Nard, a Donkey, and a Cross: What John 12 Saw Coming
Six days before Passover, Mary pours a year’s wages of pure nard over the feet of Jesus and Judas calls it waste. Jesus calls it a burial. Because he would be executed as a criminal and hurried into the tomb, hers was the only proper anointing he ever received while still breathing. Then he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the one animal in creation that carries a cross written across its own shoulders. The shepherd was not surprised by Calvary. He was walking toward it on purpose.
Greetings! Hope you’re having a great day — and let’s see if we can put just a little bit more God into it, back in John 10 through 12. Last time we looked at the diagnosis. Today we look at two people and one animal who all understood something the rest of the room missed.
The Burial Perfume
I’m tying all these different things together because there’s a reason why they are located where they are in the Bible, why these sections where Jesus is talking all actually connect.
In John chapter 12, Mary approaches Jesus and pours an incredibly expensive jar of pure nard over his feet. What in the world is a nard? Judas complains about the waste, but Jesus stops him and declares that she has kept this perfume for the day of his burial.
So think about the precision of that moment. Pure spikenard. Sounds terrible, but it was a heavy aromatic oil used in antiquity to prepare dead bodies and mask the smell of decay. Because Jesus would be executed swiftly as a criminal on Good Friday, there would be no time for a traditional burial anointing before he was rushed into the tomb.
Prophetically, Mary’s extravagant offering was the only proper anointing for burial he received while alive. She recognized what the world missed. The shepherd was about to lay down his life.
Sitting on the Instrument of Death
I think I’ve said something about this in the last several commentaries, but the precision of God’s design is woven into creation itself.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a young donkey, a creature created by God, of course. Biologically, the domestic donkey carries a permanent visual mark, a distinct dark stripe of hair running down its spine and across its shoulders, forming a natural cross.
Did you know that when Jesus rode in to Jerusalem on a donkey, he was sitting on a cross? He was. Jesus wasn’t just choosing humility over a warrior’s horse. He was physically sitting upon the sign of the cross.
He rode into the city of his execution seated on the visual instrument of his execution. Every step of that donkey’s hooves was a sovereign, deliberate march toward the sacrifice of Calvary. He did not run away like a hireling. He marched directly toward the wolf.
Classic Commentaries Corner
Henry observes that Mary’s costliness was not waste but faith, since she alone read the death he kept announcing. Clarke remarks that the poor are never served by despising worship, and Judas proved it by stealing from the bag he claimed to care about. Ryle notes that the disciples heard the same words for months and still did not expect a cross. Maclaren sees in the donkey’s shoulders a sermon in creation: God wrote the end of the story into the animal he chose for the last mile.
Corroborating Scripture & Christological Connections
John 12:3 — “Mary 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.” The whole house smelled like the burial.
John 12:7 — “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” He named the reason she could not.
John 12:14–15 — “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” Zechariah quoted in the middle of it.
Zechariah 9:9 — “Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey.” Five centuries early.
Mark 14:8 — “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.” An anointing before the death.
Psalm 118:26 — “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The crowd had the right words.
Essential Takeaways
She Heard It: Jesus told them plainly he was going to die. One person in the room believed him.
Waste Is a Verdict: What looks extravagant to a room that expects no cross is only reasonable to one that does.
No Time for Nicety: A criminal’s execution left no hour for anointing. Her gift was the only one he got alive.
The Sign Was on the Animal: Dark stripe, mane to shoulder, a cross on the back of the colt he rode.
He Walked Toward It: The hireling runs at the wolf. The shepherd marched into the city of his execution.
Prayer For Whomsoevers
Lord, we thank You that You told us the truth about where You were going and then went anyway. Forgive us for the worship we have called too expensive and the love we have called impractical. Give us eyes to see the cross You built into the world before we ever needed it, and hearts to spend ourselves on You without counting the cost. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
