Fragrance of Kings and Queens

Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. “That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.” They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.


But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.”-Mark 14:3-9



I love Mary of Bethany. She is who I named my blog after. She has several stories in the Bible, each filled with their own unique goodness.

One of the stories has to do with the anointing of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and John all tell the story about anointing Jesus for his burial. Each Gospel writer gives different details, but they all tell the same story.

She is not the same woman as in Luke 7. That is a completely different story filled with its own treasures. But Matthew, Mark, and John tell the story of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus with the perfume, which would have been spikenard.

Now, if you haven't ever smelled spikenard, it is strong. One little drop is very fragrant. The Bible says, she took an entire jar of alabaster, which equaled a pound of spikenard, broke it, and anointed him with it, starting at his head.

Every time I hear or think about this story, I think about how everyone in that room, or in that house came out of there smelling like spikenard that day. They had the fragrance upon them.

I just read that this particular perfume is used to anoint royalty. Jesus says in that passage of scripture that she is anointing him for his burial.

In the Old Testament, kings were anointed on the head with oil to prepare them to be king. What if, in anointing him for his burial, she was also anointing him to be king?

When he was crucified, Pontius Pilate had a sign placed above his head.

"And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.""-Joh 19:19

The same things that happened to Jesus, happened to us. The fragrance of the spikenard that anointed him, also covered us that day.

Now, consider these scriptures...

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.-Romans 6:8

And having been buried with Him in baptism, you were raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.-Colossians 2:12

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.-1 Peter 2:9

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.-Revelation 5:10

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

we have boldness through him, and free access as kings before the Father because of our complete confidence in Christ’s faithfulness.-Ephesians 3:12 (The Passion Translation)


Grace and peace to you.


In Him,
Beth