Episode 594: Simon, the Leper

We continue with “Perspectives on Easter” – our series focused on the people who played both major and minor roles in the Easter narrative, as well as the relevant places, practices, artifacts, and traditions related to Easter. Today we feature a first person monologue from Simon the Leper, who is believed to have been one of Jesus’ disciples.

Simon the Leper emerges in a brief but dramatic scene recorded in Matthew 26:6–13 and Mark 14:3–9. While Jesus was staying in Bethany, one night He and the disciples were invited for a meal at the home of Simon the Leper. As Jesus reclined at the dinner table, an unnamed woman came in, broke an expensive flask of perfume and poured the oil over the Lord’s head, anointing Him in an extravagant act of worship. The disciples reacted with indignation at the woman’s waste of valuable resources. But Jesus told them to leave the woman alone, “for she has done a beautiful thing to me” (Matthew 26:10, ESV). Her anointing was a fitting way to honor the Messiah-King and prepare Him for burial. This dinner at Simon the Leper’s home took place about one week before Jesus was crucified.

Besides the passages already noted, this monologue is inspired by Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; Matthew 27-28; Mark 15; Luke 23; and John 18-19.