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‘When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.‘ –
Luke 7:36-38
I recently finished the book Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans. And I was so inspired by the way she talked about the use of precious oils in the Bible. From anointing kings, to the healing of skin disease, to this moment here where a woman lavished loved on Jesus with the use of a precious perfume. And how maybe we should bring the use of oils and scents into our modern day worship. In the same way this woman used perfume to prepare Christ for his death and burial, what if we used scent in our collective remembrance of this gift. So that’s what we did today. As we reflected on the gift of this woman, we made our own oil blends and had a praise party. We remembered the gift of this woman. We acknowledged the death and burial given in our place. And we praised the resurrection work Christ is continually doing in our lives and in our world.
Read
We read this story from our Jesus Storybook Bible as a part of our Jesus Storybook Bible Lent Reading Plan. You may also choose to read the story found in Luke 7:36-50.
Oil Blends
Then we made our own oil blends. My friend Mary at Urban Oil Mama is always telling me how she lets her littles make their own oil blends. Being mine are 2 and 3 you may imagine my hesitancy. However, today we gave it a go and the girls LOVED it! We talked about the perfume that the woman poured on Jesus’ feet and I told them that we were going to make our own perfumes to remember her and to thank Jesus for all he has given us.
Now I am not an avid oil user, though I aspire to be. I tend to diffuse them for a bit, or rub them on my feet, and then I forget about them for a couple months at a time. So that’s the type of oil user I am. Haha. That being said, I needed a little help knowing what oils would be safe for my littles. New Directions Aromatics was so helpful with their list of Essential Oils Safe for Littles.
Praise
After making some oil blends. We put them on our feet and under our nose before having a praise party. Some bands we have been really enjoying lately are Rend Collective and Sinach. However, if you may also enjoy some of our favorite Easter songs or Spanish Easter songs for littles.
For Parents
For more reflection on this story and the use of scents in worship, I highly recommend this article from Rachel Held EvansWomen of Holy Week: The Woman At Bethany Anoints Jesus.
Baby Devotions 