Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
There came unto him a woman
having an alabaster box of very precious ointment,
and poured it on His head, as He sat at meat.
But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying,
To what purpose is this waste?
For this ointment might have been sold for much,
and given to the poor.
When Jesus understood it, He said unto them,
Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon Me.
For ye have the poor always with you; but Me ye have not always.
For in that she hath poured this ointment on My body, she did it for My burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done,
be told for a memorial of her. Matthew 26:6-13
Jesus appreciated her effort very much
God has a sense of smell
He loves some smells and detests others
but it wasn’t that simple
The gift she gave Him was more than we can understand
It had a spiritual significance, which is not completely clear to me
She poured spikenard over Jesus’ head
This was a dedication she did for Him much like when Samuel poured anointing oil over David when he was anointed to be king
Jesus knew her heart and the ointment was a sweetness to Him
but it was also an importance to prepare Him for His death
There are mentions of a sweet smelling savor to God
in both the Old and New Testaments
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart,
I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake;
for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth;
neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. Gen. 8:21
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,
and hath given Himself for us an offering
and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Ephesians 5:2
We might not completely understand the significance
of all that was done by God to prepare Jesus for His burial
Later, after He was crucified, He was wrapped in a shroud
and placed in a tomb that had never before been used
The spices were carefully added in the shroud as was customary
And all things fell into place as this was how God ordered the events
And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus,
but secretly for fear of the Jews,
besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus:
and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore,
and took the body of Jesus.
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about an hundred pound weight.
Then took they the body of Jesus,
and wound it in linen clothes with the spices,
as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden;
and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day;
for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. John 19:38-42
God ordained each event in Jesus’ life
and His death and burial was no different
He was honored by God and though God allowed Him to suffer
and just like always, God had prepared certain people, certain events,
even certain animals to appear when needed
Just like He does in some of our lives
Look for God’s working in your own life as He surely is,
and reflect on Jesus’ life and see how God was with Him every step He took,
from His infancy to His death and resurrection
Beautiful miracles of God to contemplate