Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
It occurred to me that Covid-19 has paralleled Lent this year. Lent is a time of spending more time with God, of listening more, pondering more, paying more attention to what God might be saying to us.
And lo, and behold! God has given us a very quiet time to pursue the spiritual discipline of solitude, and maybe silence as well.
I am finding that I am listening better since this all began. I’m taking time to read more as Christian blogs and articles come across my computer screen, and now and then I find a gem of brilliance, or a lesson that I haven’t heard before. That happened today when I read Biola’s The Lent Project devotion for today, and I just have to share.
We just celebrated Palm Sunday. Pardon me if I borrow the words of the writer, but I don’t want you to miss any of these precious details. It is one of those windows into the deeper meaning of scripture that thrills my heart.
The scene is the house of Lazarus after his resurrection. Jesus has just finished a meal with Lazarus and his 2 sisters when Mary, according to Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9, broke the jar of expensive spiced oil and poured it all over Jesus, from head to foot. Have you ever wondered why she did that? Have you ever wondered why, the very next day, thousands of people spontaneously honored Christ with songs and palm branches as if he were the Messiah? Well… read on!
Perhaps we can find a clue by understanding the three-part tradition of Havdalah that is celebrated at the closing of the Sabbath. The lighting of candles, the recitation of prayers and the overflowing of wine into a saucer is accompanied by the opening of the spice box. The aroma signified the holy presence of God that flows from the Sabbath into the rest of the week. It is certainly reasonable to assume that Mary knowingly altered this tradition. She broke the box and poured all the oil over Christ, saying, in effect, “We never need to invoke God’s presence again because the Holy Presence of God. . . Immanuel is sitting here.” That particular fragrance would be known by all Jews for what it signified. And, no doubt, it would still emanate from Christ the the next day as he rode the donkey into Jerusalem.
We are told by neuroscientists that smell is the sense most strongly linked to our memory and our emotions. No wonder the people exploded into praise! They saw the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 as Christ rode on the donkey; they heard the fulfillment of Psalm 118 in the singing of the Hosannas; and the smell would immediately evoke the memory of the presence of God. . . Immanuel. . . from Isaiah 7.
Dr. Dianne Collard
Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University
Founder/Director of ArtsCharlotte, Charlotte, North Carolina
Perhaps the scented oil—which no doubt was very strong— is what Paul means by the “sweet aroma of Christ” in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15. The scent of the presence of God walking down the street— it must have been so very exciting! Can you hear the crowd on their way to Jerusalem? “What’s that smell?” “Where is it coming from?” “Didn’t we just smell that last night—the presence of God? What is it doing out here on the road??” “Who is that guy?”
Wouldn’t it be exciting, as well, if some of that “scent” rubbed off on us, and everywhere we went, people would look around for the presence of God in their midst? Maybe they would notice that there is more light—emanating from our hearts where the Holy Spirit resides— when we are around. We can actually BE the presence of God in the midst of any situation because Christ lives in us! We are His hands and feet, His voice, His scent, His love in the midst of those who are searching desperately for Him.
So let’s help them find Him, just like the scent of the presence of God did on the road to Jerusalem that day.
(If you would like to have The Lent Project sent to your email, here is the link to use. It combines art, music, poetry, scripture and a devotional written by Christians all over the country. It’s been a huge blessing to me.
Comments
Post a Comment