First Mennonite Church
June 28, 2026
Smelling Like Jesus
Text: 2Corinthians 2:14-17
I have said in the past that preaching is more than just helping believers to know how to apply God’s word to their daily lives. Preaching also has the purpose of helping believers become biblically literate. That is, to become familiar with the Bible and anything related to it. So, here we go.
As we have it, the Christian Canon has two letters of Paul to the Corinthians. However, a closer reading of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians will indicate that there was another letter, which for certain, got lost. In 1Corinthians five, verse nine, Paul mentions of a previous letter he had sent the Corinthian church. That would indicate that First Corinthians is actually Second Corinthians and that Second Corinthians is his third letter.
By the frequence of Paul’s communication, in writing and in person with this church, we can see the closeness of Paul with the Corinthian congregation. Again, as the evidence shows, Paul visited the Corinthians as he promised in 1Corinthians 16:5-7. And, during that prolonged visit, a member of the church berated and humiliated Paul. Some of the reasons could be because Paul had reprimanded some for taking their fellow brothers to court or for failing to care for the poor among them, or because Paul refused their patronage, among other reasons. To Paul’s dismay, no one came to his defense. It was only later that the church reprimanded the wrongdoer and to whom Paul also extended his forgiveness (2:10).
However, Paul’s challenges among the Corinthian believers were not only from one person. It seems that outsiders had also entered the church and were challenging Paul’s apostolic credentials and authority. These other leaders were saying that Paul was weak and always facing trials (Chap. 4), that Paul was out of his mind (5:13). These intruders were claiming to be: wise, super-apostles, successful, well-recommended and well known and generously supported.
Therefore, Paul begins his defense by claiming his apostleship. And here in chapter 2, Paul makes some claims that at first might seem puzzling. And so, Paul writes:
14 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. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 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? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
Paul gives thanks to God for doing something Paul considers very important to his calling as an apostle. God leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession.
Here, Paul was making a comparison between what happened when a conquering army arrived home after defeating its enemy and who he was as a servant of Jesus Christ. Josephus, the Jewish historian, describes in details how the Roman army was welcomed home after defeating their enemy.[1]
Once entered the city, the emperor, the rulers, the priest, and a great multitude welcome the Roman army. There is a triumphal procession through the main street of the city. The conquering general was honored, along with his soldiers. The triumphal procession included honoring and glorifying the military leader who had won. The plunder taken from the conquered enemy was also displayed in the procession. At the end of the procession was the conquered enemy, headed by the losing army general or king. The defeated enemies were led as a public display, bound with chains or in shackles, of which, some could barely sustain themselves standing. These were led to the temple where their end awaited them. Along with them, the locals who had been condemned to death because of their crimes were also put to death. At the announcement of the death of losing army general, the crowd roared in celebration. It was a dedication to their gods for the victory given to them through their powerful army and brave general.
This is the scene Paul was referring to. Paul says, he is a conquered soldier, once strong and proud and powerful, but now he is being led in shackles before thousands of spectators. Paul is a captive as a testimony to the power of the one who had overcome and defeated him. As a captive, he is now being led to his death. But Paul is not lamenting that fact. In fact, he praises and gives thanks to God. “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.” Christ is the one who had gone through that experience. Not that he was defeated, but that he willingly gave his life for others. Paul counts himself among those whom God has vanquished and whose sure end is awaiting him.
Paul’s view of God’s messengers and apostle is not one merely characterized by fame, applaud, and glory as those who the world considers successful. Contrary to those who were criticizing Paul for being weak, out of his mind, miserable and always in trouble, while they were comfortable, well spoken of, wise in their own sight, and popular, Paul says that in his weakness the power of God is manifested.
In his first apostolic defense, Paul humbly admits the following:
9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment (1Corinthians 4:9-13).
Therefore, by making that comparison of being a prisoner of God Paul draws a distinction between himself and his opponents in Corinth, whom he describes as “peddlers of God’s word (v. 17). Peddlers benefit from what they peddle. They use it to get things for themselves. And so, in response to his opponents who claim to be wise, popular, successful, and super-apostles, Paul describes himself as one conquered by God to resemble Jesus. Paul’s model of a true apostle is the one who only seeks to serve others even when rejected and who in the end give their lives for others.
This picture is not so appealing. Isn’t it? We would prefer God’s servants and people to be successful, well loved, have influence, and live comfortably. However, being a conquered slave is not the only trait of God’s servants and people. Paul then says, God also always uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
Every time I read this passage, it reminds me of the opening worship night at the Mennonite World Conference in Winnipeg in 1993. The organizers made sure that worshippers with allergic reaction to perfume be seated at a certain section of the auditorium. Some people in the auditorium were assigned to spray perfume at the time the reader came to verse 15. So, when the reader said, “For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ” a waft of exquisite fragrance filled the air and an audible “Humm!” of joy and appreciation was heard.
In that apparent dismal state of a captive or slave displayed in public, we become witness of God. God also always uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. Here, Paul switches from military procession to a Levitical sacrificial comparison. As we also read this morning in the book of Numbers, sacrifices offered to Yahweh had a special pleasing aroma. But the pleasing aroma in Christ that gives knowledge, testimony, and awareness of God now happens everywhere God’s servants and people are, not only in the tabernacle or temple.
It is the will of God to always use us to spread the aroma his everywhere. Aroma or fragrance or smell is not visible. We cannot lay hands on smell, yet we know when it is there. That is why, through us God wants to make known his character, his love, holiness, concern and will for humanity. In other words, by being the aroma of Christ, we make visible what is invisible about God.
In this world filled with the stench of death, hatred, divisions, violence, and every form of injustices, God has place you and me to spread the aroma of life. Your friends, relatives, the casual people you meet on the streets and stores, should notice something is different about you. They might say, “There is something about this person that is different, but nice, yet I wonder what it is.” Now you know. It is the fragrance of Christ exuding from your heart, your words, your demeanor, your intentions, and your attitude.
Paul points to three effects to our being God’s pleasing fragrance. The first, and the most important, is that God is pleased when we spread the aroma of his knowledge everywhere. By living as conquered captives of God, by trying to live as living sacrifices that smell like Christ, we please God. It pleases God when we smell like Jesus – when we resemble him in our thoughts, words, and deeds.
But Paul goes on to say that when we live for God as conquered slaves, as living sacrifices, then people will react in one of two ways. Some will be attracted while others will be repelled. This reaction is like anything that smells. I use perfume. I especially like the one my children gave me for Father’s Day last year, but I am aware that some might find it a bit strong or overwhelming when I wear it. But see, I like it!
And Paul is fully aware that is what happens when we spread the pleasing aroma of God.
Not everyone will like it when we imitate Christ and resemble him. We might not be able to come to terms with those who are repelled by it. However, it is our responsibility to let God use us to spread that fragrance. How others react or respond is not within our control.
Paul’s words today are a real challenge. We are to strive to being captives of Christ and not be people who use the gospel merely for our own benefit. So, we should ask ourselves, “Has God/Jesus Christ taken full lordship over my life?” Has God really made me his captive, or am I still insisting my own way and fighting God?
Because to the degree we are slaves of Christ is the degree to which we exude the fragrance of God in the world.
So, the call today is, let us allow Christ to have full lordship over ourselves so that in turn we may smell like him in the world. Let us gaze upon Christ, and with Paul, let us praise the one who has conquered us and made us his slaves in the hope that we too might be living sacrifices and the pleasing aroma to God. Amen!
[1] W. Whiston. The Works of Josephus Complete and Unabridged New Updated Edition (Hendrickson Publishers. 1987 (The Wars of the Jews 7.4-6)