IN WHOSE HOUSE?

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (John 12:1-3, NRSV).

IN WHOSE HOUSE?

Three Gospels tell of Mary’s act of grace.
        In whose house did the incident take place?
In Mark’s and Matthew’s Gospels it occurred
        in Simon’s house.  But there is not a word
in John about Simon the Pharisee.
        We do know that it was in Bethany;
perhaps it was the home of Lazarus.
        In either case, it need not trouble us,
for it is possible to reconcile
        the scene described in Simon’s domicile
with that which John relates in his account.
        Besides, the diff’rences do not amount
to anything worth worrying about.
        The bottom line is that there is no doubt
a feast was held in honor of the King,
        where Martha served and Mary did her thing,
evoking Jesus’ words about the poor,
        and heralding her act for evermore.

RSA