people honored the Prophet of Nazareth, and would probably have interfered to protect or to rescue him from the onset of his enemies. Upon days of great popular festivals the people thronged every public place, where Jesus might be found teaching those who resorted to him; and those who delighted to listen to Jesus would certainly resist his capture. The opposition of Christ"s enemies to his teaching had been captious, and it is not surprising to find that their plot for his destruction was cunning and secret.

III THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST"S ENEMIES HIS DESTRUCTION. This had, indeed, been foreseen and foretold by himself; but this does not lessen the crime of those who compassed his death. The resolution to slay Jesus seems to have been taken because of the popular impression produced by the raising of Lazarus, and because of the discussions which had only just now taken place between him and the Jewish leaders, whom he had overcome in argument and put to silence. Thus, he had come up to the metropolis with the intention of so conducting his ministry as he was well aware would bring down upon him the wrath of his bitter foes.

IV THE SEASON AND OCCASION OF THIS PLOT, It was at the time of the Passover assemblies and solemnities that these deliberations took place. In this there was a coincidence which was not unintended, and which did not escape the observation of the Church. "Christ our Passover our Paschal Lamb and Sacrifice slain for us." The Lamb of God came to take away the sin of the world. His death has become the life of humanity; his sacrifice has wrought the emancipation of a sinful race.

HOMILIES BY R. GREEN Vers. 1-9. The alabaster cruse.

A scene of great interest and beauty is described in these words and in the supplement supplied by St. Matthew and St. John. On the last sabbath eve before his crucifixion, Jesus came to Bethany. In the house of Simon the leper a feast was made in his honor. The disciples were there, and, of necessity, Martha and her sister Mary, and Lazarus. What a representative group! Simon, the type of suffering, healed, and restored human nature. Lazarus, a living testimony to the Lord"s power over life and death a blossom from the tree of life plucked in that early spring-time, promising a final fruitfulness in richness and beauty. Martha, who in her true character served, type of all faithful, diligent, practical, hardworking disciples. Mary, who also served in her way, with her heart full of meditative love; the incarnation of pure, rapt, fervent devotion, and the sanctity of deep thought. And the disciples were there. Those wonderful men, who have led and will continue to lead the world, as the pillar of cloud of old time led the hosts of God through the desert. And the Master was there, sanctifying all life, as he was the Spring of all. Jesus was there, about whom we cannot say too much. They had met in his honor, for he received honor and hospitality from lowly men. They were met in his Name, and he was "in the midst." Around, outside, were the assailants, the Pharisees and the multitude, the powers of the world, surrounding as with a black drapery; while all within was pure and white and heavenly, save the stream of hot breath from one earthly spirit, himself set on fire of hell. Judas was there. Our thoughts must fix themselves, first, on the silent deed of Mary; then on the open word of Judas; then we must hear the words of Jesus, who, on this occasion at least, made himself a Judge and a Divider over them.

I THE DEED OF MARY. (Ver. 3) No reason for the act is assigned. Is one needed? Was it the offering of gratitude, or duty, or love? Was there goodness enough in that heart to lead it to do a kind action spontaneously, without respect to any previous personal obligation? Was there a sufficiently clear discernment of the true character of the distinguished Guest to compel her to offer her best gifts? We know not. One thing we know Lazarus was there, "whom Jesus raised from the dead." Then upon that head so hot, and upon those feet so weary, she pours her costly perfume; pours it freely, so "that the house was filled with the odour.

II Could any one have suspected a spot could be found in this almost heavenly feast? Alas! so is it with all things and all times of earth. Though all the college of the apostles was there; though there was one who had been raised from the dead, and one whose body had been purified and made anew; though all had seen the miracles which he did; though there were renewed and chastened spirits present, types of perfect love and faithful service; and though the Master himself was in the midst, on that sweet last sabbath eve; yet even in this Eden of blessing was the trail of the serpent to be seen. Hearken (vers. 4-6), poor human nature! Though Heaven itself come down to us, we tarnish it with some earthly foul breath.

III Jesus, by his words, passes judgment on Mary"s deed and on Judas"s pronouncement upon it. He appears for her defense. "Why trouble ye her?" (vers. 6, 8, 9). He may have been troubled, but in self-forgetfulness he thinks of her as she did of him. The work was a good one. "She hath anointed my body aforehand for the burying." Did she really know the meaning of her act? Did she really know that he would so soon be taken away? Then, to her quick apprehensive grief, he was dead already. Did she unconsciously predict his burial, or was love quick-witted here? We know not; but who can tell what she learnt at his feet? Probably she knew not on this quiet sabbath evening that on the next he would be in the tomb, or her heart would have been broken as well as her alabaster box. But if her gift of grateful love meant more than she supposed, it was only as all gifts of love do. They go beyond the discernments of intellect and judgment; they reach further; they mean more. So is it with all works done to Jesus. When we comfort the sorrowful, or minister to the sick or destitute, or do any "good work" in him and for him, he makes them symbolize himself. They show forth his praise. They reveal his spirit. As to the poor and our help of them, who, to our disgrace, are always with us. Let us see how Jesus honors even their lot by placing himself in the position of a receiver of doles of charity and human kindness. And let us, undeterred by the misuse which some make of our gifts, still break our alabaster boxes. Let us pour over the world the fragrance of a godly life, the sweetness of our Christian temper, the labor of our Christian zeal, the gifts of our Christian love. G.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON Vers. 1, 2. Approach of the end,

I "A TIME OF SILENCE AND SOLITUDE PROPERLY PRECEDES THE DAY OF DEATH.

II "WITH THE HIGHEST ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY, AND MUCH WORLDLY DENCE, THERE MAY BE GREAT WICKEDNESS" (Godwin). J.

Vers. 3-9. Anointing for martyrdom.

I PURE LOVE RISES ABOVE THE CONSIDERATIONS OF THRIFT. Logic must give place to love. The full heart disdains the question of money expense. Habitual extravagance is one thing, the redundancy grateful affection is another. We are never safe, in conduct or in thought, except when we follow the heart"s lead.

II SYMPATHY PRESERVES THE JUDGMENT FROM ERROR, The disciples did not understand the woman"s act. Christ lifted it into the light of truth. There is a narrow scale of judgment of those who stand too close to the act, and see only its immediate bearings. To see truly we must see far. There is a perspective of acts. This Christ points out. The acts of instinctive faith and love, of obedience and loyalty, are worth more than those based upon prudence and calculation.

III THE DEATH OF CHRIST MEASURES THE WORTH OF ACTS. This act will go down in history inseparable from his death. It was a forecast and a memento. The loving self-devotion of the Savior attracts the like from those who surround him and who know him.

IV THE TRUEST REWARD OF GOODNESS IS TO BE HELD IN THE LOVING RECOLLECTION OF OTHERS. "The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance." One great man prays, "Lord, keep my memory green!" A poet turns the wish into song, that he may be "only remembered by what he has done. J.

HOMILIES BY J.J. GIVEN Vers. 1-11, 18-21, 43-50. Parallel passages: Mat_26:1-16, Mat_26:21-25,lu Mat 22:10-6, Mat_22:21-23, 47-53Joh_18:2-12 8:21-35The betrayal by Judas.

I INTRODUCTION TO JUDAS. The individuality of Judas comes prominently before us in this chapter. We make his acquaintance in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany. We are introduced to him in connection with the alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; for though not mentioned here by name, we know from the other evangelists that he was among those who felt indignant at the supposed waste of the ointment, and who expressed that indignation by murmuring against the worthy woman who had poured it on the Savior"s head. Either Judas had muttered dissatisfaction, and others of the disciples, in their simplicity, concurred, or Judas was spokesman of others who, accustomed to scant ways and means, were surprised at what naturally enough appeared to such men extravagant expenditure. "When his disciples saw it, they had indignation," according to St. Matthew"s narrative; "There were some that had indignation within themselves," is the record of St. Mark; "Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon"s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" is the explicit account furnished by St. John. There was only the one single point of contact between Judas and those of the other disciples who agreed with him about the matter of waste. Their motive differed from his; their thoughts were not his thoughts. The large-hearted liberality of this loving woman was, however, rightly comprehended by the Master himself, and justly commended by him. Our curiosity is not gratified by any particulars of information about Simon. Whether he was a brother of Lazarus, or a brother-in-law, being Mary"s husband, or some other relative, or only a friend, we neither know nor need to know. The meaning of the epithet pistikhv is also little more than a matter of conjecture. Some of the Greek and Latin interpreters understand it to mean genuine or pure, and connect it with pistov , faithful; others hold the meaning to be potable or liquid, from pinw ; while Augustine derives it from the name of the place whence it came, that is, Pistic nard. The Vulgate and Latin versions render it spicati, and similar, too is our English spikenard, as the name of fragrant oil extracted from the spike-shaped blossoms of the Indian nardus, or nard-grass. The costliness of this unguent was well known among the ancients; hence Horace promised Virgil a nine-gallon cask of wine for a small onyx box of this nard; while the evangelist informs us that the value of Mary"s alabaster box of ointment was upwards of three hundred pence, that is, of Roman coinage, each denarius being equivalent to seven pence halfpenny or eight pence halfpenny of English currency. The amount would thus be about ten guineas.

II MARY"S LIBERALITY. This liberality of Mary had its origin in deep devotedness to our Lord, but her devotedness was the outcome of enlightened faith. She had a correct understanding of his character and claims. A believer in his Divine commission and in his kingly authority, she did not stumble as many at the prospect of his death. She knew he was to die, and hence she anticipated that sad event by the exceedingly expensive preparation in question. The custom of employing perfumes on such an occasion has an illustration in the record of King Asa in the sixteenth chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles, where we read, "They laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries" art." The disciples of Christ surpassed the generality of their nation in the knowledge of, and belief in, his person as Messiah; but though they had full faith in his Messiahship, they still clung to the notion of a temporal kingdom, with all its high honors and earthly distinctions. From this arose the difficulty which they had in reconciling themselves to his death, or rather the stumbling-block which his death placed in the way of their faith, as the two disciples to whom Jesus joined himself on the way to Emmaus, after speaking of his death and crucifixion, added, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel." Mary"s faith excelled theirs as much as theirs excelled that of the Jews in general. Her faith did not fail in prospect of Messiah being cut off, her love was not chilled by the coming coldness of his death, nor did her hope go out like a taper in the darkness of his sepulcher. She believed that as Messiah Jesus would die and revive and rise and reign. She believed, and her faith worked by love. She believed, and therefore she poured the precious ointment ungrudgingly on her Savior"s person.

III THE BESETTING SIN OF THE TRAITOR. Judas is usually hold up as a monster of iniquity, and his sin regarded as something diabolical. While we would not diminish by one iota the heinousness of his sin, nor say one word in extenuation or mitigation of his guilt, we feel that, owing to certain exaggerated representations of his criminality, the lessons to be learnt from his character and conduct are to a large extent lost. On the contrary, if we carefully analyze his character and examine his career, we shall find much to learn, at least by way of warning, from the sad lesson of his life. Of course, by placing him outside the pale of humanity altogether, and regarding him more as a fiend than a man, we leave ourselves without any common measure whereby it is possible to compare his career with that of ordinary mortals. Now, we hold that he was just in roll with common men, though by his sin in its results he rose at last to such an exceptionally bad eminence. He was, as is admitted on all hands, a bad man, a wicked man, and a man as wretched as he was wicked. All the elements of evil in his character, however, may be resolved into one besetting sin, and that sin was avarice. His greed of gain was insatiable, and he loved gold much more than God. This inordinate love of money was the root of the evil in his nature. This love of money is a growing sin, for, as the old proverb has it, the love of money increases as much as the money itself increases nay, it usually increases much faster. He was naturally avaricious, and he gave full swing to his natural disposition. Here we learn a lesson of the greatest utility and of very general application. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read of "the sin which doth so easily beset us." The case of Judas exemplifies the baneful tendency and the fatal result of such a single besetting sin. Most people have some propensity in excess, some strong passion, some evil principle in their nature more likely to overpower them than any other. It is of vital importance to ascertain what the weak point is, in what direction it lies, and where the risk of entanglement is greatest. A physician is careful in the very first instance to discover the seat of the patient"s disease, and its nature. So we should look carefully into our heart and out upon our life till we find out the source of weakness; and once it is discovered nor can the discovery be a matter of any difficulty to the honest inquirer we must be ever on our guard against it, and use every available means to fortify ourselves in that particular quarter. However strong our character may be otherwise and in other respects, one besetting sin, unless resisted and shunned, will ruin all. One weak link will spoil the strongest chain, and no chain is stronger than its weakest link; one small opening in a dam will flood a district, or even a province.

IV OFFICIAL DIGNITY, OFFICIAL DANGER. It often happens that a man is placed exactly in that situation in life which, owing to his peculiar disposition, is fraught with greatest danger to him. Thus, for good and wise ends, God in his providence is pleased to try us, as gold is tried, that we may be proved and purified and strengthened. When so situated we need to seek daily increase of faith that we may be kept from falling, and constant supplies of grace that it may be sufficient for us. Judas had been clever at finance, and in consequence became bursar of the little society. This situation of purse-bearer was one of extreme danger to a man like Judas; his hand was too often in the purse, his fingers were too frequently on the coins it contained. With such an opportunity without and such a disposition within, what, in the absence of restraining grace, could be expected? His greedy disposition, combined with the temptation of his office, was too much for him; his covetousness developed into thievishness. He failed to check the evil propensity; he did not resist the strong temptation. The first act of pilfering was committed. The Rubicon was crossed; the line of demarcation between honesty and dishonesty became fainter and fainter, and was gradually effaced. Other acts of petty pilfering succeeded; and though we have little reason to suppose that the disciples" purse had ever been a deep or heavy one, or that it ever contained more than supplied the bare necessaries of daily life, yet we have much reason to believe that the paltry peculations of the purse-bearer were a constant drain upon it. "He was a thief," our Lord tells us plainly, "and carried the bag." Here we have a second lesson, which is the absolute necessity of resisting the first temptation to evil; for as the habit grows by indulgence, the power of temptation diminishes by resistance.

V DISAPPOINTED AMBITION. The chief attraction to Judas had probably been the prospect of a temporal king and earthly kingdom; and thus of some lucrative position or highly remunerative office in the service of that king and in the affairs of that kingdom. Others of his fellow-disciples had been looking forward to posts of honor to sit on thrones in the future Messianic kingdom. Judas eared less for honor than for profit, and however he may have esteemed such honor, it was mainly as the way to wealth. But now our Lord had referred in terms unmistakable, once and again, to his death and burial, this gave a rude shook to the hopes of the traitor, and seemed to cut off at once and for ever the prospect of worldly gain. This was a bitter disappointment to the greedy spirit of Judas; the cup of plenty was rudely dashed away as he was about to raise it to his lips; the time of discipleship he looked upon as a dead loss; his profits had been small at best, but the prospect of improving his circumstances is now blighted; and his occupation is gone. Tantalizing, and even torturing, as all this must have been to him, another disappointment, though of a minor sort, is added. A sum of three hundred denarii, or more, that is to say, upwards of ten guineas, had been profusely lavished in a way and for an object with which he had not the least possible sympathy, nay, in a manner as he thought highly reprehensible. It was sheer waste, and worse, for no one gained anything; the poor were not benefited that he cared for the poor," except as a matter of hypocritical pretense; he himself missed the disbursement of a sum from which he could have appropriated a percentage that might have been a crumb of comfort in present disastrous times and during the dull days he must now look forward to. But there was even more than this; he must have felt himself by this time an object of suspicion; conscience must have made him aware of this; he must have known that the Master, at all events, saw through the thin disguises that concealed his real character from ordinary eyes. He did not feel at home with the brotherhood; and, his occupation being gone, a spirit of recklessness was creeping over him. Besides, he was stung into hostility by the severe but well-deserved reproof which our Lord now saw right to administer to him. "The poor always ye have with you," said our Lord; and it was thus hinted that it was his duty part of his duty part of his office to look after them, and that opportunity was never wanting for that purpose. Thus wrought on, Judas bethought himself that it was high time to look to his own interests; and, having failed in one direction, to try the opposite.

VI WARNINGS WASTED. It is truly astonishing what effect the continued indulgence of a single sin has in hardening the heart, searing the conscience as with a hot iron, blinding the mind, and banishing for a time at least all feelings of shame and even of common humanity. The black crime soon to be committed had cast its shadow before. More than one hint had been given, more than one warning note had been sounded; but all to no purpose. The first intimation appears to have been after our Lord had washed the disciples" feet, impressing by that expressive symbolic action the great lesson of humility on all his followers. On that occasion he said, "Now ye are clean, but not all". (Joh_13:10) In the second section of this chapter, where the traitor is again referred to, words of warning still more distinct are uttered: "One of you which eateth with me shall betray me;" and while all of them, "one by one," as St. Mark particularly mentions, deprecated with surprise and sorrow such an impeachment, asking, "Is it I?" or literally, "It is not I, is it?" Judas had the amazing effrontery to pretend innocence, and ask with the rest, "Is it I?" The intimation about the betrayer being "one of the twelve, he that dippeth with me in the dish," and the individual who should receive the sop, may have been whispered into the ear of the beloved John, and through him to Peter; but the final fearful warning was uttered aloud and in the hearing of all. And yet that terrible sentence, "Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born," had no effect on him; at all events, it failed to shake his diabolical purpose. It is possible that during the first shower of questions each asking, "Is it I? Judas had sat silent, either sullenly through contempt, or conscious-stricken; that subsequently, with an air of careless coldness, and in order to conceal the confusion of the moment, he asked not, "Lord, is it I?" but "Rabbi, is it I?" when he received the answer, "Thou hast said," in the affirmative, unheard perhaps except by the disciples John and Peter, who sat close by. The expression, too, which our Lord added, namely, "What thou doest, do quickly," though heard by all, was misunderstood, and referred by them to directions about the purchase of requisites for tomorrow"s feast, or making distribution to the poor; but it must have been perfectly comprehended by the traitor himself. At all events, on receiving the sop, he went out immediately, and, in spite of all, pursued his foul and fiendish purpose. All these checks, all these warning, were utterly ineffectual. His besetting sin, growing like the mountain snowball, and gathering within its compass other elements, as disappointment, resentment, ingratitude, and envy, had now become too powerful to be overcome. The sin that might have been checked effectually at the first had now become uncontrollable; the evil one, who might have been successfully resisted at the commencement, had now gained complete mastery over this wretched man. To such a fearful extent was this the case, that the evangelist informs us that "Satan entered into him." In no other way, as it seems, could the enormity of his crime be accounted for. No wonder it is added, "And it was night." It was night with earth and sky night with all its darkness, night with that dark heart of the traitor, night in every sense with that unhappy man! How all this inculcates, as another and a third lesson, the importance of cultivating prayerfulness of spirit, and enforces the necessity of praying frequently and praying fervently, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one"!

VII ANOTHER SCENE IN THE TRAITOR"S LIFE. We now open another chapter in his history. The bargain is struck, the sum weighed and delivered, and in the paltry sum thus realized we have another proof of the grovelling spirit of this unspeakably mean and mercenary man. He has secured the thirty pieces of silver, or thirty shekels some 15s. of British money. Both parties seem satisfied with the bargain. The chief priests are glad of the promised opportunity of arresting in private him whom the dread of popular tumult or probable rescue prevented them arresting in public. Public opinion was still so favorable to the Prophet from Galilee, and had such force, that, hostile as the Jewish authorities were, they dreaded, and with good reason, the risk of a public apprehension. Judas, too, is content with his pieces of silver. We almost fancy we see him, like Milton"s picture of Mammon in the nether world, eyeing with furtive, downcast glance the proceeds of his bargain. But the satisfaction of the wicked seldom lasts long. We scarcely think that Judas at first realized the consequences of his wickedness; we cannot believe that he at all anticipated the sequel of his crime. Perhaps he thought that he who had wrought so many miracles would work one in self-defense, and not allow himself to be apprehended; or perhaps he thought that, if arrested, he would escape out of the hands of those who came to apprehend him; or it may be he thought Jesus would now be forced to set up the expected kingdom. All his calculations are at fault.

VIII THE ACTUAL BETRAYAL AND APPREHENSION. Some two hours have elapsed from the revelation of the traitor and his departure from that upper room, when a motley multitude of men, armed with swords and staves-some of them Levitical guards from the temple, others Roman soldiers from the tower of Antonia, together with priests and elders is marching down the hillside from Jerusalem to the valley of the Kidron. Already they have crossed the brook and reached the garden. But what mean those lanterns, for the Paschal moon is at the full? Perhaps the moon was obscured by clouds, or shining dimly that night; or the deep shadows of the hills and rocks and trees made the light of the lanterns necessary. The concerted signal was not really needed, owing to our Lord"s forwardness to meet his fate. Had he pleased, he might have frustrated the attempt, as by a word he felled them to the earth; (Joh_18:6) he might have ordered to his help twelve legions of angels, had he been unwilling to suffer. And yet, willing as he was to suffer, he is equally willing to save; his sufferings were in our stead, and for our sake. His ready willinghood to undertake for us and die for us assures us of equal willinghood to have the benefit of those sufferings transferred to us. The traitor"s kiss, which was a fervent one (katefilhsen), was the signal for arrest. From this we learn the terms of familiarity and friendship that existed between Christ and his disciples. Nor is he changed, or become colder in his friendship for his true followers; he is as cordial as ever, and still bends on earth a Brother"s eye. His address to Judas, however, is too strongly expressed in the Common Version. The term "friends" (filoi) he reserves for his true disciples; the word addressed to Judas is etaire , which signifies "companion" or acquaintance, and does not necessarily imply either respect or affection.

IX THE COWARDICE OF SIN. Cowardice is generally associated with sin, so true it is that "sinful heart makes feeble hand." Our first parents, after their sin against God, hid themselves among the trees of the garden. The chief priests and elders, with the captains, are here charged by our Lord with cowardice. "Be ye come out," he asks, "as against a brigand or bandit (lhsthn), with swords and staves?" Had he been an evil-doer, why did they not apprehend him publicly in the broad light of day as he taught in the temple? Poor, sinful souls! their cowardly spirits shrank from this; the power of public opinion, or the dread of a rescue, or the danger of a riot, they could not brave; but now skulkingly, secretly, stealthily, at the dead hour of night, they came upon the Savior by surprise, with a strong posse of men well armed. Their sin was seen in their cowardice. Our Lord is now in the hands of his enemies. He had healed the servant"s ear the right ear (St. Luke and St. John) having asked freedom to stretch forth his arm to touch and heal the wounded ear, saying, "Suffer ye thus far;" if the words do not mean Excuse resistance to this extent. Judas has betrayed him; all the disciples even John the beloved and Peter the brave have forsaken him and fled! J.J.G.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. xxvi, 1; Luke xxii, 1.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Anointing of Jesus.

The council of the chief priests and scribes:

v. 1. After two days was the Feast of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread; and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by craft and put Him to death.

v. 2. But they said, Not on the feast-day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

The Jewish authorities had not given up one bit of their enmity and rage against the Prophet of Galilee. There had been daily sessions in the Hall of Polished Stones and undoubtedly many private consultations of the manner in which the unpleasant interloper might be removed. It was now Wednesday. Mark gives the full name of the festival which was approaching: the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover was celebrated on the 14th of Abib, or Nisan, the spring month, and it merged into the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The two festivals were really celebrated as one, and their names were used promiscuously. The members of the Sanhedrin felt that matters had now reached such a stage that quick action was demanded, Joh 11:48. They were anxious to take Him, and yet they felt that it must be done with craft. Die He must, of that they were certain, but wisdom told them not to have the arrest take place on the festival day. Should they attempt that, there was almost sure to be a popular disturbance and demonstration in His favor. That must be avoided at all costs; before or after the festival was the proper time. The poor blind Pharisees did not know that the entire matter was in God’s hands, and that the day and the hour of Christ’s death had been decided in God’s council.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 14:3

It was while our Lord was reclining at an evening meal, where Lazarus and many other guests were present, and where the less contemplative, but probably, not upon the whole less exemplary sister Martha was in attendance, that Mary came in, bringing an alabaster vial of the costly essence; and with words perhaps, or gestures, not left on record, but expressive of the adoration which prompted such an act of homage, lavished the precious liquid upon the head and feet of the Redeemer, in such wise that the whole house is filled with the odour of the perfume.

I. If when Iscariot interposed his odious, untimely, detestable and incongruous question, taking the name of the sacred poor in vain, "Why was this waste made? why was not all this bestowed upon the poor? "If some prophetic lip then present had been severe enough, it might have answered, "This waste was made because Christ chose to make Himself the friend, the advocate and the representative of the poor;" and the more a man truly worships Christ, the more certainly he must regard the poor—with the least, most suffering of whom the Saviour has identified Himself. This waste was made, like the waste of seed-corn in the parable, that it might die and spring up again an hundredfold. If Judas had been capable of appreciating that act of worship by Mary, he might have gone down to his grave in peace, and lived in sacred history, an honoured and a sainted man.

II. It well deserves remark that the two occasions upon which our Lord expressed Himself with the most lavish approbation, were both of them essentially acts of worship and nothing but worship, unmixed with any utilitarian element, with anything of a directly and materially useful tendency; both of them actions of self-sacrifice, one to the personal honour of our Lord, the other to the maintenance of temple ceremonies; one was the gift of the perfume, the other was the poor widow’s gift of the two mites which make a farthing; but both alike enjoyed the unstinted praise of the Redeemer. Strange to think that now, when for eighteen centuries the fragrance of that perfume has evaporated, and its component particles been dissipated and blown hither and thither in the atmosphere, and while those two mites have corroded utterly away and rejoined the primal elements of nature, the memory of these two women survives, and will survive for ever while the Gospel lives, as the representatives, one of profuse, the other of indigent liberality, but both by force of example the instigators of immeasurable, incalculable beneficence, simply from having done what they could.

W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 158.

References: Mar 14:3.—R. M. McCheyne, Memoir and Remains, p. 407. Mar 14:3-9.—W. Hubbard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 282; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 1; H. W. Beecher, Ibid., p. 340; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 300; T. de Witt Talmage, Old Wells Dug Out, p. 36.

Mar 14:4-6

Wherever anything of the love of God exists there must be a desire to sacrifice some considerable portion of our worldly goods to Him; and the most ordinary way of doing so is by giving to the poor, in whom Christ has promised that He Himself shall be found, and that He will consider such gifts as given to Himself.

I. But then the question arises, Will this be acceptable to Him? He loves a spiritual worship and the care of the poor, but does He love also external and outward signs of our love and reverence? To this, I think, we shall find a most satisfactory answer in that most interesting incident which is recorded of the good Mary pouring the precious ointment on our blessed Saviour’s feet, and His most gracious acceptance of it. Why was this good deed so exceedingly pleasing to Christ and honoured by Him? It was not that He who, in every sense, loved poverty cared for such things. What was the precious ointment to Him who is the Maker and Preserver of all things? It was because it was the manner in which love to Him was shown. She did what she could; she had been at what was to her great cost, because she loved much.

II. The Almighty has so appointed it that the true service of Him is the best cure for the diseases of our sick souls; to pray to Him, to praise Him, to worship, is the medicine of our hearts. Now the disease with which this country is sick to the very heart is the love of money. A nation hurrying to and fro with the love of mammon, so as to be the very spring of life to it, as the heart is to the body, this would lead one to fear that God is preparing for judgment. What, then, is the cure for all this? Why, surely, to make ourselves friends of the unrighteous mammon, that when God visits us we may be received into everlasting habitations. Unless persons are disposed to make far greater sacrifices to Almighty God, than Christians now usually are, their religion must be something very different from what Christianity used to be. Let every one do something; do not hide under a stone, and hoard up for the moth and rust; do not spend what you have on your own pride and comfort, but be content with that most blessed and good Mary to be accounted a fool in this world, that, at any cost, you may win Christ.

Plain Sermons by Contributors to "Tracts for the Times," vol. x., p. 98.

References: Mar 14:6.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1834; Ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. 27; p. 254.

Mar 14:8

On doing what we can.

I. Nobody is idle in the kingdom of our Lord. Even the babes and sucklings have something to do. But so just is the King that He will not have any of His servants do more than they can. He expects us to do only what we can.

It was this which pleased Him so well in the service which Mary of Bethany did; she did what she could. She greatly loved the Lord, He had often spoken to her about His Father; He had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. And she wanted to show her love. To look at, her act was not so much as if she had built a church, or a school, or a hospital. It was only pouring some sweet perfume on the head and feet of the Saviour she loved. But this was just the thing she could best do, and what she could she did.

II. When years had gone past and Jesus was gone back to heaven, many other disciples showed their love to Him by doing what they could. Some sold their possessions and gave the money they got for them to the poor. Some went about the world preaching Jesus. Some opened their houses to receive the preachers. Some spent hours in prayer, asking God to bless the preaching. Some, more noble than others, searched the Bible besides, to know what God would have them to do.

III. Sometimes we can only sing a psalm, or offer a prayer, or speak a kind word, or give a tender look, or a warm grasp of the hand. It is enough in the eyes of the just Saviour that we do things as little as these, if these should be the only things we can do.

IV. No one is so humble, or poor, or weak as not to be able to do something. Even a child may serve the Lord. It is wonderful how much can be done, and what things great in God’s sight, if people would only do the little things they can.

A. Macleod, The Gentle Heart, p. 47.

I. It is allowable for women openly to show their attachment to Christ and His cause. Many modes of influence and usefulness are open to them, just as, in the sacred history we find in many ways, both in the lifetime of our Lord and afterwards, the agency of woman was permitted or required. As in early times, she was to be honourably distinguished who was well reported of for good works, in that she had washed the saints’ feet, or been actively hospitable to missionaries and ministers—so in the present day there is still opportunity for the thoughtful kindness of woman’s calling, in relation to those, or to their families and their representatives, who, at home or abroad, are devoted to and are doing the work of God.

II. Women may sometimes show their regard for Christ in a way very startling to others—not approved by them—and that may be thought extravagant or wrong. Whenever there is very deep, strong, and impulsive religious feeling—the notion that the ideal of the Christian mind ought to be embodied in facts and actions—the chances are that something will be projected, attempted, or done, which the Church generally will not go along with. The penitent may be repelled by the self-righteous, the munificent libelled by the churl—nobody can please all; while high, unwonted forms of action will run the risk of displeasing most.

III. The act, that may be thus misunderstood, may be acceptable to, approved, and honoured by Christ. In the case before us Mary obtained a double reward: (1) She found that she had done a thing far greater than she intended, she had anointed His body for the burial; (2) Jesus said that her action should be talked of, written about, read everywhere the world over—always, while there is a Gospel to be preached or men to hear it.

IV. This misapprehension on the part of some, this approval of Christ and predicted reward of Mary’s service, all sprang from her having done what she could. She put her whole ability to tribute or rather to the test, and resolved to do all and everything it was capable of effecting. She devised liberal things, she purposed in her heart, planned with her head, put to her hand, pushed on, persevered, prayed and toiled day by day, exerting the utmost of her power, that she might accomplish all that was in her will, and she has done it. Gabriel could do no more, nor any of the highest creatures of God.

T. Binney, King’s Weigh-House Chapel Sermons, 2nd series, p. 188.

Notice:—

I. The costliness of this offering. A contemporary writer, complaining of the luxury and wastefulness of his age, specifies the extravagant prices paid for unguents in proof of his assertion; and then mentions four hundred pence as a proof of the recklessness of the rich. Here, then, was a woman—not rich certainly—possessing herself of the costliest offering she could procure. As nearly as one could reckon the sum she paid for it would be about thirty pounds—according to the present value of money among ourselves. And I think we shall all admit that although the sum is not what a rich person would call a large one, it is what we should call a very noble offering indeed, if offered by a person in humble life, especially if offered in this particular way. I mean offered without any particular, immediate, visible, commensurate object. She was not buying a burial-place for her Lord’s body, or providing for His embalming, or for His entombment; or doing any other similar necessary and abiding act. No; she merely wanted to show her love, her soul’s devotion, the largeness of her affectionate reverence towards that mysterious Being whose discourse was sweeter to her than honey or the honey-comb—whose strong voice had broken the gates of death; in whom she recognised the Author of all her purest joy. She pours the costly unguent on His sacred head, and spreads what she lets fall upon His feet with her hair. And she earns for herself thereby the praise of the eternal God and a place in the everlasting Gospel of Christ.

II. The commendation which our Savour bestowed upon the act of this pious woman is very striking; for who was ever modest, self-denying, humble-minded, regardless of luxury, pomp, and worldly honours, if not our Saviour, the meek, lowly-hearted One who proposes Himself in this very respect as a model to us all? And yet, it is He who commends so highly Mary’s costly offering now; for our sakes He did it, and it is to show us that He approves, and will to the end of time approve, all similar ventures of faith and love. These words of Christ are the commendation, the eternal praise, of lavish outlay and costly expenditure made for Christ’s sake and in Christ’s honour; It is the praise won by every one of whom that may be truly said which was once spoken of Mary: "She hath done what she could."

J. W. Burgon, Ninety-one Short Sermons, No. 36.

The Insight of Love.

Note:—

I. The inherent difficulty which besets all questions of casuistry that rise under the laws or precepts of natural morality. The rules or precepts of morality are easy for the most part; it is only their application to particular cases that are difficult. Thus, if the woman had been asking how she could use her box of ointment so as to do most good with it, she would either have fallen into utter doubt and perplexity, or else she would have taken up the same conclusion with Judas, and given it to the benefit of the poor. However perfect and simple the code of preceptive duty the applications of it will often be difficult and sometimes well-nigh impossible, without some better help than casuistry.

II. This better help is contributed by Christ and His Gospel. Begetting in the soul a new personal love to Himself, Christ establishes in it all law, and makes it gravitate, by its own sacred motion, towards all that is right and good in particular cases. This love will find all good by its own pure affinity apart from any mere debate of reasons, even as a magnet finds all specks of iron hidden in the common dust. Thus, if the race were standing fast in love, perfect love, that love would be the fulfilling of the law without the law, determining itself rightly by its own blessed motions, without any statutory control whatever. The wise male brethren who stood critics round this woman had all the casuistic, humanly assignable reasons plainly enough with them. And yet the wisdom is hers without any reasons. She reaches farther, touches the proprieties more fully, chimes with God’s future more exactly than they do, reasoning the question as they best can. It is as if she were somehow polarised in her love by a new Divine force, and she settles into coincidence with Christ and His future, just as the needle settles to its point without knowing why. To bathe His blessed head with the most precious ointment she can get, and bending low to put her fragrant homage on his feet, and bind them in the honours of her hair, is all that she thinks of; and be it wise or unwise it is done. By a certain delicate affinity of feeling, that was equal to insight, and almost to prophecy, she touches exactly her Lord’s strange unknown future, and anoints Him for the kingdom and the death she does not even think of or know. Plainly enough no debate of consequence could ever have prepared her for these deep and beautifully wise proprieties.

H. Bushnell, Christ and His Salvation, p. 39.

References: Mar 14:8.—J. Keble, Sermons on Various Occasions, p. 58; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 218; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, p. 252; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiv., p. 107; Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 37; Church of England Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 265. Mar 14:8, Mar 14:9.—Good Words, vol. ii., p. 416.

Mar 14:9 (R.V.)

Love to the Christ as a Person.

I. Looking at this incident closely, we find as its main characteristic that it was the expression of a feeling, and that it was intensely personal. This woman had come under a great sense of gratitude to Christ. He had become enshrined in her soul almost as God; nay, all her thoughts of Him were like her thoughts of God, except that their dread was softened by a human grace. It is not true, it is not an idea, that inspires her, but this Jesus Himself; and so upon Jesus Himself she lavishes her tribute of reverent love.

II. But this is a gospel to be preached in all the world; how shall it preach to us? We have no seen and present Lord to receive the raptures and gifts of our love. The outward parallel is not for us, but the inward parallel sets forth an unending relation and an unfaltering duty. Christ asked from men nothing of an external nature, but He steadily required their personal love and loyalty. He did not ask of any a place to lay His head, it mattered little if Simon asked Him to his feasts, but once there, it did matter whether Simon loved Him or not. Waiving all personal ministration, He yet claims personal love.

III. Let us see if Christ was mistaken in planting His system upon personal love and devotion to Himself. Or, more broadly, Why does this faith, that claims to be the world’s salvation, wear this guise of personal relations? Simply because in no other way can man be delivered from his evil. In the ideas that the loud-voiced wisdom of the age would have Us believe to be the salvation of the world, God is driven farther and farther into unknowable heavens, the Christ is made to figure only on a dim and blurred page of history. The Faith that is to redeem the world must have a surer method, it must have a vitalising motive, and such a motive can proceed only from a person using the strongest force in a person—love. The love we now render is the fidelity of our whole nature, the verdict of our intelligence, the assent of our conscience, the allegiance of our will, the loyalty of sympathetic conviction all-permeated with tender gratitude; but it is still personal, loving Him who loved us and gave Himself for us.

T. T. Munger, The Freedom of Faith, p. 109.

I. One lesson of this incident is, that we should not grudge any outlay where God and His glory are concerned; that we should be on our guard against a captious, withholding temper; against that temper which the disciples showed in their remark upon Mary’s offering: "Why was this waste of the ointment made?"

II, Note the sense which Christ Himself entertains of such acts of devotion: "She hath wrought a good work on Me," etc. This, remember, is not the judgment of man. It is Christ’s own view of an act which His disciples blamed as extravagant. He pronounces it a good act, and He declares the praise of it shall endure. And His words on this subject reach even to us. What He spoke of Mary’s homage, He speaks—doubt it not—of all like generous free-giving in all after times. To such conduct He awards an everlasting memorial, a remembrance of the doers when they are dead, living on, age after age, in the hearts and on the lips, of their fellow-men. A life that never goes beyond the level of common practice, that is never quickened by any effort of unusual charity, or unusual self-denial; a life that even in its religion is a selfish life, that seeks its own and not the things which are Jesus Christ’s, that knows nothing of His constraining love, that never contemplates the giving up of field, or house, or ease, or pleasure, or natural inclination, or party views, the better to advance His cause in the world; such a life is not, surely, the life that we can be content to lead. Certainly it is not the life exhibited for our pattern in the Gospel. It may be that the utmost we can accomplish will be small; it may be that our poor efforts to serve the Lord Christ will show as nothing, compared with what some of our kind have wrought; but this need not dishearten us. If we have done our best, "what we could," we shall have the seal of His approval; we shall have been faithful in our few things; and that fidelity—we have His word for it—will gain for us admission into the joy of our Lord.

R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons preached in Country Churches, p. 95.

References: Mar 14:12.—A. Rowland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 3. Mar 14:12-21.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 300. Mar 14:14.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 785; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 315. Mar 14:17-21.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 371; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 429. Mar 14:19.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 163.

Mar 14:21

I. When we consider by whom these words were spoken, and when we also think steadily of what is contained in them, they are, I think, altogether one of the most solemn passages to be found in the whole of the Scriptures. For they declare of an immortal being that it would have been good for him if he had never been born. Now consider what immortality is, and it will be plain that if it were good for a man that his never-ending being should never have been begun, it can only be because it will be to him a being of never-ending misery. For, let the misery last ever so long, yet if it has any end at all, the eternity of happy existence which follows that end must make it not bad, but infinitely good, for us to have been born. Thousands on thousands of years of suffering, if that suffering is to end at last, must be infinitely less to an immortal being, infinitely more vain, infinitely more like a dream at waking, than one single second of suffering compared to threescore years and ten of perfect happiness.

II. There is no occasion to dwell on the particular sin of him of whom the words in the text were spoken; for we know that except we repent we shall all likewise perish. The state on which this fearful doom was pronounced Was the state of one who, with many opportunities long offered to him, had neglected all; who had brought himself to that condition that he might despair, but could not repent. Now, if this condition were wholly ours, then it were vain to speak of it; if we had so long and so obstinately hardened our hearts that there was no place for repentance; then, indeed, we might sit down and cross our arms as helplessly as the boatman, when he feels himself within the sure indraught of the cataract and that no human aid can save him from being swept down the fearful gulf. But if the boat be not so surely within the grasp of the current; if yet, though it be fast hurrying downwards, it may by a vehement effort be rescued; if the shore of certain safety be not only near, but by possibility accessible; who cannot conceive the energy with which we should struggle under such circumstances?—who cannot feel of what intense efforts we would then be capable, when on the issue of a few moments of greater or less exertion, life or death were hanging?

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 149.

Reference: Mar 14:21.—G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons and Addresses in Marlborough College, p. 497.

Mar 14:22-25

Christ and the Communion.

I. This service carries us back over dim tracks of time to the beginning of the Gospel. We think of scattered bands of our ancient brethren, in the midst of surrounding heathenism, gathering as we do now around the Table of our Lord. They regard the crucified Jesus as the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. It is not altogether difficult to place ourselves in the position of those ancient saints, and to enter into their state of heart as they gathered round the Lord’s Table. There was an unconscious recognition—all the more profound and joyful that it was unconscious—of their being one through the love that embraced them all. It was not, however, that their minds were occupied about one another. It was the Lord Himself whom they thought upon; His holy form it was that rose up before the eye of faith; the festival was one of love, and memory, and hope, bringing up to faith the sacred Person of the Lord, and kindling all blissful emotions. In such experiences believing men may share today, to the same extent as believing men of the first century.

II. What is this communion to our Saviour? What was in His heart when He established this ordinance? The answer rises to our lips at once. (1) There was undying love to His own. That love is the abiding mystery of the Gospel. Never before did it get such utterance; never before did it appear so tender and intense, so full and overflowing. (2) There is another thing beyond even this. It tells out His desire for fellowship with His own—just as when He took Peter and James and John with Him into the garden, and said, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death; tarry ye here and watch with Me." There is unfathomable mystery here—that He, so to speak, should lean on us, but it is part of the blessed mystery of His brotherhood. Brotherhood is no mere name with Him; but a blissful verity. In all, save sin, His heart was like our own; and just as we have pleasure in the love that our friends bear toward us, and in knowing that we live in their memory, so does He delight in the love with which saved men love Him. It is part of the reward of His sorrows, part of the joy that was set before Him, for which He endured the Cross, despising the shame.

J. Culross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 245.

References: Mar 14:22, Mar 14:23.—Sermons on the Catechism, p. 252. Mar 14:22-24.—R. Heber, Parish Sermons, vol. i., p. 186; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 9th series, p. 180. Mar 14:22-25.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 359; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 306; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 439. Mar 14:23.—J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 312. Mar 14:23-34.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 224. Mar 14:25.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 250. Mar 14:26-30.—Expositor, 3rd series, vol. ii., p. 132. Mar 14:26-31.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 313. Mar 14:27.—Homilist, new series, vol. ii., p. 109. Mar 14:27-30.—W. H. Jellie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 296. Mar 14:29-31.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 393.

Mar 14:31

Religious Emotion.

To mistake mere transient emotion, or mere good thoughts, for obedience, is a far commoner deceit than at first sight appears. How many a man is there, who, when his conscience upbraids him for neglect of duty, comforts himself with the reflection that he has never treated the subject of religion with open scorn—that he has from time to time had serious thoughts—that he has had, accidentally, some serious conversation with a friend? No one, it is plain, can be religious without having his heart in his religion; his affections must be actively engaged in it; and it is the aim of all Christian instruction to promote this. But, if so, doubtless there is great danger lest a perverse use should be made of the affections. In proportion as a religious duty is difficult, so is it open to abuse. Doubtless it is no sin to feel at times passionately on the subject of religion; it is natural in some men, and under certain circumstances it is praiseworthy in others. But these are accidents. As a general rule, the more religious men become, the calmer they become; and at all times, the religious principle viewed by itself, is calm, sober, and deliberate.

I. The natural tempers of men vary very much. Some men have ardent imaginations, and strong feelings; and adopt, as a matter of course, a vehement mode of expressing themselves. Such men may, of course, possess deep-rooted principle. All I would maintain is, that their ardour does not of itself make their faith deeper and more genuine, and that they must not think themselves better than others on account of it.

II. Next, there are, besides, particular occasions On which excited feeling is natural, and even commendable; yet not for its own sake, but on account of the peculiar circumstances under which it occurs. For instance, it is natural for a man to feel especial remorse at the thought of his sins, when he first begins to think of religion; he ought to feel bitter sorrow and keen repentance. But all such emotion is evidently not the highest state of a Christian’s mind; it is but the first stirring of grace in him.

III. And further, the accidents of life will occasionally agitate us:—affliction and pain; bad news; though here, too, the Psalmist describes the higher excellence of the mind, namely, the calm confidence of the believer, who will "not be afraid of any evil thing, for his heart standeth fast, and believeth in the Lord." The highest Christian temper is free from all vehement and tumultuous feeling.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i., p. 177.

References: Mar 14:31.—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 235. Mar 14:32.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 80; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 242. Mar 14:32-42.—W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 447; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 318; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 70. Mar 14:36.—A. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, p. 216. Mar 14:37.—H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Waterside Mission Sermons, No. 17; A. Maclaren, Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament, p. 40. Mar 14:38.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 93. Mar 14:41, Mar 14:42.—F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 284. Mar 14:43, Mar 14:44.—J. H. Evans, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 409. Mar 14:43-52.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 323; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 458.

Mar 14:46

Incidents of our Lord’s Arrest.

Note:—

I. The Arrival upon the scene of Judas and his companions. His very name has often come to the memory like a shock. When the soldiers, under his direction, not knowing Jesus, asked him for some sign by which He might be distinguished, he said, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He; hold Him fast." Of all preconcerted signals possible, this was the one selected; as if to show what sin has in it, and what sin can do; as if to show its impudence, its brass, its black ingratitude, its hell-fire. In Judas the sin of humanity culminates; in him sin reaches its high fever of crime; and if it had not been for him we should not have known the depth of degradation to which through sin the soul can sink.

II. The Panic. The Lord, clothed though He was in the garment of mortality, was still the Lord. Arrest Him, Judas and your company; place Him at the bar; nail Him on a cross. Not without His will. His object is not to strike you back blasted; this is but a thrill from His life, a momentary play of His latent Omnipotence; though it shakes you down flat—it is a touch, merely—just as a commentary on, in confirmation of His own royal word: "No man taketh My life from Me;" and just to show that if arrested, it is not in consequence of your mastery, but by the permission of His own will.

III. The Capture. The kiss of Judas removed whatever awe might have stricken the soldiers, and whatever reluctance they might have felt to going on with their task. They instantly laid their hands on Him who had been thus indicated, and began to bind Him in their own merciless fashion.

IV. The Great Forsaking "Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled." He who forsakes Christ forsakes perfection. It was not out of calm, set, deliberate purpose that they forsook their Lord. They were in a brief madness, and knew not what they did. Their souls were suddenly stormed, and the strength by which they had hitherto been kept was for the moment, and for their eventual good, withdrawn. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."

C. Stanford, Evening of Our Lord’s Ministry, p. 191.

References: Mar 14:50-52.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 469. Mar 14:53-65.—H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 334. Mar 14:54-72.—W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 469.

Mar 14:63-64

The Godhead of Christ.

I. On a certain most important occasion, Christ Himself asserted His Godhead in a manner which could not possibly be misunderstood. He allowed Himself to be put to death on a charge of blasphemy. At a most solemn juncture, and under the most solemn circumstances, He accepted a title, the acceptance of which, as He well knew, would be considered and treated as blasphemous. The conclusion is inevitable. If Christ be God, the whole procedure is in accordance with the facts of the case, and with the position He assumed. If Christ be not God, I must leave you to form your own opinion of His character.

II. A denial of the Godhead of Christ involves consequences from which we should most of us shrink—consequences which affect the nature and the character of Deity itself. (1) On the supposition that Christ was a mere man, or a created being, who allied himself with human nature, the further supposition becomes inevitable, that in the bygone eternity God dwelt in a lonely and uncompanionable isolation. (2) The denial of the Godhead of Christ limits and impairs the Divine capability of manifesting love to man. If Jesus Christ were just a perfect man, and not the eternal Son of the Father, what did it cost God to part with Him? nothing, that I can see. The self-sacrifice consisted in the surrender of His Son. (3) If Christ be not God, I cannot avoid the inference that God has done everything in His power to transfer my affection from the Creator to the creature. I read in the Bible that God is a jealous God; and that the honour which is His own He will not permit to be given to another; and what has He done? In those Scriptures, which are the revelation of His mind and will, He has taken all the grand titles which belong to Himself, and has laid them upon Christ. Everything is done to make the tendrils of my human affection twine round Jesus Christ. The heart must be chilled towards God, which does not recognise in Jesus Christ the eternal Son of the eternal Father.

G. Calthrop, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 798.

References: Mar 14:64.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1643. Mar 14:67.—J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, p. 219. Mar 14:67-72.—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, pp. 469, 489; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 338. Mar 14:72.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 83; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 212. Mar 15:1.—W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 485; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 343. Mar 15:2-5. Ibid, p. 349. Mar 15:15.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. viii., p. 150. Mar 15:15-20.—Beecher, Sermons, 1870, p. 104. Mar 15:17.—Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iv., p. 200; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. i., p. 266. Mar 15:17, Mar 15:18.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 224. Mar 15:20.—Christian World Pulpit, vol. v., p. 232. Mar 15:20, Mar 15:21.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1683.

The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This chapter gives us a sad and sorrowful account of the high priest’s conspiracy against the life of our blessed Saviour in which we have observable, The persons that made this conspiracy, the manner of the conspiracy, and the time when this conspiracy was made.

1. The persons conspiring are the chief priests, scribes, and elders; that is, the whole Jewish sanhedrin, or general council; they lay their malicious heads together, to contrive the destruction of the innocent Jesus.

Thence learn, That general councils have erred and may err fundamentally in matters of doctrine; so did this general council at Jerusalem, consisting of chief priests, doctors, and elders, with the high priest their president, in not believing Jesus to be the Messias, after all the miracles wrought before their eyes.

Observe, 2. The manner of this conspiracy against our Saviour’s life; it was clandestine, secret, and subtile; they consult how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

Thence note, That Satan makes use of the subtilty of crafty men, and abuseth their parts as well as their power, for his own purposes and designs; the devil sends no fools of his errands.

Observe, 3. The circumstance of time when this conspiracy was managed, at the feast of the passover; it being a custom among the Jews to execute malefactors at their solemn feasts, as at the feast of the passover, the feast of weeks, and the feast of tabernacles; at which times all the Jews came up to Jerusalem to sacrifice, and then they put malefactors to death, that all Israel might see and hear, and not do so wickedly.

Accordingly, this feast of the passover was waited for by the Jews, as a fit opportunity to put our Saviour to death. The only objection was, That it might occasion a tumult amongst the people, there being such a mighty concourse at that time in Jerusalem. But Judas making them a proffer, they readily comply with the motion, and resolve to take the first opportunity to put our Saviour to death.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXVI. Jesus Predicts His Death].

CXVI. JESUS PREDICTS, THE RULERS PLOT FOR, AND JUDAS BARGAINS FOR HIS DEATH. (Mount of Olives, Bethany, and Jerusalem. Tuesday after sunset, which Jews regarded as the beginning of Wednesday.) aMATT. XXVI. 1-5, 14-16; bMARK XIV. 1, 2, 10, 11; cLUKE XXII. 1-6.

c1 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. b1 Now after two days was the feast of the passover and the unleavened bread: a1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these words, he said unto his disciples, 2 Ye know that after two days the passover cometh, and the Son of man is delivered up to be crucified. [We may regard Jesus as having entered the temple Tuesday morning, and as having taught there until the evening. * He then retired to the slopes of Olivet and delivered the discourse which occupies Sections CXIII.-CXV., The discourse finished, it is likely that he arose about or a little after sunset (which the Jews reckoned as Wednesday) and proceeded on his way to Bethany, where he remained until late Thursday afternoon. On his way to Bethany he spoke the words of this section. The two days mentioned are Wednesday and Thursday. The passover was eaten Thursday night after sunset, which the Jews reckoned as Friday. For a full discussion of the time when the Passover was eaten, see Andrews' "Life of Christ," pp. 423-460.] 3 Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the elders of the people, unto the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas; 4 and they took counsel together c2 And [641] sought bhow athat they might take Jesus by subtlety, and chow they might put him to death; akill him. [This council may have begun on the evening of Tuesday and continued until the beginning of Wednesday, Jewish time. It seems to have been a formal rather than an informal conference. The court where they met was the open space enclosed by the palace of the high priest. Caiaphas had been appointed high priest in A. D. 26 by the Procurator Valerius Gratus and was deposed A. D. 38. Ishmael, Eleazar, and Simon held the office between the deposition of Annas and the appointment of Caiaphas (Jos. Ant. xviii. 2. 2). See also p. 64.] 5 But { b2 for they said, Not during the feast, lest haply there shall be a tumult aarise among bof people. cfor they feared the people. [They knew that there were many at the feast from Galilee, and other sections of the country where Jesus ministered; and, judging by the demonstration made at the triumphal entry, they felt that there were plenty to take arms in Jesus' behalf. The sense of their council, therefore, seemed to be that if Jesus could be taken by subtlety--i. e., arrested privately--he might be taken during the feast. But if he had to be arrested publicly, then it was better to postpone his apprehension until after the feast. The treachery of Judas caused them to adopt the former course. At this place Matthew and Mark insert the account of the supper given to Jesus in the house of Simon the leper. They do this because the treacherous determination of Judas was formed at it and dates from it. The rebuke of the Lord then administered, or the desire to reimburse himself for the price of the ointment, which Mary expended, and which he felt that he ought to have had, or some other reasons, evidently induced him at that time to decide upon our Lord's betrayal. Since then he had been seeking opportunity to betray the Master.] 3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. { bhe that was one of the twelve, [See pp. 226, 391, 392.] a14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, bwent away unto the chief priests, that [642] he might deliver him unto them. cand communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might deliver him unto them. a15 and said, What are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him unto you? [It is probable that the proposal to sell his Master was made by Judas to individual members of the Sanhedrin, and that this proposal was one of the moving causes leading to the assembling of the council. The language implies that Judas appeared before the council and bargained openly with it.] b11 And they, when they heard it, were glad, and promised cand covenanted to give him money. aAnd they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver. [There had been coined shekels since the time of Simeon, or 143 B. C., before that the money was weighed. It is likely that the term "weighed" survived the practice and became a synonym or equivalent for "paid." The amount paid him was about fifteen dollars of our money. It was indeed a low price for so base a deed, but from the language used it may be fairly implied that it was but the earnest money of a larger sum. But Judas evidently hardened himself, and shut out all thought as to anything save the actual labor involved. Viewed thus, his task was neither difficult nor dangerous.] c6 And he consented, a16 And from that time he sought opportunity to deliver him bhow he might conveniently deliver him unto them. cin the absence of the multitude. [He soon found his opportunity. He bargained on Tuesday night and fulfilled his contract on Thursday night. Or, as the Jews reckoned time, he agreed in the beginning of Wednesday and fulfilled his covenant on the beginning of Friday.] [643]

* NOTE.--If this had been Tuesday, he would have said "after three days," as is the case of the resurrection. In all such expressions the remaining part of the present day was counted as one.--J. W. McG.

[FFG 641-643]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Mark Chapter 14

Chapter 14 resumes the thread of the history, but with the solemn circumstances that belong to the close of the Lord’s life.

The scribes and Pharisees were already consulting how they might take Him by craft and put Him to death. They feared the influence of the people, who admired the works and goodness and meekness of Jesus. Therefore they wished to avoid taking Him at the time of the feast, when the multitude flocked to Jerusalem: but God had other purposes. Jesus was to be our Paschal Lamb, blessed Lord! and He offers Himself as the victim of propitiation. Now the counsels of God and the love of Christ being such, Satan was not wanting in suitable agents to perform all that he could do against the Lord. Jesus offering Himself for it, the people would soon be induced to give up, even to the Gentiles, the One who had so much attracted them; and treachery would not be wanting to throw Him without difficulty into the hands of the priests. Still God’s own arrangements, which owned Him and displayed Him in His grace, should have the first place; and the supper at Bethany and the supper at Jerusalem should precede-the one, the proposal, and the other, the act of Judas. For, let the wickedness of man be what it may, God always takes the place He chooses, and never allows the enemy power to hide His ways from faith, nor leaves His people without the testimony of His love.

This portion of the history is very remarkable. God brings forward the thoughts and fears of the leaders of the people, in order that we may know them; but everything is absolutely in His own hands; and the malice of man, treachery, and the power of Satan when working in the most energetic manner (never had they been so active), only accomplish the purposes of God for the glory of Christ. Before the treachery of Judas He has the testimony of Mary’s affection. God puts the seal of this affection upon Him who was to be betrayed. And, on the other hand, before being forsaken and delivered up, He can testify all His affection for His own, in the institution of the Lord’s supper, and at His own last supper with them. What a beautiful testimony to the interest with which Godcares for and comforts His children in the darkest moment of their distress!

Remark also, in what manner love to Christ finds, amid the darkness that gathers round His path, the light that directs its conduct, and directs it precisely to that which was suitable to the moment. Mary had no prophetic knowledge; but the imminent danger in which the Lord Christ was placed by the hatred of the Jews, stimulates her affection to perform an act which was to be made known wherever the death of Christ and His love for us should be proclaimed in the whole world. This is true intelligence-true guidance in things moral. Her act becomes an occasion of darkness to Judas; it is clothed with the light of divine intelligence by the Lord’s own testimony. This love for Christ discerns that which is suitable-apprehends the good and the evil in a just and seasonable manner. It is a good thing to care for the poor. But at that moment the whole mind of God was centred on the sacrifice of Christ. They had always opportunity to relieve the poor, and it was right to do so. To put them in comparison with Jesus, at the moment of His sacrifice, was to put them out of their place, and to forget all that was precious to God. Judas, who cared only for money, seized the position according to his own interest. He saw, not the preciousness of Christ, but the desires of the scribes. His sagacity was of the enemy, as that of Mary was of God. Things advance: Judas arranges with them his plan to deliver up Jesus for money. The thing in fact is settled according to his thoughts and theirs. Nevertheless it is very remarkable to see here the way in which-if I may so speak-God Himself governs the position. Although it is the moment when the malice of man is at its height, and when the power of Satan is exerted to the utmost, yet all is accomplished exactly at the moment, in the manner, by the instruments, chosen of God. Nothing, not the least thing, escapes Him. Nothing is accomplished but that which He wills, and as He wills, and when He wills. What consolation for us! and, in the circumstances which we are considering, what a striking testimony! The Holy Ghost has therefore reported the desire (easy to be understood) of the chief priests and scribes to avoid the occasion of the feast. Useless desire! This sacrifice was to be accomplished at that time; and it is accomplished.

But the time drew near for the last feast of the Passover that took place during the life of Jesus-the one in which He was Himself to be the Lamb, and leave no memorial to faith except that of Himself and of His work. He therefore sends His disciples to prepare all that was needed to keep the feast. In the evening He sits with His disciples, to converse with them, and to testify His love for them as their companion, for the last time. But it is to tell them (for He must suffer everything) that one of them should betray Him. The heart at least of each one of the eleven answered, full of grief at the thought. [16]

So should one have done who was eating from the same dish with Him; but woe to that man! Yet neither the thought of such iniquity, nor the sorrow of His own heart, could stop the outflowing of the love of Christ. He gives them pledges of this love in the Lord’s supper. It was Himself, His sacrifice, and not a temporal deliverance, that they were henceforth to remember. All was now absorbed in Him, and in Him dying on the cross. Afterwards, in giving them the cup, He lays the foundation of the new covenant in His blood (in a figure), giving it to them as participation in His death-true draught of life. When they had all drunk of it, He announces to them that it is the seal of the new covenant-a thing well known to the Jews, according to Jeremiah; adding that it was shed for many. Death was to come in for the establishment of the new covenant, and for the ransom of many. For this, death was necessary, and the bonds of earthly association between Jesus and His disciples were dissolved. He would drink no more of the fruit of the vine (the token of that connection) until, in another way, He should renew this association with them in the kingdom of God. When the kingdom should be established, He would again be with them, and would renew these bonds of association (in another form, and in a more excellent way, no doubt, yet really). But now all was changing. They sing, and go out, repairing to the accustomed place in the Mount of Olives.

The connection of Jesus with His disciples here below should indeed be broken, but it would not be by His forsaking them. He strengthened, or, at least, He manifested, the sentiments of His heart, and the strength (on His part) of these bonds, in His last supper with them. But they would be offended at His position, and would forsake Him. Nevertheless the hand of God was in all this. He would smite the Shepherd. But when once raised from the dead, Jesus would resume His relationship with His disciples-with the poor of the flock. He would go before them to the place where this relationship commenced, to Galilee, afar from the pride of the nation, and where the light had appeared among them according to the word of God.

Death was before Him. He must pass through it, in order that any relationship whatsoever between God and man might be established. The Shepherd should be smitten by the Lord of hosts. Death was the judgment of God: could man sustain it? There was but One who could. Peter, loving Christ too well to forsake Him in heart, enters so far into the path of death as to draw back again, thus giving a testimony all the more striking to his own inability to traverse the abyss that opened before his eyes in the Person of his disowned Master. After all, to Peter it was but the outside of what death is. The weakness that his fears occasioned made him unable to look into the abyss which sin has opened before our feet. At the moment when Jesus announces it Peter undertakes to face all that was coming. Sincere in his affection, he knew not what man was, laid bare before God, and in the presence of the power of the enemy who has death for his weapon. He had trembled already; but the sight of Jesus, which inspires affection, does not say that the flesh which prevents our glorifying Him is, in a practical sense, dead. Moreover he knew nothing of this truth. It is the death of Christ which has brought our condition out into full light, while ministering its only remedy-death, and life in resurrection. Like the ark in Jordan, He went down into it alone, that His redeemed people might pass through dryshod. They had not passed this way before.

Jesus approaches the end of His trial-a trial which only brought out His perfection and His glory, and at the same time glorified God His Father, but a trial which spared Him nothing that would have had power to stop Him, if anything could have done so, and which went on even unto death, and unto the burden of wrath of God in that death, a burden beyond all our thoughts.

He approaches the conflict and the suffering, not with the lightness of Peter who plunged into it because he was ignorant of its nature, but with full knowledge; placing Himself in the presence of His Father, where all is weighed, and where the will of Him who laid this task upon Him is clearly stated in His communion with Him; so that Jesus accomplishes it, even as God Himself looked upon it, according to the extent and the intention of His thoughts and of His nature, and in perfect obedience to His will.

Jesus goes forward alone to pray. And, morally, He passes through the whole compass of His sufferings, realising all their bitterness, in communion with His Father. Having them before His own eyes, He brings them before His Father’s heart, in order that, if it were possible, this cup might pass from Him. If not, it should at least be from His Father’s hand that He received it. This was the piety on account of which He was heard and His prayers ascended up on high. He is there as a man-glad to have His disciples watch with Him, glad to isolate Himself and pour out His heart into the bosom of His Father, in the dependent condition of a man who prays. What a spectacle!

Peter, who would die for his Master, is not able even to watch with Him. The Lord meekly sets his inconsistency before him, acknowledging that his spirit indeed was full of goodwill, but that the flesh was worthless in conflict with the enemy and in spiritual trial.

The narrative of Mark, which passes so rapidly from one circumstance (that displays the whole moral condition of the men with whom Jesus was associated) to another, in such a manner as to place all these events in connection with each other, is as touching as the development of the details found in the other Gospels. A moral character is imprinted on every step we take in the history, giving it as a whole an interest that nothing could surpass (excepting that which is above all things, above all thoughts) save that only One, the Person of Him who is here before us. He at least watched with His Father; for after all, dependent as He was by grace, what could man do for Him? Completely man as He was, He had to lean on One alone, and thus was the perfect man. Going away again to pray, He returns to find them again sleeping, and again presents the case to His Father, and then awakens His disciples, for the hour was come in which they could do no more for Him. Judas comes with his kiss. Jesus submits. Peter, who slept during the earnest prayer of his Master, awakes to strike when his Master yields Himself as a lamb to the slaughter. He smites one of the assistants, and cuts off his ear. Jesus reasons with those who were come to take Him, reminding them that, when He was constantly exposed, humanly speaking, to their power, they had laid no hands upon Him; but there was a very different reason for its now taking place-the counsels of God and the word of God must be fulfilled. It was the faithful accomplishment of the service committed to Him. All forsake Him and flee; for who beside Himself could follow this path to the end?

One young man indeed sought to go farther; but as soon as the officers of justice laid hold of him, seizing his linen garment, he fled and left it in their hands. Apart from the power of the Holy Ghost, the farther one ventures into the path in which the power of the world and of death is found, the greater the shame with which one escapes, if God permits escape. He fled from them naked.

The witnesses fail, not in malice, but in certainty of testimony, even as force could do nothing against Him until the moment God had appointed. The confession of Christ, His faithfulness in declaring the truth in the congregation, is the means of His condemnation. Man can do nothing, although he did everything as regards his will and his guilt. The testimony of His enemies, the affection of His disciples-everything fails: this is man. It is Jesus who bears witness to the truth; it is Jesus who watches with the Father-Jesus who yields Himself to those who were never able to take Him until the hour came that God had appointed. Poor Peter! He went farther than the young man in the garden; and we find him here, the flesh in the place of testimony, in the place where this testimony is to be rendered before the power of its opposer and of his instruments. Alas! he will not escape. The word of Christ shall be true, if that of Peter be false-His heart faithful and full of love, if that of Peter (alas! like all ours) is unfaithful and cowardly. He confesses the truth, and Peter denies it. Nevertheless the grace of our blessed Lord does not fail him; and, touched by it, he hides his face and weeps.

The word of the prophet has now again to be fulfilled. He shall be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles. There He is accused of being a king, the confession of which must assuredly cause His death. But it was the truth.

The confession that Jesus had made before the priests relates, as we have seen in other cases in this Gospel, to His connection with Israel. His service was to preach in the congregation of Israel. He had indeed presented Himself as King, as Emmanuel. He now confesses that He is to Israel the hope of the people, and which hereafter He will be. “Art thou,” had the high priest said, “the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” That was the title, the glorious position, of Him who was the hope of Israel, according to Psa 2:1-12. But He adds that which He shall be (that is to say, the character He would assume, being rejected by this people, that in which He would present Himself to the rebellious people); it should be that of Psa 8:1-9, Psa 110:1-7, and also Dan 7:1-28, with its results-that is to say, the Son of man at the right hand of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Psa 8:1-9 only presents Him in a general manner; it is Psa 110:1-7 and Dan 7:1-28 which speak of the Messiah in that particular manner, according to which Christ here announces Himself. The blasphemy which the high priest attributed to Him was only the rejection of His Person. For that which He said was written in the word.

Footnotes on Mark Chapter 14

16: There is something very beautiful and touching in this inquiry Their hearts were solemnized, and Jesus’ words have all the weight of a divine testimony in their hearts. They had not a thought of betraying Him, save Judas; but His word was surely true, their souls owned it, and there was distrust of themselves in presence of Christ’s words. No boasting certainty that they would not, but a bowing of heart before the solemn and terrible words of Jesus. Judas avoided the question, but afterwards, not to seem to be but as the rest, asks it, only to be personally marked out by the Lord, a sure relief to the rest (Mat 26:25).

John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1–9. After two days was the feast of the passover. See notes on Matt. 26:1–16. Compare John 12:1–8. The action of the Sanhedrim was taken on Wednesday, the Anointing took place the Saturday before, and is brought up here on account of its connection with the bargain Judas made with the chief priests.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Just two days before the Passover, the chief priests and scribes are secretly plotting to kill Jesus.

stealthily

without people noticing

For they were saying

The word "they" refers to the chief priests and the scribes.

Not during the feast

This refers to them not arresting Jesus during the feast. AT: "We must not do it during the feast" (See: Ellipsis)

translationWords

Passover

festival

unleavened bread

chief priests

scribe

Jesus

feast

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

1, 2. THE MALICE OF THE SANHEDRIN

Mat 26:1-5. Luk 22:1-2

1. Ἦν δὲ τὸ πάσχα. Mt. puts this remark into the mouth of Christ, and he omits τὰ ἄζυμα, which is either confusing or superfluous. The Passover on Nisan 14 was distinct from the [3319] of Unleavened Bread, which lasted from the 15th to the 21st (Lev 23:5-6; Num 28:16-17; 2Ch 30:15; 2Ch 30:21; etc.). But it was usual to treat them as one festival. Josephus does so expressly (Ant. II. xv. 1, XIV. ii. 1), though he knows that they are distinct (Ant. III. X. 5, IX. xiii. 3). Note the unusual δέ, marking the change of subject, and see on Mar 7:24, Mar 10:32, Mar 15:16.

[3319] Codex Boreelianus. Once in the possession of John Boreel. 9th cent. At Utrecht. Contains Mk 1–41; Mar 2:8-23; Mar 3:5 to Mar 11:6; Mar 11:27 to Mar 14:54; Mar 15:6-39; Mar 16:19-20.

μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας. This is perplexing, and we do not get much help from Hos 6:2; “He will revive us after two days or on the third day,” where “on the third day” is not the same as “after two days,” but adds a day; “after two or three days” is the meaning—a common expression for a period which cannot or need not be exactly defined. If “after three days” (Mar 8:31, Mar 9:31, Mar 10:34) means “on the third day,” then “after two days” should mean “on the second day,” for which αὔριον would have been simpler. But Mk nowhere uses αὔριον. We are probably to understand that what follows took place on the Wednesday, the day before the Synoptic Paschal Supper and two days before the Johannine Passover.

ἐζήτουν. The discussion took some time. Mt., as often, has the aor., συνεβουλεύσαντο, and instead of the Scribes (Mk, Lk.) he has here and in Gethsemane “the elders of the people.” Cf. Mat 21:23 = Mar 11:27.

ἐν δόλῳ. They were agreed about that; the question was what kind of δόλος.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The feast of the passover and the unleavened bread [το πασχα και τα αζυμα] . Lit., the passover and the unleavened. It was really one and the same festival.

Sought [εζητουν] . Imperfect tense : were all this while seeking.

3 - 9. Compare Mt 26:6 - 13.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.