We’re rapidly approaching what I consider one of the most significant holy days (or holidays if you prefer) of Christendom: Easter. The sorrow of Good Friday (still not crazy about calling it “Good” when at the time it occurred, it felt very, very bad) followed by the joyous celebration of Resurrection Sunday.
In honor of this crucial and pivotal annual declaration of our Christ-faith, I’ve decided to post not one but TWO Easter-themed reminders to all of us of the magnitude of the occasion. The first (today’s) is included in my new 365-day devotional releasing in July, Bless Your Heart: Daily Devotions to Warm Your Heart & Feed Your Soul.
The second, which will appear on Good Friday, is a new concept that I’ve been thinking about all week, in preparation for the Easter weekend. I hope you love and look forward to celebration the crux of the love of Jesus for you and for me as much as I do. Let’s make Easter super special this year, shall we, dearest BFF?
The Fragrance of Easter
“Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:2 NIV
One phrase of today’s verse has always puzzled me: fragrant offering. Fragrant? I can’t imagine any possible fragrance in the whole horrid ordeal of Jesus’ murderous crucifixion besides the stomach-churning odor of blood mixed with sweat, tears, and dust. Yet the word “fragrant” implies a pleasant aroma, not stench.
In Mark 14, Mary of Bethany astounded everyone by pouring a jar of expensive perfume over Jesus’ head at a dinner party. I picture the thick, rich, sweet-smelling liquid (spikenard) saturating Jesus’ hair, then flowing down, blanketing every part of Him with Mary’s fragrant love offering. Although some of the disciples were quick to rebuke Mary, Jesus was moved and blessed by her fragrant offering, responding, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. … Wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:6, 8–9 NKJV).
Wow. Mary’s fragrance offering was a big deal to Jesus. Enough so that He proclaimed it a faith memorial to her forever. And this happened only a matter of days before His crucifixion. They weren’t big on showers in those times. So think about this … the penetrating aroma that had saturated Jesus’ hair and body was likely still lingering as Jesus’ skull was impaled by the crown of razor-sharp thorns and His tender back was torn open by Roman whips.
I wonder if Jesus, as He hung there suffering the vileness of ultimate evil, could still catch a faint whiff of Mary’s love offering. Maybe a tiny remnant of that sweet aroma, the proof of a faithful woman’s devotion, clung to His hair and gave some small comfort to His soul, the scent of love intermingled with the stench of all that hate. And I’d like nothing better than to think that somehow my own fragrant offering of love, like Mary’s, could be detected by Jesus on that cross too.
Prayer: Sweet Perfume (2 Corinthians 2:14 NLT), make me a lingering fragrance of Christ everywhere I go for those who need to move from death to life through faith in Him. Amen.
Wow Debora, this was truly beautiful?
It surely made me think about things that I never ever thought about regarding Mary’s fragrant offering! The thought that Jesus could still smell some of her love that she poured on him when he hung on the cross it’s very very touching, and comforting to me. I can imagine how comforting it was for him too.
This is a beautiful remembrance, Deb. I love how phrases in Scripture trigger our thoughts for reflections and wonderings. I think this story reminds us of why we enjoy the scent of perfumes so much. Thanks for sharing and may this Easter Holy Week and weekend be filled with His love.