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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?
- 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Paul invokes a familiar image and a familiar language to first century people, that of the triumphal procession. Imagine a conquering Roman general back from the front lines and sitting atop a majestic steed, playing the real-life role of a grand marshal in a victory parade. Think New York City ticker-tape-esque, but with considerably smaller high rises lining the parade route and shards of papyrus floating through the air. Behind the general walks the spoils of war, a somber crew of motley prisoners. Chained together and facing the jeers of a raucous crowd, they’re a collective dead man walking, sure to face imminent execution.
The question we must ask of the text at this point is two-fold: 1. Why does Paul use the image of the triumphal procession? 2. What of the metaphor of smell?
Paul draws the parallel of Christ followers being the captives in this scene. At first this comparison feels unwelcome. We see the dirty, defeated and dejected prisoners and think, “No, thank you.” And yet this is the beauty, if not the comfort, of the gospel. We might long for the freedom of the parade-attenders, but our glory is in captivity. No matter how close to death’s door we walk in this processional of life, we celebrate the chains. We glory in the fact that we are not our own, but we belong, body and soul, to our faithful conquering general, Jesus Christ. Yes, we may rattle the chains at times and misguidedly rebel against the obedience required of slaves for Christ, but ultimately a Christ follower lays his own crown down in deference to the lordship of the only leader ever who willingly enters the fray and dies in place of his subjects.
How does the metaphor of smell enter the discussion? During these Roman triumphal processions, they burned incense along the parade route, resulting in fragrant perfumes wafting through the air. Considering the mix of captives facing execution and heroes celebrating victory, the scent became the aroma of either life or death, depending on who is doing the sniffing.
Why, though, does Paul place such an emphasis on smell? Why use the imagery of the aroma of Christ? Quite simply, a smell can’t be camouflaged, even by folks who know a great deal about carefully crafted deceit. We spend feverish impassioned silent energy on masking our pain. But a smell is so pervasive, so intense; it’s real. The essence can’t be cloaked. No matter the counterfeit public image we cultivate or the noise we dial up to drown out the Spirit’s still small voice, our true aroma can’t be snuffed or suffocated. To be a Christ follower is to exude the sheer raw true fragrance of Jesus in every aspect of our being.
~ Blake Hiemstra