Chapter Fourteen
Mk. 14:1. 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 kill Him;
Mk. 14:2. But they said: only not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.
Mk. 14:3. And while He was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, and was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and having broken the jar, she poured it over His head.
Mk. 14:4. But some were indignant and said among themselves: why was this waste of the ointment made?
Mk. 14:5. For it could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
The council against Christ was assembled on Wednesday. And this is the reason why we fast on Wednesdays. The enemies wanted to wait until after the feast time, but this was not permitted to them. The Lord, appointing the sufferings for Himself, willed to deliver Himself to the Crucifixion on Pascha itself, for He Himself was the True Pascha. Here one must marvel at His power. For when the enemies wanted to seize Him, they could not, but when they did not want to, on account of the feast, then He Himself willingly delivered Himself to them.
"And when He was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, and was reclining at table, a woman came." The ointment is mentioned by all four Evangelists. And some think that in all of them the same woman is meant. But this is incorrect: these are two different women, one of whom is mentioned by John (Jn. 12:3), she being the sister of Lazarus, and the other by the three remaining Evangelists. But if you look more carefully, you will find that there were three: one is mentioned by John, another by Luke (Lk. 7:37–38), and a third by the other two Evangelists. For the one mentioned by Luke was a harlot and anointed the Lord in the midst of His preaching, while the one mentioned by Matthew did the same near the time of the Passion, and moreover she was not a known harlot. The Lord accepts her devotion, as one who spent so much on the ointment.
"And some were indignant," the evangelist remarks. But John says that Judas was indignant (Jn. 12:3–5). One may suppose that the other apostles also rebuked the woman, since they constantly heard from Christ teaching about almsgiving. But Judas was indignant at the woman not with the same thought as the others, but out of love of money, for the sake of base gain. For this reason John mentions him alone, as one who reviled the woman with a wicked intention. "And they murmured against her," that is, they were indignant, reproached, and reviled her.
Mk. 14:6. But Jesus said: leave her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a good deed for Me.
Mk. 14:7. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish, you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me.
Mk. 14:8. She did what she could: she anticipated anointing My body for burial.
Mk. 14:9. Truly I say to you: wherever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, what she has done shall also be spoken of, as a memorial of her.
The Lord reproaches the apostles for not restraining the woman's zeal at the proper time. "Why," He says, "do you trouble her," pushing her away with your reproaches after she has already brought the gift? At the same time He also exposes Judas, saying that she did this in preparation for His burial, and reveals his shamelessness, as if saying to him: you, betraying Me to death, do not reproach yourself, yet does she really deserve reproach from you for bringing myrrh to prepare Me for burial, and moreover by a kind of special divine inspiration? Here the Lord utters two prophecies: first, that the Gospel will be preached in the whole world; second, that the woman's deed will also be proclaimed. Let those be ashamed, then, who prefer the poor to Christ! For I have heard goldsmiths who say that if one breaks a church vessel into pieces and gives them to the poor, there will be no sin. Let them hear, then, how Christ values service to Him above service to the poor. And on the golden diskos is the true Body of Christ, and in the chalice is the Blood of Christ. Therefore, whoever carries off a precious diskos from the church and causes the Body of Christ to be placed on a poor diskos, citing the poor as his excuse, let him know whose companion he becomes.
Mk. 14:10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them.
Mk. 14:11. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him silver coins. And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.
When the woman showed fitting honor to Christ, then a disciple wages war against Him, and moreover one of the twelve. For it is not without reason that it says "one of the twelve," but to show that he too was among the most chosen disciples. What does the expression "to betray Him" mean? It means: to inform them when Christ would be alone. They were afraid to seize Him while He was teaching, lest they bring trouble upon themselves from the people; therefore Judas promised to betray Him to them when He would withdraw from everyone.
Mk. 14:12. On the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover lamb, His disciples said to Him: Where do You want to eat the passover? We will go and prepare.
Mk. 14:13. And He sends two of His disciples and says to them: Go into the city, and a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you; follow him.
Mk. 14:14. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with My disciples?
Mk. 14:15. And he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready: there prepare for us.
The evangelist calls the first day of unleavened bread the Thursday which immediately preceded the feast of unleavened bread, for the Jews began to eat unleavened bread on Friday. The disciples approach and ask where they should eat the Passover. From this it is evident that neither Christ had His own dwelling, nor did the disciples have their own homes; for if they had, they would have received Him into them. He sends two of His disciples, Peter and John — as Luke says — to an unknown man, showing them through this that He could have avoided suffering, had He so willed. For He who disposed an unknown man to receive Him, what could He not have produced in others? Meanwhile He gives the disciples a sign by which to find the house they sought, namely: He commands them to follow a man carrying a pitcher of water. But this can also be explained in a figurative sense. The one who carries a "pitcher of water" is one who has been baptized. He goes "into a house" befitting his rational (spiritual) state. For the one who bears baptism enters into rest, according to the word of life, and reposes in this state as in a house. The "master of the house" is the mind, which shows a "large upper room" — the loftiness of its thoughts. But this upper room is "furnished," that is, although it is lofty, it contains nothing harsh or proud; on the contrary, it is furnished and smoothed with humility. It is here, in such a mind, I say, that the Passover is prepared for Christ by the two disciples, Peter and John, that is, by action and contemplation, for Peter was fervent and active, while John, as the Theologian, was contemplative.
Mk. 14:16. And His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found as He had said unto them; and they prepared the Passover.
Mk. 14:17. When evening came, He comes with the twelve.
Mk. 14:18. And as they reclined at table and ate, Jesus said: "Truly I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me."