Yohanes 11:2

11:2 (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil ¹  and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) ² 

Yohanes 12:27

12:27 “Now my soul is greatly distressed. And what should I say? ‘Father, deliver me ³  from this hour’? ⁴  No, but for this very reason I have come to this hour. ⁵ 

Yohanes 20:20

20:20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ⁶ 

Yohanes 20:29

20:29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people ⁷  who have not seen and yet have believed.” ⁸ 

[11:2]  ¹ tn Or “perfume,” “ointment.”

[11:2]  ² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. It is a bit surprising that the author here identifies Mary as the one who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, since this event is not mentioned until later, in 12:3. Many see this “proleptic” reference as an indication that the author expected his readers to be familiar with the story already, and go on to assume that in general the author in writing the Fourth Gospel assumed his readers were familiar with the other three gospels. Whether the author assumed actual familiarity with the synoptic gospels or not, it is probable that he did assume some familiarity with Mary’s anointing activity.

[12:27]  ³ tn Or “save me.”

[12:27]  ⁴ tn Or “this occasion.”

[12:27]  sn Father, deliver me from this hour. It is now clear that Jesus’ hour has come – the hour of his return to the Father through crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension (see 12:23). This will be reiterated in 13:1 and 17:1. Jesus states (employing words similar to those of Ps 6:4) that his soul is troubled. What shall his response to his imminent death be? A prayer to the Father to deliver him from that hour? No, because it is on account of this very hour that Jesus has come. His sacrificial death has always remained the primary purpose of his mission into the world. Now, faced with the completion of that mission, shall he ask the Father to spare him from it? The expected answer is no.

[12:27]  ⁵ tn Or “this occasion.”

[20:20]  ⁶ sn When the disciples recognized Jesus (now referred to as the Lord, cf. Mary’s words in v. 18) they were suddenly overcome with joy. This was a fulfillment of Jesus’ words to the disciples in the Farewell Discourse (16:20-22) that they would have sorrow while the world rejoiced, but that their sorrow would be turned to lasting joy when they saw him again.

[20:29]  ⁷ tn Grk “are those.”

[20:29]  ⁸ tn Some translations treat πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") as a gnomic aorist (timeless statement) and thus equivalent to an English present tense: “and yet believe” (RSV). This may create an effective application of the passage to the modern reader, but the author is probably thinking of those people who had already believed without the benefit of seeing the risen Jesus, on the basis of reports by others or because of circumstantial evidence (see John 20:8).