Relevant Verses: John 8:54–58; 12:1–8; 19:4–22; 20:19– 31

Theme: Signs Faith versus Blessed Faith

Leading Question: What do you need to believe?

The tension between signs faith and belief without having seen is a curious one in John’s Gospel. On one hand, Jesus’ sings are featured with prominence in order that people might believe that Jesus is the Messiah. On the other hand, Jesus rebukes the seeking of signs, and those who believe without having seen are considered blessed.

The Anointing of Jesus
The anointing of Jesus, like previous sign acts in the Gospel of John, is described in a single verse, indicating that the significance of the anointing extends beyond the act itself. The depiction of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus foreshadows the footwashing in the following chapter later, prompting a direct contrast between Mary’s gesture for Jesus and Jesus’ act for his disciples. As a result, the foot washing must be seen in light of Mary’s devotion and love for Jesus. The same verb is used for Mary’s wiping Jesus’ feet (John 12:3) and Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:5).

Question: What is the significance of Mary’s “pound of very costly perfume of pure nard” (John 12:3)?

Karoline Lewis, in her commentary on John 12 writes that the anointing of Jesus should be first and foremost experienced as an act of abundance. For every detail in verse 3 points to an expression of profuse love. A pount of ointment, costly perfume, pure nard, the fragrance filling the entire house, exceeds any and all expectations. The perfume is expensive, but we do not find out just how expensive until Judas’ reaction in verse 5, when we learn that it is 300 denarii. This is a ridiculous, absurd cost, when one day’s wage was one denarii. Mary spent a year’s wage on this display of affection and love for Jesus. The perfume is made of pure nard, not spliced with other ingredients, and reserved to anoint only people of honor. Nard originated from a plant, Nardostachys jatamansi, indigenous to India. It is important to understand that this is not just Mary’s way of thanking Jesus for raising her brother from the dead. To simplify her act as only gratitude overlooks the connection to the footwashing in chapter 13 and discounts the larger theme of abundance thoughout the Gospel as a whole. Mary’s act forshadows Jesus’ act, and his act recalls hers. The proximity of these two displays of abundant love demonstrates the extraordinary reciprocity that is assumed between Jesus and the believer, between the believer and Jesus, which Jesus will articulate in its fullest expression in the Farewell Discourse (John 14–16).

Question: Considering Mary’s act as a foreshadowing of Jesus death, what is the meaning of the fragrance filling the entire house?

Karoline Lewis’ remarks are insightful here:

That the fragrance of the perfume permeates the entire house calls to mind both the stench of death, of Lazarus and of Jesus, and the smell of abundant grace. A preacher might build on this detail, the way in which a smell can literally seep into every nook and crany of a house, into your clothes, into your skin. Mary’s extravagance does not erase the smell of death but matches it, a metaphorical depiction of how the life that God provides will be present even in the reality of death (John, p. 166).

Note: Judas is present in the house that is filled with the fragrance “of abundant grace.”

But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?

(John 14:4-5)

But he is not mentioned here for the first time. He appears without his name in Jesus’ speech about those who do not believe:

But there are some of you who do not believe.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.

(John 6:64)

Question: How is Judas different from Mary?

Judas shows feigned concern about the amount of money he says is wasted and should be given to the poor. But then we learn that he is a thief (John 12:6). As a thief he does not give money, he takes it away from the poor. Judas is Mary’s counterpart, in contrast to Mary who has given all she had for Jesus. Furthermore, Judas is a nonbeliever, detached from Jesus even though he is one of his disciples, whereas Mary is a believer, close to Jesus. The presence of Judas in the middle of Jesus’ anointing is heartbreaking. “It reminds us of the duality of discipleship in this Gospel and the contrast between abundant grace and disbelief” (Lewis, John, p. 167).

Thomas

But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples were saying to him, We have seen the Lord!
But he said to them, Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails,
and put my finger into the place of the nails,
and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.

(John 20:24-25)

Question: How do you feel about Thomas’ response to the news about the resurrection?

“Thomas gets to say what we all want to say, the truth of what we do not want to admit., how difficult it is to believe in Jesus whom we have never encountered for ourselves” (Lewis, John, p. 248).

Verse 27 is remarkably ambiguous:

Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;
and reach here your hand and put it into My side;
and do not be unbelieving, but believing.

Question: Did Thomas do as Jesus asked? Or was seeing Jesus in the flesh enough for his confession?

The narrative in John 20 is not clear “and invites an individuality of encounter for every believer. What each believer, each disciple, will require for recognition of Jesus’ identity will differ. Is seeing enough? Hearing? Touching?” (Lewis, John, p. 249)

Question: In what way is relationship the key to believe?

According to John, to take the incarnation seriously means an individual encounter between Jesus and the believer. A cookie-cutter belief is not enough.

In the colloquial wording this is the story of “The Doubting Thomas” because most Bibles render Jesus’ words as, “do not doubt but belief.” But, the actual word used is apistos, literally “unbelieving,” which is in harmony with the entire theme of the Gospel about being in the light or in the dark, about being in a believing relationship with Jesus or withdrawing and walking away (John 6:66). Jesus invites Thomas to move from darkness to light, from a lack of relationship to intimacy. According to Karoline Lewis’ commentary on Thomas’ story (p. 249), it is necessary for us to correct our interpretation about the Doubting Thomas, because this Gospel does not deal with doubt or uncertainty. “To be in between is to be alone, on your own, without the presence of others, neither in one place or the other. … This extreme dichotomy for John of either/or is not a matter of exclusion but a radical claim about inclusion.” To be incarnated demands relationship in community.

Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my God!

(John 20:28)

Question: What does Thomas’ twofold designation of Jesus mean?

The testimony of Thomas is the ultimate witness to who Jesus is. Jesus is both Lord, emphasizing his humanity, his role as Rabbi, and his earthly ministry, and God. To assert Jesus as Lord and God is to hold together what was stated in the prologue, the humanity and divinity of Jesus. In addition, Thomas’ expression is personal with the use of “my,” a possessive pronoun, in order to express the intimacy of relationship not an individualized theology.