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Bible chapter guide
John 12
Mary anoints Jesus' feet with costly nard at Bethany. The next day crowds meet him with palm branches as he rides into Jerusalem on a young donkey. Some Greeks ask to see him, and he speaks of the grain of wheat that must die to bear fruit.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
Six days before the Passover Jesus is at Bethany, where a supper is given for him with Martha serving and Lazarus at the table; Mary anoints his feet with a pound of pure nard and wipes them with her hair, and Judas, who kept the money box, objects that it could have been sold for three hundred denarii. Crowds come to see Lazarus as well, and the chief priests plan to kill him too. The next day people go out with palm branches to meet Jesus, who rides in on a young donkey. Some Greeks who have come up for the feast ask Philip to see Jesus, and he answers with the grain of wheat that must fall into the earth and die; a voice from heaven answers his prayer, and some in the crowd take it for thunder.
What the lab shows, and where to look
Two stops of the Holy Week lab belong to this chapter. The anointing at Bethany sits on Wednesday because that is where Mark tells it; John dates the supper six days before the Passover, before the entry, and the lab's notes say so. The scene follows Mark, with an unnamed woman pouring the nard on Jesus' head in Simon's house, so John's version, Mary at his feet, appears in the notes under 'one event or two?' rather than on screen. For the entry, open the Palm Sunday descent; a note points out that only John names palm branches. The Greeks are not staged, but in the Temple Mount lab the Court of the Gentiles and the soreg with its warning inscription show how far into the temple a Gentile could go.
- The anointing at Bethany · Holy Week in Jerusalem
- The anointing at Bethany: The alabaster jar · Holy Week in Jerusalem
- The entry into Jerusalem · Holy Week in Jerusalem
- The Court of the Gentiles · The Temple Mount
- The Soreg and the Warning Inscription · The Temple Mount
Questions people ask
Who anointed Jesus at Bethany?
John names her: Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anointed his feet (12:3). Mark and Matthew tell of an unnamed woman pouring the ointment on his head in the house of Simon the leper. The village, the costly nard, the three hundred denarii and Jesus' words about his burial are shared, so many readers take it as one event remembered two ways, while others see two anointings. Identifying her with Mary Magdalene is a later Western tradition, not the Gospels.
Who were the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus?
John says only that they were Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast (12:20). Most readers take them as Gentiles who worshipped Israel's God, since they came to the feast, rather than Greek-speaking Jews. If so, the outer court was as far into the temple as they could go. The text does not say where they found Philip, or whether they ever spoke with Jesus.
Why does John mention palm branches?
Only John names palms (12:13); Matthew and Mark speak of branches cut from the trees or fields, and Luke mentions only cloaks. Palm branches were carried at the Feast of Tabernacles and in victory processions: 1 Maccabees 13:51 tells of Simon entering the citadel of Jerusalem with them. John does not explain the choice, but the crowd's cry hails Jesus as the King of Israel.
See it in the Labs
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe anointing at Bethany · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe anointing at Bethany: The alabaster jar · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe anointing at Bethany: In memory of her · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe entry into Jerusalem · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- Holy Week in JerusalemThe entry into Jerusalem: Weeping over the city · Holy Week in JerusalemOpen
- The Feast of TabernaclesThe four species · The Feast of TabernaclesOpen
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Textually stated
Jesus rode a colt, and the people spread their cloaks and cut branches on the road ahead of him.
All four Gospels tell the entry.
- Textually stated
Only John names palm branches. Matthew and Mark speak of branches cut from the trees or the fields, and Luke mentions only cloaks.
The name Palm Sunday comes from John 12:13; the scene mixes palm fronds with other branches.
- Textually stated
Matthew and John see in the entry Zechariah's promise of a king coming humble, riding on a donkey; the crowd's cry echoes Psalm 118.
- Strongly supported
The entry was on the Sunday before Passover: John puts the dinner at Bethany six days before the Passover and the entry on the next day.
- Plausible
Mark's anointing and John's: one event or two?: John tells a supper at Bethany where Martha served and Lazarus was at table, and Mary anointed Jesus' feet with a pound of nard and wiped them with her hair; Judas objected. Mark has an unnamed woman pouring the ointment on his head in Simon's house, and "some" object. The village, the costly nard, the three hundred denarii, the complaint about the poor and Jesus' answer about his burial are shared, so many readers take them as one event remembered in two ways (plausible); others see two anointings. The scene follows Mark and shows the head; John's details are a parallel tradition, given here and not drawn. Luke 7:36-50 tells a different anointing, in Galilee, earlier in Jesus' ministry.
- Plausible
Mark and Matthew do not name the woman, and the scene does not either. John's account names Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus. Identifying her with Mary Magdalene, or with the woman who was a sinner in Luke 7, is a later Western tradition, not the Gospels.
Gregory the Great joined the three women in a sermon of AD 591; the Eastern churches have always kept them apart.