"12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus."
John 12:1-11
Anointing in ancient times was used in the act of separating something or someone to God; priests were anointed with oil, as were prophets, and kings were designated and installed by the same anointing. Above all, in the Old Testament, the Hebrew word Messiah means the Lord's anointed one, as does Christos in the Greek. All this has significance in Mary's action, for she was thus acknowledging Jesus as her Messiah, as her merciful and faithful High Priest, and as her King and Lord. It was an act of homage on her part in which she proclaimed to Him and to the world that He was King of her life. But notice what Jesus said about her action: she had anointed His body for His burial. Here is a remarkable association of ideas - kingship and burial. He was to receive His authority and power through death. Did Mary see this? Perhaps she did. The scholars sometimes question just how much awareness there was in her mind, but we may believe her discernment penetrated very deeply, seeing things that were apparently hidden from all the others.
But there is still more in this symbolism. Mary had the ointment (or oil) of spikenard in a cruse or bottle. One of the other gospels tells us that she broke the bottle and emptied the contents upon Him. And whether she realised it or not - and who will be so bold as to say she did not? - she was in that act proclaiming to them all, 'Look, this is what He is about to do; His precious body will soon be broken, and an odour of salvation will pervade the whole world, as the perfume of the spikenard is filling this room. The fragrance of His self-giving love will be for the healing of the nations'. This is surely what Christ saw in her action - a pre-figuring of His own Passion, and the kind of effect it was to have upon the world He loved. And it was because this is true that her consecration expressed in this way was lovely and acceptable to Him, and an inspiration to us.