I cannot fathom what our Lord must have been feeling as He
drew closer to the day of His death. The wrestle between His natures of Very
God and Very Man must have been to such an extreme magnitude that only God
would have understood. The searing pain of knowing what was to come surely made
Him weak with dread, but the relentless love that He had for us continued to
propel Him toward His death.
But not yet.
Today we come to a beautiful story of Jesus’ anointing found
in Mark 14:3-8
“While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home
of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive
perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his
head. Some of those present were saying
indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and
the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
The poor you will always have with you, and you can
help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to
prepare for my burial.”
There are so many things that could be said about this
scene, but the idea of the perfume rang in my heart so strongly I could almost
smell it.
The thought struck me…people are not usually embalmed before
they die. This woman was acting in faith. She understood that Jesus was going
to die. It is also apparent that she understood that Jesus’ death was going to
be no ordinary one. She was doing a beautiful thing by simply showing Jesus
that she had faith that He was Christ. Oh, how that must have put comfort in
His weary, troubled heart!
But another thought struck me about this perfume.
This perfume that was poured on Jesus to prepare Him for
burial would have been powerful enough to saturate Jesus’ hair, skin and
clothes. That is something to think about. Would Pilate have smelled the
perfume as Jesus stood in judgment? Would the soldiers have smelled the sweet
aroma as they gambled for His clothes? Would the scent have wafted through the
air as the Centurion exclaimed: “Surely this Man was the Son of God!”? What
about when the nails were driven into His hands and feet? Would the executioner
have smelled the perfume? Unquestionably someone would have noticed because it
was a smell quite out of place. Can you imagine a sweet lovely smell in the
midst of a horrid scene? It would have confused the brain…but not the hearts
that understood. Of course Scripture does not tell us, but I believe Jesus took
great comfort in the smell of that perfume. The beautiful aroma was a reminder
that what Christ was doing on that cross was a beautiful thing. Imagine the
last breath that Jesus took was breathing in that sweet perfume, reminding Him
that His self-giving action was sweet. Sweet sacrifice. Sweet salvation. Sweet
victory.
And what does this sweet-smelling perfume mean for us? 2
Corinthians 2:15 gives us a striking answer:
“Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But
this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by
those who are perishing.”
We, as Christians, give off a pleasant odor. God can smell
it and He is pleased. According to this verse, we can encourage other
Christians by our fragrance of Christ-likeness. But to those who do not know
the Lord, they are confused by our smell. Just as our Lord’s burial perfume
smelled sweet to those who believed, and smelled contradictory to those who did
not believe. It is our calling to continue to be more like Christ. Perhaps others
may be drawn to Him by our fragrance.
“Now thanks be to God which always causes us to triumph in
Christ, and makes manifest the aroma of His knowledge by us in every place.” 2
Corinthians 2:14
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