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Compare John 11:1; 12:1-3
Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus, were friends of Jesus. He apparently often stayed with them when he came to Jerusalem.
They lived in Bethany (Aramaic בית עניא, Beth anya; Greek Βηθανία), the traditional site of which is still known today, in Arabic, as al-Eizariyya (العيزرية), a name that derives from Lazarus. It’s a West Bank town located just over the Mount of Olives, on its southeast slope, from Jerusalem. The Garden of Gethsemane was located at the Jerusalem-end of a path that connected Bethany with Jerusalem over a saddle on the Mount of Olives. Jesus would have passed it often, as we walked between their place and the city.
I presume that he stayed with them for economic or financial reasons, especially at festival times when the inns were full and the prices high, just as people coming to Salt Lake City for General Conference will often stay with friends or relatives in the area.
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