The Fragrance of Life (and Death)

 Jeremiah 3-4; John 11 

“This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair…’But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there for four days.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’”

John 11:2, 39, 40

Which odor is more powerful, the smell of death, or of life?

Lazarus was in an advanced state of decomposition when Jesus called him out of the tomb. This encounter with “the resurrection and the life” not only transformed Lazarus, but spoke new realities to all who heard the story. When Mary later anointed Jesus with perfume in the days prior to his crucifixion, she was testifying to the resurrection power of life she had experienced in her own family. Mary entered the days of Christ’s betrayal, death, and resurrection, with hope because of what she had seen.

Are we engaging every “foul odor” of sin and death with the same resurrection-hope?

In response to our faith we, too, can testify to the glory of God.

“Jesus, you are the fragrance of life, for your glory.”