John 12:1-8 - Jesus Is Anointed At Bethany

¹ So, six days before the Passover Festival [began], Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. He was the man Jesus [had] raised from the dead. ² There Mary and Martha prepared a meal for Jesus. Martha served it while Lazarus was among those who reclined at the table with Him. [Note: See Matt. 23:6]. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of expensive, aromatic perfume; [it was] genuine nard [Note: This was a sweet-smelling herb] and poured [some of] it on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. The [whole] house was filled with the fragrant scent of the perfume.

⁴ But one of Jesus' disciples named Judas Iscariot, who later turned Him over [i.e., to the Jewish authorities], said, ⁵ "Why was this perfume not sold for a large sum of money [Note: The amount here was equivalent to three hundred days of a farm laborer's pay, or over $20,000 in 1994] and [then] the money given to poor people?" ⁶ Now he did not say this because he cared about poor people, but because he was in charge of the money bag, and being a thief, he used to steal from it.

⁷ So, Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Let her keep [the rest of] it for [use on] the day of my burial. ⁸ For you will always have poor people among you, but you will not always have me."