Bethany

Bethany is a village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, near to Jerusalem. It is fixed in the gospel record as the home of one household — Mary, her sister Martha, and their brother Lazarus — and as the place to which Jesus repeatedly returns in the days surrounding his triumphal entry, his anointing for burial, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Location

Bethany is named in relation to two larger landmarks. As Jesus draws near to Jerusalem in the final week, the village stands paired with Bethphage at the Mount of Olives: "And when they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sends two of his disciples" (Mark 11:1). Its proximity to the capital is given in plain measure: "Now Bethany was near to Jerusalem, about two miles away" (John 11:18). The village is therefore close enough that mourners from Jerusalem can come out to it, and close enough that Jesus can move between it and the temple in the same day.

The Household at Bethany

Bethany is identified by the family that lives there. The opening of the Lazarus account fixes the village by its named residents: "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha" (John 11:1). Each member of the household is named in turn — Lazarus by his sickness, Mary by a past act of devotion ("And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick," John 11:2), and Martha by her place in the family.

The earlier visit recorded in Luke 10 places Jesus in this same household, though the village is not yet named in that scene: "Now as they went on their way, he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him" (Luke 10:38). Martha is fixed at the door of hospitality, and the sister at her brother's feet is fixed in another posture entirely: "And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet, and heard his word" (Luke 10:39).

Martha and Mary

The two sisters are persistently distinguished by what each does. Martha receives, serves, and speaks. Mary sits, listens, and falls. In the Lukan visit, Martha is "cumbered about much service" and brings her complaint directly to the guest: "Lord, don't you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Then tell her to help me" (Luke 10:40). The reply names her by the doubled vocative and identifies the trouble as inward: "But the Lord answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things" (Luke 10:41). Mary's chosen part is declared beyond removal: "but one thing is needful: for Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42).

The same contrast is drawn at Bethany when Jesus arrives after Lazarus has died. Martha rises and goes out: "Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house" (John 11:20). Martha confesses an orthodox but distant hope of resurrection at the last day (John 11:24), and she answers Christ's question with a settled creed: "Yes, Lord: I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, [even] he who comes into the world" (John 11:27). Mary, when she comes, comes prostrate: "Mary therefore, when she came where Jesus was, and saw him, fell down at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:32).

The Raising of Lazarus

The death and raising of Lazarus belong to Bethany. Jesus drops the figure of sleep and states the bare fact: "Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead" (John 11:14). At the tomb, Martha objects practically — "Lord, by this time the body decays; for he has been [dead] four days' [time]" (John 11:39) — and her relation to the dead man is reasserted in the same line as "the sister of him who was dead." The command at the tomb is short and personal: "And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth" (John 11:43).

The raised man's continued presence at Bethany then becomes its own sign. Six days before the Passover, Jesus returns: "Jesus therefore six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead" (John 12:1). The village is now identified by the man called out of the tomb. Lazarus reclines at the supper made for Jesus — "So they made him a supper there: and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of those who sat to eat with him" (John 12:2) — and a crowd gathers for the same reason: "The large crowd therefore of the Jews learned that he was there: and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead" (John 12:9). His survival as a raised man becomes a target: "But the chief priests took counsel that they might put Lazarus also to death" (John 12:10).

The Anointing at Bethany

It is in this Bethany supper that Mary's earlier-named act is shown: "Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of pure nard, very precious, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment" (John 12:3). The household objection is voiced by Judas, "Why wasn't this ointment sold for 300 denarii, and given to the poor?" (John 12:5), and the writer adds the reason: "not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was put in it" (John 12:6). Jesus answers, "Allow her to keep it against the day of my burying. For the poor you⁺ always have with you⁺; but me you⁺ do not always have" (John 12:7-8).

A parallel anointing at Bethany is fixed in another house — the house of Simon the leper — where the vessel itself is named: "And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat to eat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly; [and] she broke the cruse, and poured it over his head" (Mark 14:3). The cruse is broken and the ointment is poured over his head; the village is the setting for both anointings.

The Colt and the Sojourn

Bethany also supplies the colt for the entry into Jerusalem. The errand is dispatched from the Mount of Olives, where Bethphage and Bethany stand together: "Go your⁺ way into the village that is across from you⁺: and right away as you⁺ enter into it, you⁺ will find a colt tied, on which no man ever yet sat; loose him, and bring him" (Mark 11:2). The colt is brought, garments and branches are spread, and the Hosanna shout goes up (Mark 11:7-10).

After the entry, Bethany becomes the lodging for the days that follow. Jesus surveys the temple and goes back: "And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and when he had looked around on all things, it being now evening, he went out to Bethany with the twelve" (Mark 11:11). The next morning's hunger is dated from the village: "And on the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, he was hungry" (Mark 11:12). And the same pattern of leaving the city in the evening continues: "And when evening came they went forth out of the city" (Mark 11:19). Bethany, two miles off, is the place to which Jesus withdraws in the final week.