MARY'S PERFUME VS. THE PHARISEES' STENCH: A FRAGRANT AROMA OR THE SMELL OF DEATH?

A FRAGRANT AROMA OR THE SMELL OF DEATH?
John 12, I Cor. 12:17, II Cor. 2:14-16, Ps. 115:6

  

Jesus reclined at the table;

He and Lazarus were ready to eat.

Then Mary took an expensive perfume,

And poured it on Jesus' feet.

The house was filled with the fragrance.

Mary wiped His feet with her hair.

But Martha was in a huff,

For they had a meal to prepare.

The aroma was pleasant to Jesus,

And not just because of the scent.

The love that was poured from the bottle,

Was the fragrance that to heaven went.

Martha was right to be hospitable,

But to Jesus, Mary did well.

Christ would not always be with them,

For a stench arose from hell.

Some people have ears that cannot hear,

And eyes that won’t see or that wink.

They have noses but do not smell,

And hearts in decay that stink.

The knowledge of Christ is a fragrance,

That comes from the Spirit’s breath.

To saved ones we're the fragrance of life;

To the others we're the smell of death.

Becky Overturf Wall

2 Cor. 2:14  But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

2 Cor. 2:15-17  For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 

Ps. 115:6  they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell.