“As he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. …
‘She has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’”
Eric Gill (British 1882–1940), Mary Magdalen, 1926, wood engraving on paper.
Bible Passage: Mark 14:1-11
My Big Story Bible: Pages 194
In Memory of Her
For every week of this year round project I have found a video from the team at the Bible Project that helps illuminate the passage or themes that emerge in the text. For every passage, except this week’s. This is sadly unsurprising: in the words of feminist theologian, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza,
“In the passion account of Mark’s Gospel three disciples figure prominently: on the one hand, two of the twelve- Judas who betrays Jesus and Peter who denies him- and on the other, the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus. But while the stories of Judas and Peter are engraved in the memory of Christians, the story of the woman is virtually forgotten. Although Jesus pronounces in Mark: “And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” (14:9) the woman’s prophetic sign-action did not become a part of the gospel knowledge of Christians. Even her name is lost to us. Wherever the gospel is proclaimed and the eucharist celebrated another story is told: the story of the apostle who betrayed Jesus. The name of the betrayer is remember, but the name of the faithful disciple is forgotten because she was a woman.” 1
And so, in place of a video, I will include another paragraph Schüssler Fiorenza’s work, where she highlights the prophetic nature of this anointing, as one that declared Jesus’ status as messiah and suffering servant.
“Since the prophet in the Old Testament anointed the head of the Jewish king, the anointing of Jesus’ head must have been understood immediately as the prophetic recognition of Jesus, the Anointed, the Messiah, the Christ. … according to Mark the leading male disciples do not understand this suffering messiahship of Jesus, reject it and finally abandon him, the women disciples who have followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem suddenly emerge as the true disciples in the passion narrative. They are Jesus’ true followers who have understood that his ministry was not rule and kingly glory but diakonia, “service” (Mark 15:41). … While Peter had confessed, without truly understanding it, “you are the anointed one,” the woman anointing Jesus recognizes clearly that Jesus’ messiahship means suffering and death.” 2
1 Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, (Crossroad, 1983), xiii.
2 Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins, (Crossroad, 1983), xiv.
