Is it the same Mary in these two accounts?

[BrotherTony]

I've recently been going back over notes from college, sermons I've heard in the churches I've been members of, and several of the preachers my wife and I have set under have preached on these Scriptures....Luke 7:36-50, and Mark 14:3-11....Some have said that these are two similar accounts and that these are two different Mary's. Others have taught that these are the same Mary. It was brought back to my attention this morning through some conversation at church. What do you believe concerning these two accounts. Are they the same or are they different accounts and different Mary's and why do you believe this way? 

Thanks in advance. 

BT

[Jerry]

They are two entirely different accounts. The passage in Luke is in Jesus' early ministry. The woman is unnamed - church tradition of some sort says it is Mary Madgalene for various reasons, but the Bible does not say. It is an immoral woman who poured ointment over Jesus out of gratitude for being forgiven.

The other Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John) contain the account of Mary of Bethany (Lazarus' sister, who was already saved), who anointed Jesus for His burial. According to those passages, this was literally the last week of Jesus' public ministry before His crucifixion.

So two entirely different women, one named Mary of Bethany, and the other unnamed. Both anointed Jesus for different reasons, and both had different people around them (Luke mentions Simon saying something about the moral nature of that woman, and the other Gospels mention Judas getting upset that the money was not put into the treasury bag which he was in charge of).

Edited June 5, 2022 by Jerry

[BrotherTony]

1 hour ago, Jerry said:

They are two entirely different accounts. The passage in Luke is in Jesus' early ministry. The woman is unnamed - church tradition of some sort says it is Mary Madgalene for various reasons, but the Bible does not say. It is an immoral woman who poured ointment over Jesus out of gratitude for being forgiven.

The other Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John) contain the account of Mary of Bethany (Lazarus' sister, who was already saved), who anointed Jesus for His burial. According to those passages, this was literally the last week of Jesus' public ministry before His crucifixion.

So two entirely different women, one named Mary of Bethany, and the other unnamed. Both anointed Jesus for different reasons, and both had different people around them (Luke mentions Simon saying something about the moral nature of that woman, and the other Gospels mention Judas getting upset that the money was not put into the treasury bag which he was in charge of).

I agree with this assessment of the passages. This morning our pastor preached on these two passages in his sermon Praying with Fire. In the first Bible college I went to, and even in the Christian high school I went to, the Bible teachers were teaching that these were the same account. I could never reconcile my researh to believe this. When I questioned the position, the professors/Bible teacher became frustrated and said to "ask God."  Since I already had prayed to find the right answer, I explained to them exactly what you just stated. Thanks for your input.

[Jerry]

It was either Origen or Augustine (both early church fathers/heretics) that originally taught that it was Mary Magdalene in Luke 7, and many people through the years have taken their words for it - yet both allegorized and corrected the Bible.

[BrotherTony]

13 minutes ago, Jerry said:

It was either Origen or Augustine (both early church fathers/heretics) that originally taught that it was Mary Magdalene in Luke 7, and many people through the years have taken their words for it - yet both allegorized and corrected the Bible.

Yes, they did.

[SureWord]

On 6/5/2022 at 1:51 PM, BrotherTony said:

I've recently been going back over notes from college, sermons I've heard in the churches I've been members of, and several of the preachers my wife and I have set under have preached on these Scriptures....Luke 7:36-50, and Mark 14:3-11....Some have said that these are two similar accounts and that these are two different Mary's. Others have taught that these are the same Mary. It was brought back to my attention this morning through some conversation at church. What do you believe concerning these two accounts. Are they the same or are they different accounts and different Mary's and why do you believe this way? 

Thanks in advance. 

BT

Similar but seperate stories with the one in Luke taking place at Nain in Galilee and the Mark account taking place at Bethany outside of Jerusalem.

Both accounts, in context, have Jesus weeping, raising up a dead man, having his feet anointed in the home of a man named Simon (one a Pharisee and the other a leper) and incurring the anger of the Pharisees in one case and the disciples in the other.

Now John 11:2 seems to suggest that Mary the brother of Lazarus already anointed Jesus' feet but she doesn't do that until the next chapter unless she anointed his feet twice, once in Nain and again in Bethany (maybe twice in Bethany since it appears his feet were anointed on two seperate occasions).

It could also have been the "sinner" Mary Magdalene who anointed his feet in Luke 7 because in the next chapter Mary Magdalene is said to have started following the Lord after he cast seven devils out of her. This would be my guess to which Mary it was.

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by SureWord

[Jerry]

There are only two occasions of Jesus weeping in the Gospels - one is at Lazarus' tomb, and the other is just before He went to the cross and He wept over Jerusalem.

John 11:2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

This verse is a summary statement, and the next chapter gives the details. It is not referring to two separate anointings with Mary of Bethany.

13 hours ago, SureWord said:

It could also have been the "sinner" Mary Magdalene who anointed his feet in Luke 7 because in the next chapter Mary Magdalene is said to have started following the Lord after he cast seven devils out of her. This would be my guess to which Mary it was.

I understand how someone could arrive at this conclusion seeing as she is mentioned in the chapter following the events in Luke 7 - though we need to be careful we don't arrive at our beliefs or conclusions of certain things in the Bible by assumption. (Not saying you are doing this - but I am referring to the many commentators, etc. through the centuries that have stated the conclusion that it was Mary Magdalene, taught it as fact, and then for 1600-1700 years it is restated as doctrine.)

[SureWord]

6 hours ago, Jerry said:

There are only two occasions of Jesus weeping in the Gospels - one is at Lazarus' tomb, and the other is just before He went to the cross and He wept over Jerusalem.

John 11:2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

This verse is a summary statement, and the next chapter gives the details. It is not referring to two separate anointings with Mary of Bethany.

I understand how someone could arrive at this conclusion seeing as she is mentioned in the chapter following the events in Luke 7 - though we need to be careful we don't arrive at our beliefs or conclusions of certain things in the Bible by assumption. (Not saying you are doing this - but I am referring to the many commentators, etc. through the centuries that have stated the conclusion that it was Mary Magdalene, taught it as fact, and then for 1600-1700 years it is restated as doctrine.)

It's just a guess based on circumstantial evidence. Her name is not mentioned.  It could be because the disciples who read the gospels at the time they were written were familiar with all the "Marys" (Jesus' mother, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany and Mary  the wife of Cleophas) but would not have been familiar with who the woman was at Nain so no name was given. Just more speculation on my part.