Neville Goddard on John 12:1-3 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read John 12 in context

Scripture Focus

1Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

2There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

3Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

John 12:1-3

Biblical Context

Jesus visits Bethany six days before the Passover, where Lazarus has been raised. Mary anoints Jesus' feet with costly ointment, and the fragrance fills the room.

Neville's Inner Vision

John 12:1-3 places us in Bethany where a feast, a servant, and a kiss of reverence reveal the state of consciousness. In Neville's sense, the room is your mind, the guests are your thoughts that attend to the Self, and the fragrance is the truth that travels through every corridor of your feeling. Lazarus, risen from the dead, represents the awakened portion of you, the consciousness that refuses to accept mere appearances. Martha's service points to the practical acts of attention, while Mary's costly ointment is the incense of gratitude you lavish on the I AM Presence. When she anoints Jesus' feet and wipes them with her hair, she humbles the sense of self and allows the divine impression to permeate the ground of your day. The fragrance filling the house is the felt sense of presence moving through your thoughts, dissolving fear and opening space for life to live you. This is not history but a pattern; you are invited to assume this inner scene until it becomes your lived experience of I AM, here and now.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and imagine anointing the feet of your own I AM with costly oil of gratitude, then wiping it with humility. Stay with the fragrance filling the room and know this inner worship becomes your outer experience.