Questions on the fragrant effect of Mary’s perfume.

Today is Palm Sunday ~ How can I not remember my perfume obsession, that lead me to write about this very important Perfume Incident, that changed history and our lives forever?

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When I read the crucifixion message in the gospels, I stop time and again to contemplate the perfume incident, probably because I love perfume so much. How can I be certain that it actually was Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who brought the perfume to Jesus? (Read about their relationship with Jesus and where they lived in John 11)  Where did she get the expensive Perfume, which immortalized her in history when she anointed Jesus with it? How expensive was this Nard oil perfume actually? Why is this even mentioned in the Bible?

Mary ₁ broke the seal of an expensive jar of aromatic oil and poured it on the head and feet of Jesus.  It is written, ”The house was filled with the smell of the oil’. It was 500ml expensive Spikenard oil. It was worth a year’s wages of a worker and Judas reacted vehemently to the waste.

Spikenard oil comes from the oil-rich root of the plant Nardostachys Jatamansi, which grows at the feet of the Himalayas, in northern India. It travelled with the Persian trade routes, all the way to Israel. The alabaster jar which contained the perfume, was carved from a transparent European alabaster/gypsum. Yes, it was exotic and very exclusive!  

Did Lazarus or Martha give it to Mary? Martha managed a large house, received many guests and entertained lavishly, they were well known in the area and apparently affluent. Perhaps a guest gave it to her as a gift – it doesn’t really matter. What is important is that Mary often sat at the feet of Jesus and that she listened to Him with her heart.

₂ On this special day, she obediently brought her Spikenard oil perfume and anointed the head of Jesus and washed His feet with it. Jesus says in all accounts that she anointed his body, not just His feet or head with it. In effect, God anoints through Mary, in this moment, Jesus as MESSIAH and KING! She was either just obedient to God and poured the oil or she knew that the time had come to anoint Jesus as King. She could only have known this if she sat quietly and listened carefully, so that God could speak to her. The Spikenard oil would have soaked His hair, ran down His neck and perhaps even over His chest. His skin would have absorbed the oil and so would His garments. After she washed His feet with it, His leather sandals would have absorbed the perfume too. Remember it was 500ml perfumed oil. Pour that over your head and see it run! ₃

In his article “The Anointed One” Erik York writes that the Hebrew coronation ceremony was a religious anointing ceremony and the perfume of the expensive and sacred oil used for it, served as an invisible crown for the king. Ann Spangler reports that: a king is known for his royal aroma. “Your clothes are flavoured with myrrh, aloe, and cinnamon.” As such, the presence of the godly anointed one, the king, would be known even before he himself was visible. He followed his royal fragrance. ₄

The next day Jesus drove into Jerusalem on a donkey, in the presence of a crowd welcoming him with palm leaves. His royal fragrance preceded Him!

I know that everyone around Jesus, over the following days, would have been aware of the fragrance of Spikenard. His hair, robe, and sandals carried it, and when He became hot, even His skin would have reproduced the fragrance afresh.

Jesus said that Mary poured the oil on his body in preparation of His burial. The palm leaf carrying bystanders, didn’t hear these words. They responded from their frame of reference regarding an anointed king. I try to place myself along the road, with a palm leaf in my hand. The response to His journey was “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heavens!” ₅ 

I contemplate the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’ agonizing prayer as He pleaded anxiously with His Father.  How fragrant the Spikenard must have been that night! What was the experience of the soldiers who came to arrest Him? Did the fragrance confuse the Jewish council, when Jesus declared before them that He was the Messiah, the son of God? ₆

What was Pilate’s experience at the trial? He himself was later tried in Rome on charges of cruelty and oppression, but the day of the trial he revealed great patience toward Jesus. ₇ Jesus also told him that He is a King. The conversation affected Pilate, because he avoided decision-making and postponed a finding. During this time his wife sent him a note, confirming the innocence of Jesus from a dream. The way the trial unfolded clearly left him unsure how to proceed. He found Jesus innocent and then again changed his finding and commanded a flogging. Still he declared, “Look I am bringing him to you, so that you may realize that I find him innocent”. Yet there was a crucifixion at his command, for which, with a symbolic hand-washing, he did not accept accountability.

Pilate wanted to know from Jesus, “Where are you from?” and I can’t help but wonder why he asked this question at this late stage in the trial, unless it had nothing to do with Jesus’ citizenship. I transfer myself to the trial and know that Pilate would also have smelled the fragrance of the Spikenard oil. Could it have played a role in his experience of Jesus’ statements and his ultimate finding “There is your King! Should I really crucify your King? ”. I have to wonder if there wasn’t a lot less sarcasm in his voice than this scripture is usually read with? That it was rather a factual statement made on his findings during the trial, before he fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy.

The cross proclaiming “INRI”, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, a factual statement of kingship. It is established for all eternity that this royal cross is empty because of the kingship of Jesus. He sits at the right hand of God and is truly the King of kings. Glory to our King and all praise be to Him!

Amen

Mark 14:3-9 ₁ Matt. 26:6-13 ₂ John 12:1-8 ₃ Psalm 45:8 ₄ Luke 19:38 ₅ Mark14:61-62 ₆ John 18:33-40, John 19:4, John 19:9 ₇

Be blessed this Easter for He is risen.

Lynette Gerber-Lochenkov

April 2025