Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Luke 7:36-50
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- for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." (verses 44-47) - Jesus
I can see myself so much in this sinful woman. Convicted by Jesus himself, through The Word, just daily living with myself and my own continuous sins. The savior comes, and she risks all even to get to him. To imagine this woman, probably a prostitute, walking into a Pharisees house. How did she even get all the way to the table where He was? Did she sneak in, did she boldly enter, had she been there before? However she did it, she got there. Because she knew He was the only one who could forgive her sins.
She brought all she had. She poured out her worldly possessions, as well as her tears. It wasn't an accepted offering as far as the religious groups' standards. No, she should have been just like them, given the same offerings as them. But she saw through the hypocrisy, to her own sin, and unashamed poured it all out at the saviors feet. Willing to risk His acceptance or reproof.
But Jesus saw through the Pharisees hypocrisy as well; the rituals, the dress, the rules. This was the very reason He had come. To forgive sins. She knew hers were great, and required a great cost to pay for them. A price the perfume could not start to pay back. It would only be paid by blood.
Did the Pharisees understand? Did this experience harden them, or draw them to the Savior? He was not the Savior they had created, and they didn't like the one they had found. Were they the same one's who later called "Crucify Him"? When faced with our own sins we will either rage at the one who convicts, or run for the one who forgives.
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace."
