JESUS, MARY, MARTHA, AND LAZARUS.

Matthew 26.6-13
6. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,
7. a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it upon His head as He reclined at the table. (Matthew 26.7-13) (Mark 14.3-9) (Luke 7.37-39) (John 12.1-8).

Matthew 26.6 - Simon the leper. (Two days off before Passover, verse 2. Poured upon His head).

Mark 14.3 - Simon the leper. (Mark 14.1. Two day off before Passover. Poured upon His head).

Luke 7.36 - Pharisee. (Simon Pharisee. Luke 7.40. How many days before Passover do not specified. Poured on His legs).

John 12.1-2 - Lazarus. (Six days before Passover. Poured on His legs).

~ 7. According to account of John (John 11.1) Lazarus have two sisters, Mary and Martha. The next verse (John 11.2) said that it was the same Mary, the sister of Martha, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, but it does not say on which occasion.

In John 12.1-3, six days before Passover, Jesus came back to Bethany to Lazarus whom He raised from the dead, and Mary anointed Jesus with oil in the same way as it was written in the Gospel of Luke. It looks like she anointed Him a second time but for a different purpose (John 12.7).

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it looks like we have the same person, Simon the leper, the Pharisee, and so, these three accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, talking about the same person, the Simon Pharisee who was a leper.
But the difference here that in Matthew and Mark Mary anointed the head of Christ, but in Luke she poured oil on His legs, the same is written in the Gospel of John.

In the Gospel of John, we see completely different person named Lazarus. In John 11.19 written, "and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother." Here the brother of Martha and Mary is Lazarus and not the Simon the leper, Pharisee, as it written in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

If Lazarus was poor or just ordinary man, not many people would come to his funeral, except some relatives and friends, but because it said, "and many of the Jews had come," (John 11.19) it means that he was influential and well-respected person in his community, but it does not say that he was Pharisee or a leper, like it has been said about Simon.

Is it possible that Lazarus is Pharisee and has another name as Simon? He has the same sisters Martha and Mary as the "Simon." Or maybe the account of John a completely different account and with a different man? According to all accounts, it all happened in the same town of Bethany, shortly before Passover, with the brother of two sisters, Martha and Mary.

May be Martha and Mary have another brother by the name Lazarus, but this is very difficult to verify and to prove.

The death of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary is mentioned only in the account of John, so it may be assumed it was a different event, and in this account, Mary anointed Christ for His burial right before His death (John 12.7).
A.G.





8. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this and said, 'Why this waste?

9. This perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.'



10. But Jesus aware of this said to them, 'Why do you bother the woman? She has done a good deed to Me.



11. The poor you have with you always (Deuteronomy 15.11), but you do not always have Me.



12. For, when she poured this perfume upon My Body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.



13. Truly I say to you, wherever this Gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her.' (Matthew 24.14, 26.13) (Mark 13.10, 14.9).