John 12:1-3 – Therefore, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a dinner there, and Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very expensive perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
The fragrance filled the house, simple words by John that said everything. The whole atmosphere of that gathering place was effected. That fragrance got on everything; it got on the furniture and every person in the room. To Judas it had the smell of death, to Mary it was the very fragrance of life. It carried the smell of the cross and the intoxicating aroma of the resurrection. Jesus said that Mary was anointing His body for burial, the strength of that aroma was on the body of Jesus as He was placed in the tomb. Here is how Jonathan Edwards describes this moment.
“That the church of God is filled. [The] church [is] often represented under the representation of an house. When a person is much in such excellent frames, it tends to diffuse the savor and benefit of it to all around. [When] one in a particular church {is much in such excellent frames}, it tends to fill that whole church {with the savor and benefit of it}. And when grace [is] in its lively and humble exercise in one part of the church, the savor of it is diffused in other parts of the church, as we have seen heretofore and see at this day.”
What was the meaning of this overwhelming aroma? It is a picture of the Holy Spirit as we are effected by the message of God’s love and grace poured out upon us. It is the fragrance of devotion that consumes our lives. It is why the disciples were not afraid after the resurrection and testified of His love until the day of their death. It was the fragrance of love, it is what compelled Mary to give her best offering to the Lord that day, an alabaster box with one pound of pure spikenard valued at an entire year’s wage. It is why we follow Him today, it is why we testify to anyone who will listen, it is why we support God’s work with our finances; its why we have a brand new life with a brand new purpose. Take a whiff next time you are in church, His fragrance fills the whole house.