There Shall Also This...Be Told

I was recently reading the story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ head with ointment and washed his feet with tears, and I was struck by this passage:

3  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

And I found myself wondering: Is this story told in every gospel?

Sure enough, it is.

It is interesting to see the difference in details each version presents. I have marked a few of the interesting points in bold.

Matthew:

6   ¶ Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
7   There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.
8   But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
9   For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.
10  When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
11  For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.
12  For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.
13  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
(Matthew 26:6–13

Mark:

3  ¶ And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
4  And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
5  For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
6  And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.
7  For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.
8  She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.
9  Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
(Mark 14:3–9)

Luke:

37  And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
38  And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
39  Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
40  And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
41  There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
42  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
43  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
44  And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
45  Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
47  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
48  And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
49  And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
50  And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
(Luke 7:37–50)

John:

1  Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2  (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
(John 11:1, 2)

3  Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
4  Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,
5  Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?
6  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
7  Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
8  For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
(John 12:3–8)

So… Judas Iscariot is known to be the son of Simon.

The Pharisee Jesus is visiting is Simon the Leper, presumably a leper Jesus healed.

In some versions, it is a disciple or disciples who asks the question. In one, it is Simon, the host.

But John says that Judas, Simon’s son, is the one who asks the question. Was Judas the son of this particular Pharisee named Simon?

And, last, the woman is nameless in the first three versions, but in the last, she is identified as Lazarus’s sister, Mary—the one who chose “that good part,” according to Jesus when he was speaking to her sister Martha.

So the Bible establishes that the woman with the alabaster box was a sinner and was Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

Is she the same person as either the adulteress or Mary Magdalen, out of whom was cast seven devils? The gospels do not say.

I guess we will never know.

Still, it is interesting to read this story in its different versions and to see that truly, it is remembered, as Christ said it would be, in each one.