The Anointment of Jesus by Mary of Bethany [pp. 484-511]

BY MARY OF BETHANY.
and directly announced it on the last journey to Jerusalem,k
and referred to it in his answers to the mother of James and
John.' He referred to it two days before the Passover,-T also
on the visit of the Greeks," and it was a prominent subject at
the last supper.~ The three last cases mentioned above were
after Mary's anointment, but we include them to show Jesus'
habit of speaking of his coming death.
Not only were our Saviour's predictions publicly and repeatedly made during many months, but attention must have
been called to them by the various dangers that had threatened
him,) and by the well-known intentions of the public authorities to destroy him., The predictions were not only well known
among the friends of Jesus, so that the angels reminded the
women at the sepulchre that they had heard them,r and Jesus
after his resurrection referred to their publicity,' but they were
so public that even "the chief priests and Pharisees" spoke of
them to Pilate as well known.t
According to the usual and, very likely, correct calculations,
Jesus made the first distinct prediction above quoted more than
six months, perhaps nearly a year before the crucifixion, and
after that went several times to Jerusalem; to the Feast of Tabernacles in the autumn, to the Feast of Dedication in the winter,
and to raise Lazarus. On one of his visits, made, apparently
soon after the early distinct predictions, Mlary "sat at his feet
and heard his word," and he had the opportunity to repeat them
-to her.
It is incredible that Jesus could have concealed from his beloved friends at Bethany a thing of so much interest to them,
which he had told to everybody else; or that they could have
failed to hear it when everybody else knew it. We may safely
infer from Mary's relations with Jesus, and from the publicity
of the predictions, that she had long beea familiar with them;
and probably with the less distinct predictions during previous
years.
kMatt. 20: 17-19. Mark 10: 32-34. Luke 18: 31-34. 1 Matt. 20: 28. Mark
10 45. Matt. 26: 2. nJohn 12: 32-34. Matt. 26: 24, 26. Mark
14: 21, 28. Like 22: 19, 20, 37. P Matt. 2: 13, 20, 22. Luke 4: 29.
Matt. 12:14; 21: 46; 27: 1. Mark3: 6. Luke 6: 1]. John5: 16, 18;
7:1, 19, 25, 30, 32, 44-46; 8: 20, 22, 37, 40, 59; 10: 17, 18, 31, 39; 11: 8,
~53, 54, 57. r Matt. 28: 6. Milk 16: 7 Luke 24: 6-11, 44-46. 8 Luke 24
44. MIatt. 27: 63, 64.
1874.]
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