Fragrant Spices for Jesus A Festival Talk on Mark 16:1 By the Rev. Kenneth J. Alden

Transcription

1 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus Festivl Tlk on Mrk 16:1 By the Rev. Kenneth J. lden 1 Hve you ever lost the use of something tht you loved very much? Mye you hd toy tht roke, so tht you couldn t use it ny more. 1. But ecuse you loved it so much, you sved it ny wy. B Some girls sve flowers they hve worn to specil dnce, nd even though they cn t wer them to nother dnce, they dry them out or preserve them in some wy so tht they cn hve it s rememrnce of tht specil time. Or mye you lost something precious tht you hd from the Lord. 1. Hve you every hd someone tell you tht you used to e so helpful? Or tht you used to e so thoughtful nd considerte? nd looking ck, you see tht you used to enjoy eing tht wy, ut now you re just cught up in thinking out yourself nd wht you wnt. 2 This morning we red out three women who hd lost Jesus from their lives. B ll they hd left ws His ody. Still, they ought spices ecuse they wnted to noint His ody, proly ecuse it ws the custom to noint odies, ut possily lso to preserve His ody little longer. 1. They hd loved Jesus, nd did not wnt to let go of His ody or their memories of Him. It must hve een difficult for them. 1. On the one hnd, they rememered the mircles He hd done, the wisdom He hd imprted, nd the uthority with which He hd spoken out the importnt things in life. On the other hnd, they hd seen Him crucified. 2. They must hve rememered the hope He hd given nd the sense of purpose. But they must lso hve felt tht hope nd purpose get crushed when He ws cptured, tried, nd killed on the cross.

2 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 2 c s they cme to the tom, the recent events were fresh in their minds. They were seeking Jesus of Nzreth who ws crucified. 3 Wht they found ws tht He wsn t there! When they got to the tom, the stone hd lredy een rolled wy. 1. They went inside nd sw young mn sitting on the right side. But it wsn t Jesus, ws it? It ws n ngel who told them, Do not e lrmed. You seek Jesus of Nzreth who ws crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the plce where they lid Him. 4 This ws stonishing news. They thought tht they knew Jesus, ut they hd not imgined He would rise from the ded. 1. He hd rought other people ck to life fter they died. c d But how could He ring Himself ck to life when He hd een killed, s they hd seen for themselves? In ctul fct, He hdn t rought Himself ck to life in this world s He hd done for others--ecuse then they died gin some time lter. Nor hd He died nd gone to heven s other people do, leving their erthly ody ehind nd wking up in spiritul ody. The Lord rose from the ded with His whole ody, nd ws live forevermore. 1) He left nothing ehind in the tom, s the women could see, nd He lter told His disciples tht He ws different from other spirits y hving flesh nd ones. (See Luke 24:39) 2) Spirits indeed hve spiritul ody tht is just s solid nd just s much flesh nd ones to spirit s our odies re to us.. But the Lord hd risen with His whole ody ecuse He hd put off wht ws merely humn nd evil, nd hd mde His humnity Divine. B. He hd put on Humnity from the Divine nd rose with tht.

3 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 3 5 Now, why does the Word mention tht the women hd rought spices when they cme to the tom? Wht could e importnt out tht when the story is out to tell tht the Lord hd risen? 1. Is it only to dd detils to the story? 6 Sweet spices were importnt in ncient times. We red in our first lesson out how they were used to mke the holy nointing oil. 1. Hd we red to the end of tht chpter, we would hve herd out the spices used to mke the incense tht ws used in their worship t the terncle. 2. Spices were lso used for heling. (See rcn oelesti 4748:4) 3. Spices were used in the nointing oil nd incense to mke them represent something holy nd cceptle. (See rcn oelesti 9474:2, 4748:2) B Spices pper mny times in the Lord s own life. 1. Myrrh ws one of gifts rought to the Lord y the wisemen when He ws little child. Spikenrd ws nother sweet spice poured on Lord s hed shortly efore the Lst Supper. 1. Jesus ws plesed with wht she did, for He sid, She hs done good work for Me... She hs done wht she could. She hs come eforehnd to noint my ody for uril. (Mk 14:6, 8) D E Myrrh gin ppers in connection with His uril, when Joseph of rimthe nd Nicodemus ound mixture of myrrh nd loes in the strips of linen with which they wrpped Jesus ody. (See John 19:39-40) In ddition to the wy spices re spoken of in the Word, nd prticulrly in Jesus life, it is interesting tht when people wken in the next life, everything out their ody tht they re leving ehind is perceived s romtic ecuse the highest ngels re present. (See Heven nd Hell 449) Frgrnt odors like tht of spices, in ddition, correspond to the perception of fith nd chrity. (See rcn oelesti 4748:2)

4 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 4 2. Myrrh represents preservtion of good nd truth on the lowest plne of life, clled the plne of the senses. When good nd truth re ctive there, they preserve, not the ody, ut the life. 7 Wht the women rought to the tom were romtic spices. lthough it does not sy wht the spices were, myrrh my well hve een one of them since tht is wht Nicodemus nd Joseph of rimthe hd used. 1. Perhps they cme to preserve His ody, or to hel in some wy, if only to hel their own sorrow. 2. Whether they knew it or not, ringing the spices represented their fith in the Lord nd their chrity towrds Him. 3. It represented preserving His life, preserving the holiness tht hd een profned when He ws crucified. It showed their honor nd worship of the Lord. 4. When they got to the tom, however, they could not use their spices. He hd risen! ll their spices could hve done ws to represent preservtion nd heling, for they hd no power to do such mircles. 1) But the Lord hd power greter thn tht, for He glorified Himself. 5. Wht they discovered when they rrived t the tom, ws tht wht the Lord did for Himself ws fr more thn they could ever hve dremed of doing for Him. Mry Mgdlene hd the dditionl joy of eing the first to see Him risen. 8 Myrrh is spice tht ppered t the Lord s irth nd t His resurrection, or new irth. B It represents Divine life in the sensuous degree Divine life in the life proper to the ody. The Lord intended for people to receive His life not just in mentl fith nd love, ut even in the delights of life on the plne of the senses.

5 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 5 1. But this only hppens when we use our sight, hering, tste, touch nd smell for the ske of the uses of the Lord s kingdom. 2. When people turned to serving themselves, they lso used their senses to serve themselves, nd they served their senses. This is represented y the story of the serpent leding the womn n mn to et of the tree of the knowledge of good nd evil. 3. t tht time, is ws prophesied tht the Lord would come to restore order, so tht the senses would gin serve the Divine life. 4. It ws lso prophesied tht the serpent would, s it sys, Bruise His heel which pictures the wy people who re ruled y their senses would rther destroy the Lord, s they ttempted to do when they crucified Him. nointing His ody with myrrh represented preserving Divine life in the sensuous nd the resurrection of tht life. 1. The women who ought spices represent ffections which cquire the perception tht the Divine is in the Humn. 2. Even if His ody ws ded, where else could holiness reside thn in the Lord s own Humnity? 3. Even if we hve profned the Word y reking its commndments, where else cn we turn for help in governing our pssions which roke those commndments thn to turn to the Lord in His Word? So we return to cknowledge holiness, to seek to preserve good nd truth in words nd deeds. 9 We red in rcn oelesti, The Lord speks with the mn of the church in no other wy thn through the Word, for He then enlightens mn so tht he my see truth, nd lso gives him perception to perceive tht it is so; ut this is effected ccording to the qulity for the desire for truth with mn, nd the desire for truth with mn is ccording to his love of it. ( 10290:2) This desire or love seems to e pictured y the women who ought spices nd cme to the tom. B Stone represents the Word shut up. (E 687:18) The Word when it is shut up is lso like the lifeless ody of the Lord. 1. When the women cme seeking Jesus of Nzreth who ws crucified, it pictures us seeking to open it gin in helpless sort of wy, seeking to

6 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 6 honor nd preserve the pprently lifeless letter of the Word. D Such ffections find the Word opened to them nd the Lord live in His Word. 1. The ffections in us tht crucify the Lord y trying to pursue our own mitions would only find ded literl sense of the Word or none t ll. 2. But the ffections tht genuinely wish to do wht is good nd follow wht is true--the ffections tht try to preserve tht life in our deeds nd words-- find life in the Word. 3. These ffections cn cquire the perception tht there is infinite truth in the Letter of the Word. 4. Becuse of our love for keeping the Lord s commndments, He gives us perception tht c d e f g h i j k l The Word is divine We cn see the Lord there God is ner t hnd. We cn grsp something of Him He cn tech us wht we ought to do. He cn order our lives even on the outwrd plne He cn sve us from the loves of self nd the world. Such perceptions re the frgrnt spices we cn cquire nd ring. They preserve nd honour the Lord in the lowest things of our lives. They re present when the Lord revels tht He is live in our lives in spite of how hopeless things hd seemed, nd how lost to us the Lord ws. nd when the Sth ws pst, Mry Mgdlene, nd Mry the mother of Jmes, nd Slome, ought frgrnt spices, tht they might come nd noint Him. men. Redings: : Exodus 30:22-33; Mrk 16:1-11; 10252:1,7

7 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 7 rcn oelesti 'The est myrrh' mens the perception of truth on the level of the senses. This is cler from the mening of 'odour-ering myrrh' s the perception of truth on the level of the senses; for its 'odour' mens perception, s immeditely ove, nd 'myrrh' truth on the level of the senses. The suject in the verses tht come now is the nointing oil, y which celestil good, which is the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love in the inmost heven, is ment. The nture of tht good is descried y the frgrnt sustnces from which it ws mde. These were the est myrrh, sweet-smelling cinnmon, sweet-smelling clmus, cssi, nd olive oil, which men celestil truths nd forms of good in their proper order, tht is to sy, rnging from those which re lst nd lowest in order to those which re first, or from those which re outermost to those which re inmost, the lst or outermost eing ment y 'myrrh'. The reson why celestil good, or the good of the inmost heven, is descried in this mnner is tht the truths ment y those spices re the mens y which such good comes into eing nd is lso kept in eing...[7] Becuse myrrh served to men the most externl truth, which is truth on the level of the senses, nd perception of tht truth, the odies of those who hd died were nointed in former times with myrrh nd loes. Tht nointing served to men the preservtion of ll of person's truths nd forms of good, nd lso to men resurrection. Therefore lso such [spices] were used s served to men the lst nd lowest level of person's life, clled the life of the senses. The Lord's ody ws nointed with such, nd together with them ws wrpped in linen cloth; nd this ws the custom mong the Jews... But it should e rememered tht things sid in the Word out the Lord Himself re to e understood in pre-eminent sense. onsequently the spices mentioned in those verses men His Divine life on the level of the senses, which is the life proper to the ody, nd lso the resurrection of this with Him. s is well known, unlike nyone else the Lord rose gin with the whole ody He hd in the world, for He left nothing in the tom. Therefore lso, when the disciples eheld the Lord nd thought tht they were seeing spirit, He sid to them, Why re you trouled? See My hnds nd My feet; hndle Me, see; for spirit does not hve flesh nd ones s you see Me hve. Luke 24:38,39. Through The Week Recll the Redings Jehovh told Moses to mke holy nointing oil using myrrh nd other frgrnt spices, for use only on the terncle nd priests. Three women ought spices to noint the Lord. They found the stone rolled wy from the tom nd n ngel sitting on the right side of where He hd een lid. He sid, You seek Jesus...who ws crucified. He is risen! Reflect on the Messge The women cme to preserve nd show kindness towrd wht ws left of the Jesus they hd lost. Finding tht He hd risen showed tht they hd underestimted who He ws. Still they represent love in us which my e enlightened to see the truth nd

8 Frgrnt Spices for Jesus 8 goodness in the Word tht seemed lost. Perceptions tht the Word is Divine, tht the Lord is ner, etc. re like spices we cn cquire to preserve wht we hve left when the Lord seems lost to us, ut which open us to see how much more the Lord is thn we hd known. Tke ction If the Lord seems crucified y some ffections in your life, help your fithful ffections cquire those sic perceptions tht preserve the Lord s presence in your life. For exmple: Red the Word, knowing it is holy. Do the Lord s commndments, knowing He will e with you.