The Fragrance of Christ

Mark 14:1-9

Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:1-8
Luke 7:36-50 (perhaps another woman)

Other Scripture
Nard: Song of Solomon 1:1-3, 12, 4:13-14
Myrrh: John 19:38-40; Exodus 30:22-29; Mark 15:23; Song of Solomon 4:13-14; Esther 2:12
Fragrance of Christ: 2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Nard
Perfumed oil used as a fragrance for marriage consummation; brings joy, fills the room with its scent, allows lovers to remember one another as the scent lingers, heightens the anticipation of love as the scent fills the room when the beloved arrives

Myrrh
Mixed with wine as a pain reliever; as an anointing oil for the tabernacle (Holy of Holies), the priest, the priestly garments, the judgement seat; scents the robes of the King and the bridegroom; used to embalm by wrapping the body with strips of linen and tucking the spices in between the strips; 75 lbs of myrrh indicated a royal burial

Sometimes things that seem so insignificant have a deeper purpose and give clarity of understanding when given a second look. Typically, I know when God wants me to look more intently because the words suddenly strike me, then I read or hear that verse or a relating verse of Scripture several times until I go back to re-read the initial catalyst verse.

So it happened with Mark 14:1-9 as I heard it and relating verses until I spent time digging into the thing that caught my eye initially. This catalyst - the bottle of nard.

It's about two-to-six days before the Passover and Crucifixion and Jesus is enjoying a dinner in his honor at a home in Bethany. We know the house was of Simon the leper (Mark, Matt). Lazarus, whom Jesus earlier raised from the dead was there. Martha, Lazarus's sister, helped cook and serve. Lazarus's other sister, Mary, is about to take center stage (John). Mark says the meal is two days from the Passover; John says it's six days out. Luke doesn't seem to mention this particular dinner but he mentions a similar event and the conversation is directed towards a man named Simon but the house belonged to a Pharisee. Are these stories all the same or two different ones? For the meaning, it doesn't matter.

For Mark, Matthew and John, the drama unfolds as the (male) guests are reclining at the table. The men whom are leaning on a pillow would have had their feet extended away from the table. A servant or the youngest member of the host family, would have already washed the guests' feet.

Mary enters the room carrying a bulbous bottle with a long neck. It's filled with pure nard and we read that this perfume is so expensive, it's worth a year's salary. The bottle would have been sealed shut to preserve the potency of the nard. Mary would have had to break the neck off of the bulbous bottle to use the nard and once that bottle was opened, its entire contents had to be used. Only a one-time use was in this bottle and Mary would have had the perfume saved for her wedding night. As the bottle's neck is snapped off allowing Mary to pure out the nard, its intoxicating, warm, heavy scent would have begun to fill the room. People would have recognized the scent and its meaning causing conversation to stop, mouths to open and all eyes turned to Mary and Jesus.

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The worth of the nard:
From what I can lightly determine, the nard was worth a year's salary. Perhaps it was worth 350 denarius as a denarius was a day-laborer's pay for one day's work. Some say a denarius was worth $20 and today about $65. The 350 denarius would have been worth approximately 88 silver coins. Perhaps that's equivalent to $5,632 today. Today, a blue-collar income salary ranges from $18,000/year to $25,000/year. So we can imagine today spending between $5,600 to $18,000 for this bottle of nard to be used once on our wedding night. Either way I look at it, spending more than $40 for a bottle of perfume seems overly extravagant; I guess we don't value marriage as we should.

Another interesting item of note is that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver or about 120 denarius - about half-a-year's salary. When I think of what Judas received to betray Jesus, only 30 piece of silver, not understanding the context allowed me to think the amount was too small to satisfy greed. Knowing Judas did this for half-a-year's salary I can now see the greed in Judas and his betrayal as more significant and not incidental.
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So why did women have these bottles of nard? It was more than a dowry. A woman bought and saved this costly nard to perfume herself, her clothing and bed linens in preparation for enjoying her husband on their wedding night. The scent, as all scents do, heighten the senses increasing the anticipation of being together, surrounds the experience in aromas and then lingers as it clings to everything so the memory remains. The cost and quality of the perfume shows the level of devotion for the bride to the groom and the significance of marriage.

Myrrh was another scent used in the wedding ceremony and consummation. It is also the scent of royalty and the priesthood.

In Exodus (30:22-29), myrrh is required by God to anoint the tabernacle, the priestly garments, the priest, and the mercy (judgement) seat where God Himself would sit.

When Esther (Esther 2:12) was chosen to be the Queen for Xerxes, she underwent six months of beauty treatments which included being saturated in myrrh for that time so Esther would delight the King and be a walking fragrance of her royalty.

Myrrh was also a sedative mixed with wine (Mark 15:23) to dull pain and it is also used to scent a corpse when it was wrapped for burial. If a corpse was wrapped with 75 lbs of myrrh and spices, it indicated the person was considered to be royalty (John 19:38-40).

Myrrh was also used to fragrant the bridegroom's and King's garments. When the Magi visited young Jesus (between a year to 3 years old), they gave gifts that included myrrh. In a true sense, the Magi were saying Jesus is priest, bridegroom and King of which He is.

With all of this, it is why I think the scene where Mary breaks open the bottle of nard to anoint Jesus and the subsequent following dialogue means more than just what we read on the surface.

Typically at the formal dinner, after the guests feet were washed, perfumed oil to anoint the feet and head was provided. So what Mary did wasn't out of the ordinary but the scent and her way of anointing Jesus was extraordinary and showed the level of belief in and devotion to Jesus. This nard would have been used on her wedding night and now it was gone, the bottle empty, the neck broken. There was no going back, no do-over or saving some for later. Mary was fully committed to her actions. 

Perhaps she would never save enough money to replace the nard. So if Mary were to marry someone, then she would have entered marriage without the scent of marriage, without preparing herself for her husband. However, maybe Mary was showing her complete devotion to Jesus, choosing not to ever marry and follow Jesus always.

In this scene, Mary does more than pour the nard onto Jesus's feet and head to customarily anoint Him. To complete her actions, Mary let's down her hair. Letting her hair down would have been something a woman of ill repute or prostitute would have done in public or a wife in the privacy of her home would have let her hair down for her husband only. Yet Mary performs a servant's task of wiping Jesus' feet, anointing His feet and head with perfume and does this with her hair down. The scene is rather shocking, even to Jesus's closest friends, as it was a scene that should have played out between a newly married husband and wife, in the solitary of their home, without spectators. Plus, the nard screamed the cost of her actions, level of devotion and it could not be ignored or brushed aside as trivial.

It's important to note that Jesus received the gesture. He didn't try to stop Mary then reluctantly receive the anointing and the manner of the anointing. Jesus received it and seemed to enjoy it, half expecting someone to have recognized the occasion and done this to Him, as it was customary. The cost of the perfume took the action from customary to intimate and regal at the same time.

That potency of scent said Jesus was being anointed as husband, King and priest. The scent defines Jesus to that house (and to us as we read the story), and it spoke of where He was next going.

As priest, Jesus was going into the Holy of Holies to offer the Passover blood for all of us before the mercy seat of God. We know He did that and it was accepted because at the moment He died, God Himself ripped the curtain that guarded the entrance to the Holy of Holies; we now have direct contact with God through Jesus.

As King, Jesus would lead His people to the promise land and be seated to rule over them. He has showed us and continues to show us the way and sits now ruling over our lives as each of us enters His kingdom and allows His rule.

As husband, Jesus negotiated the price of the bride with the Father, went to the bride offering her the cup of redemption (wine) saying, "I love you and give you my life." He in fact, as our bridegroom, did give His life for our life. As husband, He is now preparing a place for His bride and when that place is ready, He will come with His wedding party to claim His bride bringing us to the place He prepared where we will celebrate with Him at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. (I believe He will smell of myrrh when He returns.)Mary did a good thing and what she did shouts to who Jesus is. Do you smell His fragrance? Do you recognize Him for who He is?

Upon Jesus' burial, we have another scent to describe Him - myrrh. When Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried Jesus in Joseph's prepared tomb, they wrapped Jesus with 75 lbs of spices of which would have been myrrh. Joseph and Nicodemus, by spending the high cost for the quality of spice - myrrh - and the amount - 75 lbs - stated firmly they believed Jesus to be King.

So, the fragrances of Jesus state who He is as well as who people consider Him to be. As these scents curl in our noses we are to recognize those scents and associate them with the proper meaning of Christ.

Finally, we who believe while living our lives as a testimony of Jesus as Savior and Lord are His lingering fragrance here on earth. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16) Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those being saved. To those perishing, we are the smell of death.

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July 20, 2016

When listening to the radio broadcast of Dr. Stephen Davey from Wisdom for the Heart on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, the message was from John 12:1-11 entitled "Scent from a Broken Vase". It speaks to the magnitude of what Mary did for Jesus when she poured out her perfume onto Him, at the house of her brother Lazarus. It reminded me of this journal entry I wrote five years ago.

"Scent from a Broken Vase" by Dr. Stephen Davey from Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC.