Mary Magdalene captures the imagination of almost everybody who hears about her mysterious and exotic act of anointing Jesus' feet with "precious ointment", and then washing them with tears—the only one such act ever recorded in human history.
Perhaps the most monumental work in print about Mary is Susan Haskins' Mary Magdalene: Myth and Metaphor. It's a whopping 518 scholarly pages, heavily endnoted and indexed. It explores the non-canonical "gospels" and the writings of Church Fathers and scholars all through the centuries and religious art. Its basic message: the mystery only deepens the further one digs in non-biblical literature and art.
Only modest essay is concerned only with what comes to light in the Four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But when context is consulted in each, a surprisingly detailed portrait of this lady emerges.
There has to be a reason why Jesus bespoke for her act the special attention of everybody in the world wherever "this gospel" is to be proclaimed. Let's explore the story.
"In only two days the eight day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. 'We don't want the crowds up in arms', they said.
"Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While He was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on His head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. 'That's criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year's wages and handed out to the poor.' They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.
"But Jesus said, 'Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for Me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with Me. She did what she could when she could—she preanointed My body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.'
"Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the cabal of high priests, determined to betray Him. They couldn't believe their ears, and promised to pay him well. He started looking for just the right moment to hand Him over."
—The Message, Mark 14:1-11, Peterson
