MARK 14:3-11, 32-36 COMMENTARIES
MARK 14:1-11. THE CONTEXT
Verses 1-2 cast a sinister pall. They tell us that it was "two days before the Passover and the unleavened bread" (v. 1), and go on to say that chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to kill Jesus-but "not during the feast, because there might be a riot of the people" (v. 2).
Verses 3-9 tell the story of the anointing at Bethany, where Jesus says, "She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying" (v. 8).
Verses 10-11 tell us that Judas Iscariot offered to betray Jesus, and the chief priests promised him money for doing so.
A. Preparations for death.
1. (Mk. 14:1-2) The rulers resolve to kill Jesus.
1 Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; 2 for they were saying, "Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people."
a. After two days it was the Passover: The time is significant, because at Passover not only was there a great expectation of the Messiah, but Jerusalem was also crowded with these Messiah-expecting multitudes. Since Passover remembered the time when God raised up a great deliverer and freed Israel from foreign oppression, it was a time of great patriotic and messianic anticipation. The Romans were on guard and ready for anything.
i. Every possible preparation was made for the Passover. For a month ahead of time, the meaning of Passover was explained in each synagogue and Jewish school, so that no one would be unprepared. As pilgrims streamed into Jerusalem, they noticed that every tomb near a road was painted with fresh whitewash, so they would know where the tombs were and would not accidentally defile themselves by brushing against a tomb.
ii. Every male Jew who lived within 15 miles of Jerusalem had to come to Jerusalem for Passover, but many more came from great distances - including Galilee. Many people who heard and saw Jesus in the region of Galilee were here, with great respect and great expectation regarding Jesus.
iii. The feasts of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were held right next to each other. "In popular usage the two festivals were merged and treated for practical purposes as the seven-day 'feast of the Passover.'" (Lane)
b. How they might take Him by trickery: As the chief priests and the scribes plot the murder of an innocent man, it shows that they do not fear God. Nevertheless, they do fear the people (lest there be an uproar of the people). These religious leaders are not afraid to murder the Son of God; they just believe they must do it in a politically wise way.
c. Not during the feast: The religious leaders did not want to kill Jesus during the Passover feast, but they ending up doing it then anyway. This clearly shows that Jesus is in command and though the leaders act according to the evil inclination of their hearts, their actions will fulfill prophecy and the plan of Jesus.
i. From John 11:57 it seems that the religious leaders originally intended to seize Jesus during the feast. When they saw the popularity of Jesus at the triumphal entry and His authority on the temple mount, they changed their mind and decided to try after the feast. Their plan changed again when Judas volunteered to arrange a private, quiet arrest.
2. (Mk. 14:3) Jesus is anointed with perfume.
3 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head.
a. A woman came: John's account of this incident (John 12:1-8) tells us that this was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
i. This isn't the same as when sinful woman brought the alabaster box with ointment, broke it an anointed Jesus' feet. That occasion was precious, but it was different in that the woman was overwhelmed with her own sense of sinfulness and adoration to her pardoning Lord. Mary seems focused on Jesus alone, not even on her own forgiven sin. It is a great thing to love Jesus for all He has done for us; it can be greater still to love Him simply for who He is in all His wonder and majesty.
b. Having an alabaster flask of very costly oil: This was an extravagant display of devotion to Jesus. Often spices and ointments were used as investments because they were small, portable, and could be easily sold.
i. "Early in the first century Pliny the Elder remarked that 'the best ointment is preserved in alabaster.' The value of the perfume, and its identification as nard, suggests that it was a family heirloom that was passed on from one generation to another, from mother to daughter." (Lane)
c. She broke the flask and poured it on His head: The flask was a small bottle with a thin neck and the bottle was opened by breaking the neck of the bottle. Mark's wording indicates that she poured the entire contents of the bottle on Jesus' head.
i. When a guest arrived for a meal, it was customary to anoint the guest's head with a dab of oil. Here, this woman goes much farther than the customary greeting. She poured the entire contents of an alabaster flask of very costly oil on the head of Jesus.
ii. This was a wonderful, perceptive act of Mary. Jesus just rode into Jerusalem as a King - shouldn't kings be anointed? Mary understood this, but the disciples didn't.
iii. She never could have done this through someone else. "Sister Martha, I want to give this perfume to Jesus, but I'm a little busy. Can you break this flask and anoint His head with oil?" The cost of the gift would then be the same in a financial sense, but never the same in the sense of true love and devotion. She had to do it herself. Our love and devotion to Jesus must be expressed personally.
iv. Mary did this without a word. We gather that her sister Martha was quite the talker, but Mary was a doer. She didn't announce what she was going to do, and she didn't describe it as she did it, nor did she explain it after she did it. She simply did it.
v. "If we could all do more and talk less it might be a blessing to ourselves at least, perhaps to others. Let us labor in our service for the Lord to be more and more hidden; as much as the proud desire to catch the eye of man, let us endeavor to avoid it."
d. When Mary was finished, she didn't look to the disciples and ask their opinion of what she did.
i. "You should rise above such idle dependence upon man's opinion; what matters it to you what your fellow-servant thinks? To your own Master you stand or fall. If you have done a good thing do it again. You know the story of the man who comes riding up to the captain, and says, 'Sir, we have taken a gun from the enemy.' 'Go and take another,' said the matter-of-fact officer. That is the best advice which I can render to a friend who is elated with his own success. So much remains to be accomplished that we have no time to consider what has been done." (Spurgeon)
3. (Mk. 14:4-9) The reaction to the annointing.
4 But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her. 6 But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. 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. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. 9 Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."
a. Some who were indignant: John 12:1-8 tells us that it was specifically Judas who was indignant about the expense. His indignation was entirely self-serving; John 12:6 tells us, This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
i. They criticized her sharply: It's easy to criticize those who show more love to Jesus than we do. We sometimes want to define a "fanatic" as someone who is more devoted to Jesus than we are.
ii. Judas may have started the criticism, but he wasn't alone for long. Mark makes it clear that they criticized her sharply. Each one looked at the oil on Jesus' head and considered it wasted. We can imagine that Mary started to wonder if she did something wrong.
iii. Even the most prominent followers of our Lord can be wrong, and it must have stung the woman to hear Judas - so respected among the disciples - to openly criticize her. Nevertheless, she made no effort to defend herself, but simply loved Jesus and let Him do the defending.
iv. "It is interesting that the word translated 'waste' in Mark 14:4 is translated 'perdition' in John 17:12 and applied to Judas! Judas criticized Mary for 'wasting money,' but he wasted his entire life!" (Wiersbe)
b. This particular alabaster flask seems to have been worth more than a year's wages for a laborer (three hundred denarii). "I shall always feel obliged to Judas for figuring up the price of that box of costly nard. He did it to blame her, but we will let his figures stand, and think the more of her the more he put down to the account of waste. I should never have known what it cost, nor would you either, if Judas had not marked down in his pocket-book." (Spurgeon)
c. Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me: The disciples thought that this extravagant anointing with oil was a waste, but Jesus received it as a good work. With her simple love and devotion to Jesus, Mary understood what the disciples did not - that Jesus was about to die, and she intended this gift as a preparation for his burial.
i. She has done a good work: "In the Greek there are two words for good. There is agathos which describes a thing which is morally good; and there is kalos which describes a thing which is not only good by lovely. A things might be agathos, and yet be hard, stern, austere, unattractive. But a thing which is kalos is winsome and lovely, with a certain bloom of charm upon it." (Barclay)
ii. Jesus gives her the highest compliment: she has done what she could. God expects no more from us than what we can do; but beware of setting your sights so low that you believe that doing nothing is doing what you can. "There can be no higher commendation than this. All cannot do great things for Christ, but it is well if each one does what he can as unto the Lord Himself." (Ironside)
d. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial: Mary's act was all the more precious because it was planned (she has come beforehand). This wasn't a spontaneous, "seized by the moment" kind of action. It was carefully planned beforehand.
i. Apparently, Mary listened and believed the teaching of Jesus in a way that the other disciples simply didn't. When He said that He would be delivered into the hands of wicked men and mocked and scourged and crucified, she believed it. She said, "If my precious Jesus will be mocked and tortured like this, then allow me to give Him some special honor."
ii. It seems that the disciples did not want to think about the death of Jesus. When Peter heard of it, he tried to talk Jesus out of it. Mary had a different devotion, and instead of debating or denying His death, she turned it into an occasion of deep devotion.
iii. "Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. Get you close to Christ, and carry the remembrance of him about you from day to day, and you will do right royal deeds. Come, let us slay sin, for Christ was slain. Come, let us bury all our pride, for Christ was buried. Come, let us rise to newness of life, for Christ has risen. Let us be united with our crucified Lord in his one great object - let us live and die with him, and then every action of our lives will be very beautiful." (Spurgeon)
e. Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world: Jesus knew He was going to die, but He did not waver in confidence one bit - He also knew He would rise from the dead that this gospel would be preached in the whole world.
f. As a memorial to her: The disciples longed for fame and influence, but this woman is the one who finds an enduring memorial. She found it not by longing for a position, but simply by loving Jesus and serving Him.
i. There is a tendency within us all to look at this story and to say, "I love Jesus also. Tell me what I should do to show it." But part of the woman's great love was displayed in the fact that she came up with the idea to express her love for Jesus in this way. If there was a command to do this, it could never have been this precious. "'Oh,' cries a brother, 'tell me what I could do for Jesus!' Nay, but, brother, I must not tell you. The better part of the whole matter will lie in the hallowed ingenuity of your spirit in inventing something for him out of your own fervent soul." (Spurgeon)
ii. As a memorial to her: In the Kidron Valley of Jerusalem, laying between the Mount of Olives and the Temple Mount, there is a spectacular tomb carved out of solid rock. They call it "Absalom's Tomb," but they know it came from around the time of Jesus, not the time of David and his son Absalom - so they know Absalom is not buried there, but no one knows who is. A very wealthy man thought to make a lasting memorial to himself, and he is forgotten to time and history; this woman with her simple and profound act of loving devotion made an eternal memorial.
4. (Mk. 14:10-11) Judas agrees to betray Jesus.
10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. 11 They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time.
a. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve: Why would one of Jesus' own disciples betray Him? What motive could Judas have? Many have speculated through the years. Perhaps his feelings were hurt when Jesus rebuked him when Mary poured the ointment over Jesus' feet. Perhaps it was plain greed. Some speculate that Judas wanted to "force" Jesus into an open display of Messianic glory.
i. Matthew 26:15 makes it clear that Judas bargained with the religious leaders for the life of Jesus. He asked them, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" Certainly, part of his motivation was pure greed.
ii. Whatever Judas' motive was, it was his motive. God used a willing Satan, who used a willing Judas. God ordained that these things happen, but He did not prompt Judas to sin.
b. When they heard it, they were glad: For a long time, the religious leaders wanted to destroy Jesus (Mark 3:6). Now they have a precious ally - a disciple to betray Him.
C. Jesus' prayer and arrest in Gethsemane.
1. (Mk. 14:32-36) Jesus' prayer of distress.
32 They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, "Sit here until I have prayed." 33 And He *took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled.34 And He *said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch." 35 And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. 36 And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."
a. Gethsemane: This is a place just east of the temple mount area in Jerusalem, across the ravine of the Brook Kidron, and on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives. Surrounded by ancient olive trees, Gethsemane means "olive press" - it was a place where olives from the neighborhood were crushed for their oil. So too, the Son of God would be crushed here.
b. He began to be troubled and deeply distressed ... My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death: If Jesus knew what the Father's will was, why such agony? It was because Jesus was to be a sacrifice for sins, and He wasn't an unknowing sacrificial animal and He was no victim of circumstances. He willingly resolved to lay down His life.
i. What was it that affected Jesus so? It was not so much the horror of physical torture, but the spiritual horror of the cross - of being made sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is what made Jesus troubled and deeply distressed.
ii. Hebrews 5:7-8 describes Jesus' agony in the Gethsemane: Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
iii. "His holy soul shrank from the awfulness of being made sin upon the tree. It was not death, but the divine anger against sin, the imputation to Him of all our iniquities that filled His soul with horror. There was no conflict of wills." (Ironside)
c. Abba, Father: In this moment of deep distress, Jesus didn't feel far from God the Father. He felt so close to the Father that He used the name Abba, a child's familiar name for "daddy."
d. Take this cup away from Me: In response to Jesus' deeply moved prayers, the Father did not take the cup from Jesus; but He strengthened Jesus to be able to take - and drink - the cup.
i. What cup? Repeatedly in the Old Testament, the cup is a powerful picture of the wrath and judgment of God:
▪ For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down. (Psalm 75:8)
▪ Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and drained it out. (Isaiah 51:17)
▪ For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: "Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it." (Jeremiah 25:15)
ii. Jesus became, as it were, an enemy of God, who was judged and forced to drink the cup of the Father's fury, so we would not have to drink from that cup - this was the source of Jesus' agony.
iii. Matthew 20:22-23 speaks of a cup that the followers of Jesus must also drink. "In any case, our cup can never be as deep or as bitter as was his, and there were in his cup some ingredients that never will be found in ours. The bitterness of sin was there, but he has taken that away for all who believe in him. His Father's wrath was there, but he drank that all up, and left not a single dreg for any one of his people." (Spurgeon)
e. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will: Jesus came to a point of decision in Gethsemane. It wasn't that He had not decided nor consented before, but now He had come upon a unique point of decision. He drank the cup at Calvary, but He decided once for all to drink it at Gethsemane. The struggle of the cross was won at the Garden of Gethsemane.
i. This struggle at Gethsemane - the place of crushing - has an important place in fulfilling God's plan of redemption. If Jesus failed here, He would have failed at the cross. His success here made the victory at the cross possible.
f. If it were possible: Jesus wasn't asking for permission to let humanity perish in hell; He was asking the Father, "If there is any other possible way to save humanity other than the agony which awaits Me at the cross - let it be." Yet there was no other way, so Jesus will go to the cross.
i. This prayer of Jesus eliminates any other way of salvation. If there is another way, His death was not necessary and His prayer was not answered.
g. Not what I will, but what You will: Some criticize such a prayer in the mouth of a Christian, saying it is a prayer that lacks faith. But to pray not what I will, but what You will is a prayer of great faith and trust in God. If such a prayer insults God, then Jesus insulted His Father at this crucial moment in the Garden of Gethsemane
MARK CHAPTER 14 - Commentary
Mark 14:1-11 . THE CONSPIRACY OF THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES TO PUT JESUS TO DEATH--THE SUPPER AND THE--ANOINTING AT BETHANY--JUDAS AGREES WITH THE CHIEF PRIESTS TO BETRAY HIS LORD. ( = Matthew 26:1-16 Luke 22:1-6 John 12:1-11 ).
The events of this section appeared to have occurred on the fourth day (Wednesday) of the Redeemer's Last Week.
Conspiracy of the Jewish Authorities to Put Jesus to Death ( mark 14:1 mark 14:2 ).
1. After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread--The meaning is, that two days after what is about to be mentioned the passover would arrive; in other words, what follows occurred two days before the feast.
and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death--From Matthew's fuller account ( Matthew 26:1-75 ) we learn that our Lord announced this to the Twelve as follows, being the first announcement to them of the precise time: "And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings" ( Matthew 26:1 )--referring to the contents of Matthew 24:1-25:46', which He delivered to His disciples; His public ministry being now closed: from His prophetical He is now passing into His priestly office, although all along He Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses--"He said unto His disciples, Ye know that after two days is [the feast of] the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified." The first and the last steps of His final sufferings are brought together in this brief announcement of all that was to take place. The passover was the first and the chief of the three great annual festivals, commemorative of the redemption of God's people from Egypt, through the sprinkling of the blood of a lamb divinely appointed to be slain for that end; the destroying angel, "when he saw the blood, passing over" the Israelitish houses, on which that blood was seen, when he came to destroy all the first-born in the land of Egypt ( Exodus 12:12 Exodus 12:13 )--bright typical foreshadowing of the great Sacrifice, and the Redemption effected thereby. Accordingly, "by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working," it was so ordered that precisely at the passover season, "Christ our Passover should be sacrificed for us." On the day following the passover commenced "the feast of unleavened bread," so called because for seven days only unleavened bread was to be eaten ( Exodus 12:18-20 ). We are further told by Matthew ( Matthew 26:3 ) that the consultation was held in the palace of Caiaphas the high priest, between the chief priests, [the scribes], and the elders of the people, how "they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill Him."
2. But they said, Not on the feast day--rather, not during the feast; not until the seven days of unleavened bread should be over.
lest there be an uproar of the people--In consequence of the vast influx of strangers, embracing all the male population of the land who had reached a certain age, there were within the walls of Jerusalem at this festival some two million people; and in their excited state, the danger of tumult and bloodshed among "the people," who for the most part took Jesus for a prophet, was extreme. See JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 20.5.3]. What plan, if any, these ecclesiastics fixed upon for seizing our Lord, does not appear. But the proposal of Judas being at once and eagerly gone into, it is probable they were till then at some loss for a plan sufficiently quiet and yet effectual. So, just at the feast time shall it be done; the unexpected offer of Judas relieving them of their fears. Thus, as BENGEL remarks, did the divine counsel take effect.
The Supper and the Anointing at Bethany Six Days before the Passover ( Mark 14:3-9 ).
The time of this part of the narrative is four days before what has just been related. Had it been part of the regular train of events which our Evangelist designed to record, he would probably have inserted it in its proper place, before the conspiracy of the Jewish authorities. But having come to the treason of Judas, he seems to have gone back upon this scene as what probably gave immediate occasion to the awful deed.
3. And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman--It was "Mary," as we learn from John 12:3 .
having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard--pure nard, a celebrated aromatic--(See Solomon 1:12 ). very precious--"very costly" ( John 12:3 ). and she brake the box, and poured it on his head--"and anointed," adds John ( John 12:3 ), "the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment." The only use of this was to refresh and exhilarate--a grateful compliment in the East, amid the closeness of a heated atmosphere, with many guests at a feast. Such was the form in which Mary's love to Christ, at so much cost to herself, poured itself out.
4. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said--Matthew says ( Matthew 26:8 ), "But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying," &c. The spokesman, however, was none of the true-hearted Eleven--as we learn from John ( John 12:4 ): "Then saith one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray Him." Doubtless the thought stirred first in his breast, and issued from his base lips; and some of the rest, ignorant of his true character and feelings, and carried away by his plausible speech, might for the moment feel some chagrin at the apparent waste. Why was this waste of the ointment made?
5. For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence--about $50 in our currency. and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her--"This he said," remarks John ( John 12:6 ), and the remark is of exceeding importance, "not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief, and had the bag"--the scrip or treasure chest--"and bare what was put therein"--not "bare it off" by theft, as some understand it. It is true that he did this; but the expression means simply that he had charge of it and its contents, or was treasurer to Jesus and the Twelve. What a remarkable arrangement was this, by which an avaricious and dishonest person was not only taken into the number of the Twelve, but entrusted with the custody of their little property! The purposes which this served are obvious enough; but it is further noticeable, that the remotest hint was never given to the Eleven of his true character, nor did the disciples most favored with the intimacy of Jesus ever suspect him, till a few minutes before he voluntarily separated himself from their company--for ever!
6. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me--It was good in itself, and so was acceptable to Christ; it was eminently seasonable, and so more acceptable still; and it was "what she could," and so most acceptable of all.
7. For ye have the poor with you always--referring to Deuteronomy 15:11. and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always--a gentle hint of His approaching departure, by One who knew the worth of His own presence.
8. She hath done what she could--a noble testimony, embodying a principle of immense importance. she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying--or, as in John ( John 12:7 ), "Against the day of my burying hath she kept this." Not that she, dear heart, thought of His burial, much less reserved any of her nard to anoint her dead Lord. But as the time was so near at hand when that office would have to be performed, and she was not to have that privilege even after the spices were brought for the purpose ( Mark 16:1 ), He lovingly regards it as done now. "In the act of love done to Him," says OLSHAUSEN beautifully, "she has erected to herself an eternal monument, as lasting as the Gospel, the eternal Word of God. From generation to generation this remarkable prophecy of the Lord has been fulfilled; and even we, in explaining this saying of the Redeemer, of necessity contribute to its accomplishment." "Who but Himself," asks STIER, "had the power to ensure to any work of man, even if resounding in His own time through the whole earth, an imperishable remembrance in the stream of history? Behold once more here the majesty of His royal judicial supremacy in the government of the world, in this, 'Verily I say unto you.'"
10. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them--that is, to make his proposals, and to bargain with them, as appears from. Matthew's fuller statement ( Matthew 26:14 Matthew 26:15 ) which says, he "went unto the chief priests, and said, What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver." The thirty pieces of silver were thirty shekels, the fine paid for man- or maid-servant accidentally killed ( Exodus 21:32 ), and equal to about $25 in our currency--"a goodly price that I was prized at of them!" ( Zechariah 11:13 ).
11. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money--Matthew alone records the precise sum, because a remarkable and complicated prophecy, which he was afterwards to refer to, was fulfilled by it. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him--or, as more fully given in Luke ( Luke 22:6 ), "And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray Him unto them in the absence of the multitude." That he should avoid an "uproar" or "riot" among the people, which probably was made an essential condition by the Jewish authorities, was thus assented to by the traitor; into whom, says Luke ( Luke 22:3 ), "Satan entered," to put him upon this hellish deed.
Mark 14:3-11, 32-36 BibleRef Commentary
Chapter Context: Jesus is anointed in a symbolic anticipation of His death. Judas decides to secretly cooperate with local religious leaders to arrest Jesus in secret. During the Passover meal, Jesus predicts His betrayal by Judas, and Peter's denial. He also institutes the Lord's Supper, also known as communion. After praying on the Mount of Olives, Jesus is captured when Judas identifies Him to a hostile mob sent by Jewish authorities. He endures a corrupt, prejudiced trial, ending in a conviction for blasphemy. Peter, fearing for his life, lies about knowing Jesus, before remembering Jesus' prediction and breaking down in sobs.
Context Summary 3-9: Mark 14:3-9 creates another narrative ''sandwich'' in this Gospel. Between the Sanhedrin's machinations to kill Him and Judas' offer to betray Him, a woman honors Jesus. The Passover lamb was chosen six days before the sacrifice. On the first day, its feet and ankles were anointed with oil, as Jesus' were in John 12:1-8. For five days, it would be inspected for flaws, as Jesus was when He taught and debated in the temple (Mark 11:15-12:40). Two days before the Passover, the lamb's head would be anointed, as Jesus' head is, here. This account is also recorded in Matthew 26:6-13.
