The aloes, the central spice of the three, speaks of the love that lay behind all the suffering. It was more fragrant and prized than all other spices; nothing to be compared with it ever came out of the mysterious East. I found in an old dictionary the following account of it: “It was the inner wood, or heart, of a tree that grew in India, exceedingly fragrant, worth more than its weight in gold, and said to be a sovereign cordial for all fainting fits and nervous disorders.” If the learned compiler of that dictionary had intended to give a description of the love of Christ, he could not have succeeded better.

The aloes tree had to be cleft to its heart if the fragrance of it was to be disclosed, and it was on the cross of Calvary, when cleft by the sword of God’s judgment against our sin, that the heart of Christ disclosed all the greatness of His love, and there is nothing in the universe more fragrant than that, the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. Further, His love is far more precious than gold. If the world could give all the gold it possesses and offer it to us in exchange for the knowledge of the love of Christ, would any of us exchange that knowledge for that great price? We would not, for His love is more precious than gold. It cannot be purchased, but it has poured out its priceless wealth without reserve for us.

It is said to be a sovereign remedy for all fainting fits. Do we grow weary and faint in the pilgrim way that leads us to our glorious destiny, the marriage of the Lamb? There is a sovereign remedy for such a state, let us lean upon the arm and heart of our Beloved, and taste afresh the cordial of His love.