Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany
John 12:1–11; Mark 14:3–9; Matthew 26:6–13
Six days before the Passover, at a supper in Bethany with Lazarus at the table, Mary poured a pound of costly perfume of pure nard on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair.
Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.
Mark 14:9 (World English Bible)
The perfume was worth three hundred denarii, about a year's wages. Judas objected that it could have been sold for the poor, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief (John 12:6). Jesus defended her: she had anointed him beforehand for his burial.
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Dating notes
The day is inferred: John 12:1 puts the supper six days before the Passover and the entry into Jerusalem on the next day (John 12:12), which Ussher dates to 29 March. Mark and Matthew tell the story later in the week, apparently arranged by topic. Ussher's dates put the crucifixion on Friday, 3 April AD 33; many scholars prefer Friday, 7 April AD 30, which would move all of Holy Week three years earlier.