Mark 14:3

And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly: and she brake the cruse and poured it over his head.

JESUS WAS ANOINTED FOR HIS BURIAL

This is a second anointing of Jesus, the other being recorded in Luke 7:37-50; but "it is absurd to represent the two anointings as the same."[1] Simon, a leper had been healed by Jesus; but he retained the name to distinguish him from other Simons, that being a very common name. Simon evidently made this dinner in honor of the Lord.

A woman having an alabaster cruse ... This was Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. All of the synoptics refrained from any publicity for this family, perhaps out of respect for the desire of the family for privacy following the resurrection of Lazarus. Such a conclusion is mandatory from the facts: (1) of the Lord's prophecy that this deed would be an everlasting memorial for Mary; (2) which would have required publishing her name; and yet (3) her name was conspicuously omitted until the publication of John. For a number of critical questions arising from variations in the sacred accounts, see under parallels in Matthew and John in this series of commentaries.