THE FRAGRANCE OF CHRIST
R. S. Renton
Luke 3: 21, 22; 9: 34, 35; John 12: 2, 3
I would like to link on with what our brother has helpfully indicated, and I might say that the impression has lingered with me of our first hymn on Lord’s day, when we sang hymn 313 speaking of the ‘incense rare’ which ascended to the Father in the life of Jesus—
‘In Thee all human graces blend,
And to Thy Father did ascend
As incense rare;
Fragrant to Him Thou ever art ...’
What incense rare indeed! What a joy to be in the glory realm, and see the Father’s full appreciation of that glorious Man!
So I thought of these passages. After those hidden eighteen years of which nothing is recorded of the life of Jesus, what it must have been to the heart of the Father to have one Man here, a perfect Man, devoted in every way to the will of God, yielding Him infinite pleasure.
You will recall that in Leviticus 2 we have the oblation. In that offering there were three ingredients, fine flour, oil and frankincense. Part of the flour and of the oil, but all the frankincense, was burned by the priest on the altar, an offering by fire to Jehovah of a sweet odour. The frankincense, all of which was offered up as a sweet odour, refers to the fragrance in the life of Jesus which ever ascended as a sweet-smelling odour to the heart of God. The greatest test in His holy pathway brought out the greatest fragrance. All this is presented to us in Luke’s gospel. Oh, what it is, beloved brethren, to dwell on that holy life of Jesus! I suppose the Man of the gospels has become our staple food, and as we are occupied with Him, as we see these moral perfections and glories shining out in all their lustre, there is with us an increased desire just to be like Him, as we have just sung in hymn 230.
‘We wonder at Thy lowly mind,
And fain would like Thee be’
The first line corresponds with Luke’s presentation of the lowly, dependent Man, and as to the second line, beloved brethren, may we all be freshly moved in an occasion like this with the desire just to be more like Jesus.
So at the end of those eighteen years, according to Luke’s account, we read, “And it came to pass, all the people having been baptised, and Jesus having been baptised and praying, that the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form as a dove upon him; and a voice came out of heaven. Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”. This is the Father indicating personally to our Lord Jesus His full approbation and delight. This utterance was made from heaven at the end of those hidden years of which we know nothing, but they are treasured up in the annals of heaven, the Father taking delight in every footstep, as we sing in hymn 119—
‘Each holy footstep gave Thee fresh delight’.
There was never a moment during the whole of the pathway of Jesus in which the fragrance of that perfect life did not ascend as incense rare.
Where we read in Luke 9, Peter was amiss when suggesting the three tabernacles, but there is an intervention where we started to read—“But as he was saying these things, there came a cloud and overshadowed them, and they feared as they entered into the cloud—and there was a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son—hear him”. It is “This”, not “Thou” as in Luke 3. The “This” is for others to take account of, and for Peter by way of adjustment, signalising this glorious Person as the One who, in every step, thought and action brought fragrance to the heart of God. “This is my beloved Son—hear him”; that is, He is the One who is to set things on, and we do well in our day to listen to what the Lord Jesus has to say.
Oh what a delight to come to a meeting like this, or any occasion of gathering, and to hear not exactly the brother’s voice, but to hear that of the Lord Jesus, and the Father’s voice calling attention to Him. If Peter and the others on the holy mount missed the direction to “Hear him”, Mary in the next chapter availed herself of the privilege, as we read, “having sat down at the feet of Jesus (she) was listening to his word”, Luke 10: 39. No greater favour could be afforded us, beloved brethren, than to be found in the same attitude.
In John 12: 3 we read, “Mary therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of pure nard of great price, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment”. What appreciation she must have had of the glory of Christ! What fragrance this act of Mary must have yielded to the Lord Jesus! At a time when wicked men were plotting against Him, a loving and loyal heart was planning how she could minister refreshment and comfort to Him. We read in Psalm 110: 7, “He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head”. May we, in our day, set ourselves unreservedly to allow our affections to be lavished upon Him, so that His heart may be gratified while we are still in a scene which is marked by coldness and indifference to Christ.
Beloved brethren, I may add, we can affect one another by our expressions, by our attachment to Christ, by what we say, and by what we are. What a joy it would be if we were so occupied with the glory and the fragrance of Christ that we so affect the environment that the whole atmosphere is charged with the fragrance—with the odour of the ointment. The ointment of pure nard of great price is acquired doubtless in the presence of Jesus, acquired too in the Father’s presence, and secured as the Holy Spirit has His own way with us, so that we have the capability as we expend all our affection on Christ so to affect one another that the house is filled with the odour of the ointment. May we be helped therefore in greater appreciation of the Lord Jesus, having an understanding of the Father’s delight in Christ, for His name’s sake.