My daughter wears many different fragrances, but her favorite is Adam Levine for Women Eau De Parfum. When she sprays it on, a sweet, light scent fills her room and wafts gently down the upstairs hallway in the house. When I smell that clean, delicate scent, I know she is going out for a special occasion.
In John 12:3, Mary washes Jesus’ feet with a very expensive perfume. As she pours the fragrance on her Lord, the aroma fills the house. I would imagine it was an intoxicating and wonderful smell to those in the house. This perfume was also used to mark a very special and somber occasion. According to Je- sus, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial” (John 12:7).
Spices and perfumes were used to cover up the odor of decay in dead bodies, but in the case of Jesus Christ His body would never “see decay” (Psalm 16:10). So the perfume Mary poured on Jesus was symbolic of the “pleasing aroma” (Leviticus 3:16) His sacrifice for our sin was before God; and it was the fragrance of the resurrection life, which the Holy Spirit would bring into the world after God raised Jesus to life.
When by faith we accept Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sin and receive eternal life through the Spirit, our life becomes a pleasing aroma to God. When we follow Christ, we receive His fragrance of life through the Spirit.
Denise Larson Cooper has a passion for Christ and sharing His Word. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise currently works as a gymnastic coach.
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Godnesia: Keeping God in Mind Each Day http://amzn.to/2GSquOD
Ordinary Days With an Extraordinary Savior – http://amzn.to/2mFGASB
Life Is a Metaphor: Recognizing God in the Everyday – http://amzn.to/2De1rU2