On Good Friday I led a Good Friday Meditation at one of my churches called Elements of the Passion. During the meditation I looked at seven elements that are present in the Passion story and explored them in turn. (I'm not a scientist so I'm sure that some of my seven are not strictly elements so please humour me!)
I thought that I would share them with you here over the next seven days so here's the sixth which is on perfume and spices
The Burial of Jesus
After these things,
Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because
of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus.
Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, who had
at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and
aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped
it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews. (John 19:38-40)
We
only encounter references to perfume and spices three times in the gospel
stories. The first time is in Matthew’s gospel which tells us that when Jesus
was born wise men from the east came to visit him and one of the gifts that
they brought him was myrrh. This spice was brought to Jesus in a spirit of
worship and adoration. It was brought by wise men indeed who could truly
recognise that God was at work in the world in a most wonderful way.
The
second time that we encounter perfume is when a dinner is given for Jesus at
Bethany and Mary pours a pound of pure Nard on Jesus’ feet to anoint them and
John’s gospel tells us that the whole house was filled with the fragrance of
the perfume. This perfume was brought to Jesus in a spirit of love.
And
then in the passage that we have just heard Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
bring myrrh and aloes and they place the spices inside the linen cloth that
they use to wrap Jesus’ body in for burial. These spices were brought to Jesus
in a spirit of sorrow and defiance. They had great sorrow for the evil that had
been done. They had great sorrow for the death of a man they had come to love
and respect, a man they had come to realise was God’s son. But they came in a
spirit of defiance because Jesus’ death had emboldened them to stand up and be
counted. Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret disciple of Jesus because of his
fear of the Jews. But now he was afraid no longer. He boldly brought his spices
to Jesus to show that he was not afraid to be called Jesus’ disciple.
Spices and perfume were used to disguise the
stench of dead bodies in Jesus day. But not even a hundred pounds of spices
could mask the stench of what had been done on that day. They could not
disguise the stench of injustice, of an innocent man being cruelly tortured and
killed. They could not disguise the stench of betrayal, of Jesus being
abandoned by those he had come to save. They could not disguise the stench of
hypocrisy of those people such as the Pharisees and Chief Priests who claimed
to lead the people in matters of God but instead had lead them astray . No
spices or perfumes could ever take away that stench.
Isn’t
it strange how once again an element that was there at the start of Jesus’
story is there again at the end? The wise men brought myrrh to Jesus when his
life had just begun. Joseph and Nicodemus brought myrrh to Jesus when his life
ended. And the sweet smell of the myrrh reminds us how God was able to
transform something as awful as Jesus death into something smelling sweet and
good. We see that in the transformation of Joseph and Nicodemus from people who
were once afraid to acknowledge that they were followers of Christ but now
boldly serve him for all to see. And we see it daily in the lives of people who
have found salvation and new life through that man who was crucified and laid
behind the stone in that tomb.
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