Passion Week: Silent Wednesday

Activity: With your parent's permission, gather the ingredients, measuring spoons, and a Ziploc bag and follow the recipe for Fall Spice Blend. 

Place the ingredients in the bag, close it, and gently shake it to mix---and you will have a yummy blend of spices that is good for any time of year, not just fall. Mix a tablespoon with a cup of sugar in a separate container and you will have a delicious topping for toast or oatmeal or anything else that sounds good.

Recipes are like a puzzle. Sometimes you don't know what its going to look like until its all done. Runny cake batter doesn't look very tasty, but warm yummy cupcakes fresh out of the oven when they are done are! Sometimes the Bible has “puzzle pieces” too that are hard to figure out until the last piece is in place. Often today is referred to as “Silent Wednesday” as the Bible does not say much about what Jesus did on this day. But Silent does not mean God was not at work. Let's put together the puzzle pieces and follow the scent...

The first piece most of us know is when the Wisemen or Magi visited Jesus as an infant. They brought him gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The Bible tells us that the Wisemen “bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”(Matt 2:11) They worshiped Him. This wasn't just a baby shower. These gifts helped Mary and Joseph start a new life in Egypt. But these gifts were also part of a greater puzzle God had planned.

In the Tabernacle and later the Temple there was the Alter of Incense. It was made from wood, overlaid with gold. And on it burned a mixture of incense continually which filled the room. 

It reminded the people of that our prayers rise to a Listening God. You could tell if the priest had been in the presence of God: You could smell it on him! The scent of the incense permeated everything.

You couldn't fake being in God's presence. Everyone would know. That incense had a special blend...frankincense, myrrh and one other ingredient...can you guess what that oil was?

 Nard!

So when Mary anointed and worshiped Jesus she completed the scents of the altar of Incense: the missing puzzle piece just before his death. Jesus was fully human (think of the wood), but fully God (think of the gold) and His death provided a connection to God (just like smoke rising from the Altar of Incense). 

So when Mary completed the last “puzzle piece” Jesus reminded his disciples she was preparing Him for His death. God had it all planned from birth to death! And once again, just like then, people can tell if You've been in God's presence...His “scent” stays with you...even in the silent times.