Dead Man Walking – Holy Detergent

Read: John 11:35-39, 2 Corinthians 2:15 In John 11:39 Jesus tells the crowd  to roll away the stone in front of the tomb of Lazarus. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, protests “Lord, he has been dead four days. The smell will be terrible.” Don’t you just love Martha? I so relate to her. I’m a smeller too, and I also tend to worry about things that are trivial. I have a feeling that we all do. Jesus is about to perform the greatest miracle that they’ve ever seen and Martha is worried about the smell. Jesus reminds her that if she believed, she would see the glory of God. He’s essentially telling Martha (and us) to not worry about the things we can’t control. Our situations may smell, but no matter how ugly, rotten, or dead they seem, if we trust in Jesus, He’ll show up and show us His glory. He’s like holy detergent bringing fresh and new life to everything He touches. This makes me think of pulling a batch of white towels out of the dryer. They look white and clean, feel warm and soft, and (if my wife bought dryer sheets) smell delightful. It’s the ultimate scent of freshness. This is a picture of what our lives look like after Jesus gets ahold of us. He personally saves you and me from the stench of sin in our own lives. Just like mildewed, dirty towels, we’re dead in our sins and we smell. Jesus replaces our smelly grave clothes—our sinful nature—with robes of righteousness. It’s like He’s wrapping our bodies in white, clean, soft, fresh-smelling towels. He’s our holy detergent, making us and our circumstances smell heavenly. He brings new life to believers and to situations that reek with death. Jesus pours His fragrance on His children, and as we surrender our lives to Him, we become a sweet aroma to those all around us. Don’t you love smelling good?]]>