"The Fragrance Of Love"

"And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head." Mark 14:3 

When the woman with the alabaster box broke it and poured the spikenard that was in it upon Jesus, it was only a few days later that He would be crucified. What she did, Jesus said was for His burial. What she did, she did out of love for Him.

As Jesus hung on the cross the fragrance of spikenard was still on His body. What she had done- poured out her love on Him- had followed Him to the cross. I can't help but think that as Jesus went through that long night, as He stood before Pilate, as He was being beaten by the Roman soldiers, as He walked the Via Dolorosa, as He fell under the weight of the cross, as He submitted Himself to the nails and as He hung on the cross taking His last breath and dying for the sins of mankind, that every once and a while He would get a whiff of the fragrance from the alabaster box that lingered on Him.

We know from the scriptures that the motive for Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross was love. I tend to believe that each time Jesus got a whiff of the spikenard, He remembered the act of love that was done to Him. It was a reminder to Him of the love that she so lavished on Him. It reminded Him of why He was doing what He was doing-- love (the Father's love for mankind). That love compelled Him to continue His mission until the end.

 

Through Jesus, the Father has lavished His love on you. Jesus was the "alabaster box" that was "broken and poured out" for mankind. When the going gets hard, when the race makes you weary, when the road seems long, the night unending, when the trials and storms seem to be getting more intense instead of easing up, when all hope seems gone, when you feel as if you can't go on, take a moment and breath in. As you do, you will catch a whiff of the wonderful fragrance of God's love that has been poured out upon you. Let that fragrance of His love be a reminder that gives you the strength, grace and courage to go on.

 

Have a great day. The fragrance of love compelled Jesus to finish His work at the cross. Let the fragrance of God's love compel you to continue on when carrying your cross seems hard and unbearable.

For further reading:

Mark 14:1-9
John 3:16
Romans 5:8
Hebrews 12:2