Rose
06-26-2007, 02:01 PM
As I was reading the gospels trying to take a fresh look at the time lines of the
week of the passion of Christ and trying to figure out for myself the days on which specific events took place, I noticed a discrepancy in the time of the Anointing of Jesus by the woman with the flask of expensive oil. At first glance I automatically assumed that these were three accounts of the same event by the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark and John and only the time period in which they occurred got mixed up. Upon further study more and more differences popped up and in my opinion outweighed the similarities, so before I researched other ideas on this matter, I decided to work up a time line following my own intuitions. The conclusion I came to surprised me since it was quite different from my first impression.
First I took an event common to all the Gospels that I could be sure happened on the same day. That event was the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem by Jesus on the donkey, what Christians call ' Palm Sunday '. All the Gospels record this significant event, the problem comes in with the placement of that event falling after the Anointing of Jesus in John 12,and before the Anointing of Jesus in Matthew 26 and Mark 14.
The Gospel of John begins in chapter 12, six days before Passover with Jesus coming to Bethany where Lazarus is. It says they made Him a supper and Martha served who was Lazarus’s sister, while Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus, Mary who is Martha and Lazarus’s sister took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard and anoints the feet of Jesus, then wipes His feet with her hair, and the house is filled with its fragrance. Judas Iscariot the disciple who would betray Jesus, complains that the costly oil worth about 300 denarii should have been sold and the money given to the poor. The story goes on to say Judas Iscariot was a thief who had control of the money box, and would take the money from it. Jesus told him to let her alone for she has anointed Him for the day of His burial.
The following day which would be 5 days before the Passover, the triumphal entrance of Jesus on the donkey into Jerusalem takes place.
Now going to the account given in Matthew 26 and Mark 14, which are almost identical to each other, we find the event of the Anointing of Jesus taking place 2 days before the Passover, with Jesus being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. The chief priests and scribes were plotting to take Jesus by trickery at the palace of the high priest Caiaphas. They decided against it because it was the time of the feast. When Jesus was at the house of Simon the leper a woman who is unnamed in both accounts goes to Jesus with a flask of very costly oil. She breaks the flask and pours the oil over Jesus’s head. The disciples who were with Jesus become very indignant, saying it was a waste of oil that could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor, they criticize her sharply but Jesus said for them to let her alone, she is anointing Me for My burial, the poor you always have with you.
In John’s account the next day is Jesus’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, whereas in Matthew and Mark that event happens prior to the anointing. In Matthew it happens in chapter 21 and in Mark it happens in chapter 11, clearly there is a problem between the time of John’s account of the Anointing, and Matthew and Mark’s account.
One way of dealing with the problem is to say that both Matthew and Marks account were added to the text at a latter time, but then you also have the problem of both Matthew and Mark being identical accounts so one of them had to have been copied from the other and since the standard belief is that Mark was written before Matthew then he must have copied from Mark and on it goes.
So like I mentioned earlier, my approach is to take a common event upon which everyone agrees and go from there. I’m taking the triumphal entrance of Jesus as the common event upon which we can place a date, and then supposing the anointing in John’s Gospel and the anointing in Matthew and Marks Gospel are two separate events, try to obtain a harmony amongst them.
I’ll start with John’s account since it occurred 6 days before the Passover and work my way to Matthew and Marks account which is 2 days before the Passover, with the triumphal entrance of Jesus between the two. In John’s account the day after Jesus was anointed by Mary, He rode a donkey into Jerusalem; whereas in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark they retell the triumphal entrance of Jesus taking place before the anointing.
In Mark 11 as in Matthew 21 and Luke 19 it states that Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives before His triumphal entrance; also Luke 19:29 tells us that Bethany is at the Mount of Olives.
So my conclusion is that at the point when Jesus is at Bethany prior to His triumphal entrance, is when the account of the Anointing in John’s Gospel takes place. It puts Jesus in the right place at the right time and harmonizes with the other Gospel accounts of the triumphal entrance, which is followed by the second occurrence of Jesus being anointed in Matthew and Mark. This time its in the house of Simon the leper with the unnamed woman anointing His head, with some of the disciples becoming indignant with the waste of expensive oil. Even though many things are the same in both accounts, major points like the time and whose house Jesus is at are harmonized instead of clashing in this layout of there being two anointings instead of one. So far I have not been able to find a better explanation that addressed and resolved the discrepancies in the time and place of the Anointings.
I would like to know if anyone else has any ideas on this matter. :)
I tried doing some internet research on it, but none of the answers given seemed to resolve the problem for me. :(
I will be eagerly waiting by my " post " box :D
Rose
week of the passion of Christ and trying to figure out for myself the days on which specific events took place, I noticed a discrepancy in the time of the Anointing of Jesus by the woman with the flask of expensive oil. At first glance I automatically assumed that these were three accounts of the same event by the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark and John and only the time period in which they occurred got mixed up. Upon further study more and more differences popped up and in my opinion outweighed the similarities, so before I researched other ideas on this matter, I decided to work up a time line following my own intuitions. The conclusion I came to surprised me since it was quite different from my first impression.
First I took an event common to all the Gospels that I could be sure happened on the same day. That event was the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem by Jesus on the donkey, what Christians call ' Palm Sunday '. All the Gospels record this significant event, the problem comes in with the placement of that event falling after the Anointing of Jesus in John 12,and before the Anointing of Jesus in Matthew 26 and Mark 14.
The Gospel of John begins in chapter 12, six days before Passover with Jesus coming to Bethany where Lazarus is. It says they made Him a supper and Martha served who was Lazarus’s sister, while Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus, Mary who is Martha and Lazarus’s sister took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard and anoints the feet of Jesus, then wipes His feet with her hair, and the house is filled with its fragrance. Judas Iscariot the disciple who would betray Jesus, complains that the costly oil worth about 300 denarii should have been sold and the money given to the poor. The story goes on to say Judas Iscariot was a thief who had control of the money box, and would take the money from it. Jesus told him to let her alone for she has anointed Him for the day of His burial.
The following day which would be 5 days before the Passover, the triumphal entrance of Jesus on the donkey into Jerusalem takes place.
Now going to the account given in Matthew 26 and Mark 14, which are almost identical to each other, we find the event of the Anointing of Jesus taking place 2 days before the Passover, with Jesus being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. The chief priests and scribes were plotting to take Jesus by trickery at the palace of the high priest Caiaphas. They decided against it because it was the time of the feast. When Jesus was at the house of Simon the leper a woman who is unnamed in both accounts goes to Jesus with a flask of very costly oil. She breaks the flask and pours the oil over Jesus’s head. The disciples who were with Jesus become very indignant, saying it was a waste of oil that could have been sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor, they criticize her sharply but Jesus said for them to let her alone, she is anointing Me for My burial, the poor you always have with you.
In John’s account the next day is Jesus’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, whereas in Matthew and Mark that event happens prior to the anointing. In Matthew it happens in chapter 21 and in Mark it happens in chapter 11, clearly there is a problem between the time of John’s account of the Anointing, and Matthew and Mark’s account.
One way of dealing with the problem is to say that both Matthew and Marks account were added to the text at a latter time, but then you also have the problem of both Matthew and Mark being identical accounts so one of them had to have been copied from the other and since the standard belief is that Mark was written before Matthew then he must have copied from Mark and on it goes.
So like I mentioned earlier, my approach is to take a common event upon which everyone agrees and go from there. I’m taking the triumphal entrance of Jesus as the common event upon which we can place a date, and then supposing the anointing in John’s Gospel and the anointing in Matthew and Marks Gospel are two separate events, try to obtain a harmony amongst them.
I’ll start with John’s account since it occurred 6 days before the Passover and work my way to Matthew and Marks account which is 2 days before the Passover, with the triumphal entrance of Jesus between the two. In John’s account the day after Jesus was anointed by Mary, He rode a donkey into Jerusalem; whereas in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark they retell the triumphal entrance of Jesus taking place before the anointing.
In Mark 11 as in Matthew 21 and Luke 19 it states that Jesus drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives before His triumphal entrance; also Luke 19:29 tells us that Bethany is at the Mount of Olives.
So my conclusion is that at the point when Jesus is at Bethany prior to His triumphal entrance, is when the account of the Anointing in John’s Gospel takes place. It puts Jesus in the right place at the right time and harmonizes with the other Gospel accounts of the triumphal entrance, which is followed by the second occurrence of Jesus being anointed in Matthew and Mark. This time its in the house of Simon the leper with the unnamed woman anointing His head, with some of the disciples becoming indignant with the waste of expensive oil. Even though many things are the same in both accounts, major points like the time and whose house Jesus is at are harmonized instead of clashing in this layout of there being two anointings instead of one. So far I have not been able to find a better explanation that addressed and resolved the discrepancies in the time and place of the Anointings.
I would like to know if anyone else has any ideas on this matter. :)
I tried doing some internet research on it, but none of the answers given seemed to resolve the problem for me. :(
I will be eagerly waiting by my " post " box :D
Rose