Characteristics           Matthew         Mark              John                Luke

of the story                 26:6-13            14:3-9              12:1-8              7:36-50

 

Town                                      Bethany                 Bethany                 Bethany                 Nain

 

Whose Home?                      Simon the              Simon the              doesn’t say           Simon the

                                                Leper                      Leper                                                      Pharisee

 

Year of Jesus’                       3rd                            3rd                                 3rd                            2nd

Ministry

 

Critics Identity                      All disciples          “some”                   Judas Iscariot,      Simon the

                                                                                                                “Simon’s son”      Pharisee

 

Critic’s Response                 waste; should       waste; should       waste; should       if Jesus was really

                                                be given to            be given to            be given to            a prophet, then He would

                                                poor.                       poor.                       poor.                       know this woman was a

                                                                                                                                                sinner.

                                                                                 

 

Jesus’ Response                  for my burial          for my burial          for my burial          parable of debtor;

                                                                                                                                                this woman has done what                                                                                                                                                 you did not do for me

 

The Woman                          “a woman”            “a woman”            Mary, sister of      a “woman in the city” of

                                                                                                                Lazarus and           Nain who was “a sinner.”

                                                                                                                Martha

 

Actions recorded                 poured on              poured on              anointed feet         anointed feet of Jesus;

                                                His head                                His head                                of Jesus                 also with her tears

________________________________________________________________________

 

Deductions and Further Relevant Study:

 

Matthew, Mark, and John’s accounts are of the same story because their location, year of ministry, and responses are identical.  Luke’s account is a separate, unrelated event for the same reasons.  Mary Magdalene NEVER poured out an alabaster box upon Jesus in scripture.  Furthermore, all of the most popular and respected commentaries agree to those conclusions (see Barnes’ Notes; Adam Clarke’s Commentary; Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, The Pulpit Commentary, and Matthew Henry’s Commentary amongst many others).  Moreover, all available commentaries written by authors that are affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International, agree that Luke’s account is a separate event and that Mary Magdalene was never involved in an alabaster box anointing of Jesus in scripture (see The Gospel According to Mark by Sidney L. Poe, and John – the Gospel that had to be written by Fred E. Kinzie).   

 

The coincidences in names and common resulting confusions from the casual reader of these scriptures are not surprising considering the following facts: 

 

There are at least six different women named “Mary” mentioned in scripture:

 

1.  Mary the mother of Jesus                                                                 Matthew 13:55

2.  Mary Magdalene, or literally:  Mary of Magdala                               Luke 8:2-3

3.  Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha from Bethany                 Luke 10:38-42

4.  Mary, mother of James and Joses (Joseph)                          Matthew 27:55-61

5.  Mary, the mother of John Mark                                                       Acts 12:12

6.  Mary, of the church in Rome                                                            Romans 16:6

 

There is also mentioned a “Mary of Cleophas” in John 19:25, and most scholars believe from comparing that scripture with Matthew 27:55-61 above that she is the same as “Mary the mother of James and Joseph.”  If that is true, then “Mary, mother of James and Joseph” was Jesus’ aunt (the Jesus’ mother’s older sister – John 19:25) and therefore two sisters were both named “Mary!”  This explains why in some of the Greek manuscripts, there is a slight difference in the rendering of the two names, with Jesus’ mother being called “Mariam,” and “Mary of Cleophas” being called “Maria” (similar to our distinguishing “Mary” and “Maria”).  The reason that this name was so common, even to the point of having two sisters named after it, was because “Mary” in the Hebrew was “Miriam,” which was the name of Moses’ sister in the Old Testament and was a popular cultural figure and “heroine” to the Jewish people. 

 

Just to make the “name game” fun, let’s recap.  All of the above means that Jesus had a mother named Mary, an aunt named Mary, a friend named Mary, a convert named Mary, and two other women actively involved in the Early Apostolic Church named Mary as well!  Jesus also had a brother named James, a cousin named James who was a disciple, another disciple named James, and an ancestor named James (when you consider that the Hebrew rendering for “James” is “Jacob”).  Jesus also had a father named Joseph, a cousin named Joseph, three direct ancestors named Joseph, including a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, a disciple named Joseph (Acts 1:23-25) who ended up being not chosen to replace Judas Iscariot even though he was eligible, and a friend named Joseph of Arimathea who provided the tomb from which He was resurrected. 

 

For what it’s worth, there are no less than six “Judas’” in scripture: 

 

1.  Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ

2.  Judas, the brother of Jesus Christ, who later went by “Jude” Matthew 13:55

3.  Judas, the other disciple of Christ, surnamed Thaddeus                     John 14:22

4.  Judas of Galilee who stirred up a Jewish rebellion                 Acts 5:37

5.  Judas of Damascus where the blind Saul/Paul went               Acts 9:11

6.  Judas surnamed Barsabbas who was minister in the              Acts 15:22

     Early Church.

 

With all of this in mind, is there any wonder why so many people confuse the identities of the characters involved in the accounts of the alabaster box stories!?  One more “name study” provides further insight into understanding and “keeping straight” the scriptural record of these events.    

       

There are no less than nine Simons mentioned in scripture:

 

1.  Simon Peter

2.  Simon the Zealot one of the twelve                                       Matthew 10:4

3.  Simon, the brother of Jesus Christ                                                    Matthew 13:55

4.  Simon the Leper in Bethany (2nd alabaster box account)      

5.  Simon the Cyrene who carried Jesus’ cross                          Matthew 27:32

6.  Simon the Pharisee in Nain (1st alabaster box account)                     Luke 7:40

7.  Simon the father of Judas Iscariot                                                     John 6:71

8.  Simon the Sorcerer                                                                          Acts 8:9

9.  Simon the Tanner with whom Peter lodged                           Acts 9:43

 

We know for certain that Judas Iscariot was from Judea because “Iscariot” means “man of Kerioth” and we know that Kerioth was a town in southern Judea (Joshua 15:25) and therefore nowhere near Galilee and the city of Nain.  That proves to us that Simon the Pharisee and Simon the Father of Judas Iscariot are NOT the same person. 

 

It is possible but not provable that the alabaster box account in Bethany in the “house of Simon” was also in the home of the father of Judas Iscariot (in other words, it is possible but not provable that Simon the Leper was also Simon, the father of Judas Iscariot).  If that was true then it would mean that Judas Iscariot’s father had moved from his hometown of Kerioth to Bethany, an event that is not recorded in scripture or history.  In light of the commonness of the name “Simon” it is probable that Simon the Leper, and Judas Iscariot’s father were two separate people. 

 

Conclusions:

 

To really make this study practical we will present the information above in relation with commonly preached and believed statements and then comment on their truthfulness.

 

Statement:  Mary Magdalene was caught in the act of adultery, forgiven by Jesus Christ, and thus broke the alabaster box in worship because of her great gratitude toward Jesus for His mercy.

 

Answer:  False!  There is absolutely NO evidence to link Mary Magdalene as the woman in either of the Alabaster box stories, whether it be the sinner woman in Luke 7 or the incident in Bethany.  There is also NO evidence that links Mary Magdalene with the woman caught in the act of adultery.  This statement comes from a combination of confusing the “Marys” of the Bible, and not distinguishing or understanding that there are two different alabaster box anointings recorded in scripture.

 

Statement:  Judas Iscariot was the son of a Pharisee.

 

Answer:  False!  This is another errant deduction resulting from confusing the two separate alabaster box accounts.  Simon the Pharisee’s house was in Nain, Galilee and Simon the Leper’s house was in Bethany.  Simon, the father of Judas Iscariot’s house was probably in Kerioth.  To make all three the same person certainly stretches and twists the scriptural accounts.   

 

Statement:  Simon the Leper was a man who Jesus had cleansed who became a Pharisee or a Pharisee who had become a Leper who Jesus had cleansed.     

 

Answer:  It’s possible that Simon the Leper was someone who Jesus had cleansed but there is absolutely NO scriptural record of this.  The other parts of this statement are false.  Simon the Leper and Simon the Pharisee lived in two separate towns over a hundred miles apart and the events happened in two different years of Jesus’ ministry.  They were two different people.  Besides that fact, surely if Jesus had done such a notable miracle as cleanse a Pharisee who had become leprous, the scriptures would not only have recorded that fact clearly, but the Pharisee would have responded to Jesus differently than Simon the Pharisee did in Luke 7.  Remember that Luke was a physician and often detailed the diseases that Jesus cured in greater detail than the other Gospel writers so it would seem strange indeed if Simon the Pharisee had been healed of such a dreaded disease and Luke not mention that fact in his story.

 

Statement:  Mary the sister of Lazarus was a sinner and approached Jesus through a crowd of mockers under the shame of her sin.

 

Answer:  False!  This again, confuses the two separate accounts of an alabaster box being poured out upon Jesus.  Scripture never refers to Mary, the sister of Lazarus as “a sinner.”  It was the woman in Luke 7 that was “a sinner.”  Mary was a sinner in the sense that all of us are sinners, but if you define “sinner” as “someone actively living in willful sin and not trusting in Jesus” then this statement is false.  Jesus was a common guest in Mary’s home and she is nowhere mentioned as being a woman of “ill repute” or “easy morals.” 

 

Statement:  Mary wept as she anointed Jesus’ feet with the ointment from her alabaster box. 

 

Answer:  False!  It was the sinner woman of Luke 7 that wept and shed “tears.”  There is no scriptural record of Mary having wept while she anointed Jesus’ head and feet for His burial.