Our sense organs 45

that of Lebanon” (Song of Songs 4:10-11). Nard
is an aromatic and very costly plant listed among
fragrant flowers and spices in Song of Songs
4:13-14. The perfume used to anoint Jesus in
Bethany, contained nard (Mark 14:3, John 12:3).
According to John 12:5 this perfume was so
expensive that its price was equivalent to a year’s
wages (300 silver denarii). The gifts brought to
Jesus by the wise men from the east, comprised
incense, myrrh and gold (Matthew 2:11).
Quote:
Richard Axel, professor of biochemistry and molecular
biophysics at the University of Columbia,
New York:
“Till now science has only been groping in the
dark in trying to discover the rules governing the
way our olfactory sense can unlock the immeasurable
structure of our memories.”
The phrase “A pleasing aroma to the LORD” is used
frequently in the Old Testament (e. g. Gen 8:21, Ex
29:18,25,41, Lev 1:9,13,7). This means that God is
pleased with those deeds. When Noah built an
altar and sacrificed burnt offerings, “the LORD
smelled the pleasing aroma ...” (Gen 8:21). God
Himself can smell. He gave us this sense to enrich
our lives and to be like Him also in this respect.
Perfumes are also employed in another biblical
parable (2 Cor 2:14-16). The triumphal entry of
Roman generals was accompanied by prisoners
who carried jars of incense so that everybody
could smell these perfumes expressing the victory.
In the same way everybody who lives in
Christ should spread the fragrance of victory.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “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” (2 Cor 2:15-16).
This gospel message blows over its hearers like
an aromatic cloud, but its effect can vary greatly.
Some of them accept the words which then
become a blessing – it is for them a fragrance of
life which engenders everlasting life. For the
indifferent and for those who reject the message
proclaimed, it becomes a deadly odour like a poisonous
fog bearing the putrid smell of decaying
bodies, a harbinger of death, of eternal perdition.
Only a hair’s breadth separates salvation and
doom.
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