OUR LORD WHO SHOWCASES US TO THE WORLD

In Roman times, when an emperor defeated a foreign territory, he would return with His army to Rome leading a contingent of captives from that conquered territory parading them through the city to display to the whole world his prowess at expanding the boundaries of his empire.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 14 - 16, a striking image is painted of the Lord Jesus heading up a triumphal procession through the whole world where we, who are His, are displayed as captives of Him who conquered sin and death.

We who believe in Christ, are emblems of the exaltation of the Lord whose sacrifice of His own  life for us,  conquered our hearts and thus our testimonies, presented to the world,  convey the perfect qualities of Him who saved us. The passage goes like this;

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?

We who have trusted in God and are surrendered to Him, are showcased to the ones being saved and to the perishing in Jesus' triumphal procession.

The story of Jesus' friend Lazarus being raised from the dead ( found in John Chapter 11 ) is a metaphor for this dichotomy between the responses of those being saved and those who are perishing.

While Lazarus was dead in the sealed grave, he was the aroma of death unto those who were denizens of the grave but when Jesus called Lazarus forth, the stone was rolled away and Lazarus was presented to the world alive. 

He no longer carried  the aroma of death but the aroma of life that brought honour unto God and belief in Jesus among the living who were witnesses.

Bless the Lord who displays us who believe as an aroma of life to those who are being saved.

Amen.