John 12:3

Mary anointed Jesus with a litre of ointment. The Greek litre equaled about 11 ounces and was a lavish amount to pour out on someone. Its quantity indicates Mary’s great love and high regard for Jesus. The ointment was nard or spikenard, an Indian oil that came from the roots (i.e., spikes, therefore "spikenard") of the nard plant. [Note: Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s.v. "Spikenard," by W. E. Shewell-Cooper, 5:502.] It was pure ointment and therefore of a high quality as well as imported and consequently very expensive (cf. John 12:5). Matthew and Mark noted that the liquid was in an alabaster flask the neck of which Mary broke to pour it out on Jesus (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3).

John wrote that Mary proceeded to anoint Jesus’ feet with the ointment. The Synoptic accounts say that she anointed His head (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3). Probably she did both. There was enough ointment to anoint not only Jesus’ head and feet but also other parts of His body as well (cf. Matthew 26:12; Mark 14:8). Perhaps Matthew and Mark mentioned Jesus’ head to present this act as one that honored Jesus. John could have mentioned Jesus’ feet to stress Mary’s humility in contrast to the Sanhedrin’s pride and the disciples’ pride (cf. John 13:1-17). [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., pp. 427, 428.]

Only John noted that Mary wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair, another act of humility. Normally Jewish women never unbound their hair in public since loose hair was a sign of loose morals. Evidently Mary’s love for Jesus overrode her sense of propriety. She probably wiped the ointment in and the excess off with her hair. It would have been easy for Mary to anoint Jesus’ feet. The guests undoubtedly reclined on mats on the floor with their heads and hands close to the table and their feet extending out in the opposite direction.

The fact that the fragrance of the perfume filled the house shows again how lavish Mary’s display of love was. In that culture when the male head of a household died and left only female survivors, the women usually had great difficulty making ends meet and often became destitute. If this was the situation that Lazarus’ death created for Mary and Martha, we can appreciate how grateful they must have been to Jesus for restoring their brother to them. Even if they were rich, and the cost of Mary’s ointment suggests that they may have been, the restoration of a loved brother was reason enough for great gratitude and festivity.