<p>12:7- see on Mk. 14:53. <br /><i>Jesus replied: Leave her alone</i> - This translates a Greek phrase which essentially means &lsquo;to forgive&rsquo;, and it is usually translated like this. The Lord isn&rsquo;t just saying &lsquo;leave off her, let her be as she is&rsquo;; He is saying &lsquo;Let her be forgiven&rsquo;, which is tantamount to saying &lsquo;let her express her gratitude as she wants&rsquo;. The root for her gratitude was her sense of forgiveness. This heightens the connection between Mary and the woman in the city who was a sinner of Lk. 7. &nbsp;</p><p><i>She intended to keep it for the day of my burial</i>- But Mary's beloved brother Lazarus had only recently died, and been embalmed. Yet she had not used her precious possession for that, but rather kept it for her Lord's burial. Mary Magdalene&rsquo;s understanding of the Lord went far beyond that of anyone else at the time. The record of Mary after the crucifixion has many links back to the woman of Luke 7. She <i>came to the sepulchre,</i> to wash the dead body with her tears, for she <i>went to the grave, to weep there,</i> and to <i>anoint it with the ointment</i> she had prepared. It&rsquo;s as if in her anointing of the Lord she really did see forward to His death and burial. And yet her initial motivation in doing it all was gratitude for what He had done for her through enabling her forgiveness. The Lord&rsquo;s power to forgive was ultimately due to His death, resurrection and ascension (Acts 5:31; Lk. 24:46,47). Yet Mary believed there and then that all this would happen, and thus she believed in His forgiveness. Her second anointing of the Lord has within it the implication that she somehow perceived that her adoration was motivated on account of the death that He was to die. &ldquo;It was right for her to save this perfume for today, the day for me to be prepared for burial&rdquo; (Jn. 12:7 New Century Version). The RV of Jn. 12:7 gives another suggestion: &ldquo;Jesus therefore said in response to Judas&rsquo; suggestion she sell the ointment and give him the money to distribute to the poor, Suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying&rdquo;. Mary Magdalene had kept the precious ointment to anoint Jesus with when He died; and yet Judas was pressurizing her to sell it. And yet she used at least some of it then. This would indicate that she perceived Him as good as dead; she alone it seems perceived the frequent implications in His teaching that He was living out an ongoing death. She fully intended to pour the ointment on His dead body, but she did it ahead of time because she wanted Him to know right then that she understood, and that she loved Him.</p><p>The argument of Judas for efficiency, central administration etc. is contrasted most unfavourably with her personal, simple and deeply felt emotional response to the Lord&rsquo;s death. She did it at supper time (Jn. 12:2). In Jewish culture of the time, a meal together had religious significance. It could be that she so dwelt upon the Lord&rsquo;s teaching in Jn. 6 that she perceived the broken bread of the meal to be symbolic and prophetic of His upcoming death. Her generosity and totality of response to His death was therefore inspired by what we would call a breaking of bread, which made real to her yet once again the endless implications of His self-sacrifice.&nbsp;</p>