Our journey begins on Friday, the 8th of Nisan –6 days before the annual observance of Passover.
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- Jesus came from Galilee to Bethany and stayed at the home of Simon the Leper, and his children, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, who were more like brothers and sisters to Jesus than some of His own family.
- Lazarus was the man Jesus raised from the dead.
- Martha was the woman who was always busy, and Mary was the woman who was always at the feet of Jesus, listening to His every word.
- That’s why during this stay, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive oil and wiped them with her hair, prophetically preparing His body for burial.
- The cost of that oil was 300 denarii, which would be the equivalent of a year’s wages for a common laborer in that day or about $20,000.00 in our day.
- The gospel writers said the aroma of Mary’s expression of love filled every room of the house where Jesus had gathered, but the fact that we are reading it today means it filled the whole world as well.
- Matthew, Mark, and Luke said, after this event, Judas went to the Chief Priests and betrayed Jesus for money.