The Aroma of Christ

This morning as I was reading my Bible and studying (I’ve been studying a lot about Jewish tradition, culture, and history as it relates to Jesus), I was led to the verse about Mary when she anointed the feet of Jesus with the nard (very expensive perfume). I always wondered why that was so significant, other than the fact that it symbolized preparation for His death and the burial preparations. In my studies, the Jewish tradition was when a king was chosen, instead of giving him a crown to signify this honor, he was anointed with a very strong smelling oil or perfume. The reason a strong smelling oil or perfume was used, was because the aroma would last for many days on the newly appointed King. As the King would travel among the crowds or from town to town, the aroma would often precede him and announce his coming beforehand. In thinking about this, I realized that when Mary anointed Christ, the beautiful aroma permeated his clothing, hair and his entire being so that in the days ahead, everywhere he went, those who were around him could smell the aroma and know that this was indeed the King (God’s chosen one). Perhaps even as he was being beaten, the aroma still lingered. Perhaps even when he was being nailed to the cross, the beautiful scent was still lingering a little bit, we will never know…but as we prepare to go to China and enter a country where we’re not able to freely speak about Christ, we can still carry His aroma with us! Hopefully, the Chinese students will be able to see that we are filled with the love of Christ. Hopefully, they will see that we are His hands and His feet. Hopefully, they will get just a whiff of a beautiful scent, the scent of a King wafting near us…as we allow every portion of Christ to exude through our pores. What a wonderful thought…we can carry the aroma of Christ everywhere we go…even to China!