Dinner with Simon the Leper

The Monday of teaching ended with a dinner at a friend’s house. We know nothing of this Simon, but he may have been one of those cured by Jesus.

Some commentaries attempt to make this the same event reported in John 12, which occurred upon Jesus’s arrival at Bethany for the Passover holidays. The problem is that the details vary. Earlier, as reported by John, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet. Here an unnamed woman—a seeming stranger—anoints his head. Another compelling argument for these being different is human nature. At the dinner reported by John, we are told that Martha served. The idea that she would act as the hostess in some place other than her own home is very unlikely. If it were her party, she would want it to be in her home. If it were in someone else’s home, the woman of that house would have exercised that honor.

Some have suggested that Martha was married to Simon, but that seems unlikely since she is always mentioned with Lazarus and Mary, not with a husband. Jesus also calls her “this woman,” which would have been a very impersonal term for one he knew as intimately as Mary. Mark also tells us that the disciples rebuked her sharply. That hardly seems a likely response to a member of one’s host family.