NOTES for Joh 12:1-11

It is actually a perfectly reasonable thought: instead of spending money on symbolic actions, go and distribute it to the poor. Yet for some reason Jesus approves this gesture, which brings no practical benefit...

Why does Mary anoint Jesus' feet and wipe them with her hair? It is quite obvious that she did not spend a second thinking about His burial. If we asked her why she did it, she probably would not be able to answer. But Jesus does not ask. Without words He understands what matters most: she did it out of love. Everything else then ceases to matter—even a foolish deed done out of love is beautiful and precious; moreover, such an act acquires a deeper meaning than the person performing it could have imagined. But there is one small qualification: all this is true only when the driving force is love and love alone. As soon as some other motive appears, a meaningless act remains meaningless.