Making Sense of the Cross 5 | What Christ Smelled

Making Sense of the Cross 5 | What Christ Smelled (John 19:28-30)

A Sour Smell

Vinegar - strong, sour odor. Symbolized bitterness and suffering. Also symbolizes irritation and discomfort.

Proverbs 10:26 “As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, So is the sluggard to them that send him.”

Psalm 69:19-21

Reproach - object of contempt or scorn.

Psalm 22:6 “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised of the people.”

Isaiah 49:7 “Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, To him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord that is faithful, And the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.”

Shame - to mock at

Isaiah 50:6 “I gave my back to the smiters, And my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”

Matthew 27:28 “And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.”

Matthew 27:31 “And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.”

Matthew 27:35 “And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.”

Hebrews 12:1–2 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

A Sweet Smell

Hyssop - a plant that gives a sweet, minty scent, used in purification, symbolic representing God’s power to remove impurity and restore fellowship.

Exodus 12:21–23 “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”

It was a bitter time of suffering for those without blood, but it was a sweet time when the blood was applied!

Leviticus 14:1-8

Psalm 51:7 “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”