“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.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:36-50)
This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are a couple reasons why I find this passage interesting.
First, biblical scholars assume that this “sinner” was a prostitute. This explains why Simon is so confused by Jesus is letting this prostitute touch him. Also, she isn’t just kissing his feet but is wiping his feet with her hair. In the culture of the day, to uncover your hair was the equivalent to taking your top off.
What? Jesus lets a prostitute touch his feet, and uncover her hair!!!
Simon is like “What you must not know that she is a prostitute, unless you wouldn’t allow her to be touching your feet like that”
But Jesus rebukes Simon, and then does something magnificent. He gives the prostitute a new identity; She is forgiven and now she is redeemed.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be the “sinner” in this story, not Simon. I want to be the one on Jesus’s feet. But in order to be the one at Jesus’s feet, we must first become vulnerable to our King.
I have a secret: God is not scared of you sin, he isn’t scared of your doubt. So, why not lay fear at his feet?
I picture this women walking into the room filled with love for Jesus, and so sorry that she sinned against him. She walks towards him and maybe means to anoint his head but instead she falls at his feet. Then, so overwhelmed by his presence and overcome by her sin she starts to cry, and undoes her hair so she can wipe his feet. She, then, sacrifices her sweet precious valuable perfume, that was probably her only hope for a future. Yet how great was the fragrance of her offering.
How beautiful is she? She is beautifully broken at the feet of Jesus. Now, what always seems interesting to me is that she is crying at Jesus’s feet. Crying!! I’m sure it’s not a graceful cry but an ugly cry. Now, I don’t know about you, but I hate to cry in front of people. I hate it!!
But God finds it beautiful, when we trust him enough to tell him everything. He knows our thoughts, feelings and our sinful actions, but He longs for us to tell him about it. He longs for His sons and daughters to come to Him with their problems. You know why?
So, He can lift up our head and say “Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.”
Don’t think that God will be scared of you sin, Let’s go to him with everything, so you can fill the room with a sweet fragrance and He can be the lifter of our heads.
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