Big Idea: Three issues dominate in this opening scene of the final events: (1) the contrast between the woman’s worshipful act and Judas’s betrayal; (2) Jesus’s recognition that her anointing constituted a fourth passion prediction; (3) the first of five discipleship failures that will run through chapter 14.

Understanding the Text

In the first part of the passion story (chaps. 11–12) the conflict between Jesus and the Jewish authorities grows more and more severe, culminating in the diatribe of 11:28–30. In the Olivet Discourse the implications of their refusal to follow God and accept his Son are detailed: the coming judgment is proclaimed in 11:12–21 and described in 13:3–23, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. There will be no more contact with the leaders until the trial; i…