While Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on his head while he sat at the table. read more. But when the disciples saw this, they became irritated and said, "Why this waste? Surely this perfume could've been sold for a high price and the money given to the destitute." But knowing this, Jesus asked them, "Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. You'll always have the destitute with you, but you'll not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she was preparing me for burial. I tell all of you with certainty, wherever this gospel is proclaimed throughout the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

While Jesus was in Bethany sitting at the table in the home of Simon the leper, a woman arrived with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Irritated, some who were there asked one another, "Why was the perfume wasted like this? read more. This perfume could have been sold for more than 300 denarii and the money given to the destitute." So they got extremely angry with her. But Jesus said, "Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me, because you'll always have the destitute with you and can help them whenever you want, but you won't always have me. She has done what she could. She poured perfume on my body in preparation for my burial. I tell all of you with certainty, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee's home and took his place at the table. There was a woman who was a notorious sinner in that city. When she learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's home, she took an alabaster jar of perfume read more. and knelt at his feet behind him. She was crying and began to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet over and over again, anointing them constantly with the perfume. Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and told himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She's a sinner!" Jesus told him, "Simon, I have something to ask you." "Teacher," he replied, "ask it." "Two men were in debt to a moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii, and the other 50. When they couldn't pay it back, he generously canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one who had the larger debt canceled." Jesus told him, "You have answered correctly." Then, turning to the woman, he told Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You didn't give me any water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn't give me a kiss, but this woman, from the moment I came in, has not stopped kissing my feet. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with perfume. So I'm telling you that her sins, as many as they are, have been forgiven, and that's why she has shown such great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little." Then Jesus told her, "Your sins are forgiven!" Those who were at the table with them began to say among themselves, "Who is this man who even forgives sins?" But Jesus told the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

Now as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and kept listening to what he was saying. read more. But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, "Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don't you? Then tell her to help me." The Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. But there's only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her."

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the woman who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was ill. read more. So the sisters sent word to Jesus and told him, "Lord, the one whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness isn't meant to end in death. It's for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days. After this, he told the disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death, and you are going back there again?" Jesus replied, "There are twelve hours in the day, aren't there? If anyone walks during the day he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks at night he stumbles, because the light is not in him." These were the things he said. Then after this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm leaving to wake him up." So the disciples told him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well." Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about resting or sleeping. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died. For your sake I'm glad that I wasn't there, so that you may believe. But let's go to him." Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, told his fellow disciples, "Let's go, too, so that we may die with him!" When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha told Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, he will give it to you." Jesus told her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha told him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?" "Yes, Lord," she told him. "I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world." When she had said this, she went away and called her sister Mary and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you!" As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet arrived at the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with her, consoling her in the house, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she had gone to the tomb to cry there. As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet and told him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died." When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was greatly troubled in spirit and deeply moved. He asked, "Where have you put him?" They told him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus burst into tears. So the Jews said, "See how much he loved him!" But some of them said, "Surely the one who opened the eyes of the blind man could have kept this man from dying, couldn't he?" Groaning deeply again, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, told him, "Lord, there must be a stench by now, because he's been dead for four days." Jesus told her, "I told you that if you believed you would see God's glory, didn't I?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." After saying this, he shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The man who had died came out, his hands and feet tied with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus told them, "Untie him, and let him go."

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived, the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. read more. Mary took a litron of very expensive perfume made of pure nard and anointed Jesus' feet. She wiped his feet with her hair, and the house became filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was going to betray him, asked, "Why wasn't this perfume sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the destitute?" He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it. Then Jesus said, "Leave her alone so she can observe the day of my burial, because you will always have the destitute with you, but you won't always have me."