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Mark 14:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Mark 14:1-3
New Catholic Bible
The Mystery Is Fully Manifested in the Passion and Resurrection[a]
Chapter 14
The Plot against Jesus.[b] 1 It was now two days before the Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking to arrest Jesus by deceit and put him to death. 2 They said, “It must not occur during the feast, or the people may begin to riot.”
A Woman of Bethany Anoints Jesus.[c] 3 When Jesus was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came in with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured the ointment over his head.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 14:1 The Passion Narrative that makes the deepest impression is perhaps that of Mark’s Gospel. The writer does not aim to move the reader, still less to satisfy our curiosity with edifying anecdotes and points of information. The description is vivid, unpolished, clear-cut. Mark piles up concrete, detailed incidents in order to highlight the tragic character of the struggle that Jesus is carrying on alone, isolated in his silence and humiliation. It is precisely in his abasement that Jesus shows himself to be the Messiah, the King of Israel, Son of God, and Savior of the world.
- Mark 14:1 We are at the religious high point of the year, the time of Passover, which is followed by the feast of Unleavened Bread, that is, an eight-day celebration during which only unleavened bread was eaten (see Deut 16:1-8; Ex 12:5-20).
- Mark 14:3 At this period the burial of the dead was regarded as an indispensable work of charity and of greater merit than almsgiving. In the present circumstances of Jesus, the woman’s gesture of respect becomes a sign of his imminent death. In addition, in Mark’s Gospel the ointment is poured on the head of Jesus, suggesting an act of consecration.
