Jesus Speaks to Women...even Sinful Women...

And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7: 48

For some, this expression may represent a re-birth...a healing...a permission to breathe again.  Yet, for others, it might be an occasion to mistrust.  This is the contrast between the two characters in the passage that contains this wonderful verse: Luke 7: 36-50.  

On one side we have the sinful woman who came to Jesus with her alabaster jar of ointment and, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. (Luke 7: 38) On the other hand we have the Pharisee who invited Jesus to dine.

Jesus uses both to teach a magnificent lesson: faith.

The way I see it, both, the woman as well as the Pharisee were drawn to Jesus.  The difference is in the details of their intentions/reasons as to why seeking Jesus. The Pharisee invited Him to his home to eat and hang out.  The sinful woman entered the house of the Pharisee to seek out Jesus and worship Him.  The Pharisee, accustomed to sitting among important people, used the invitation to call attention to himself, to his power, to his position of influence:  look at me, look at me, I have the hottest celebrity of the moment dining at my house, aren't I amazing?  The woman, sneaking into the room where Jesus was reclining, surrendered her tears, her hair, her precious ointment, weeping, ashamed, broken...

For the Pharisee, it was all about himself.  He wanted to make himself look good, and he also wanted to prove how smart he was, "Hey, if Jesus really were who He said He is, He'd know better..." (my paraphrase of verse 39)

For the sinful woman, it was all about Jesus.  Notice she didn't even say anything...she didn't ask for anything...she just wanted to get near Jesus.  In contrast with Mary in Matthew 26, this woman washes His feet.  I believe, she didn't feel worthy of anointing Jesus head, so she, in great humility, took the the most humble of tasks:  cleaning a man's feet...with her tears...and her hair.  I mean, her hair!  A precious commodity for a woman.  Back then, women weren't even allowed to show their hair in public.  Their hair was reserved only for her husband.  I think of today and the great pains that women go through to fix their hair just like so...how much we wrestle with our hair...how much money we invest in our hair...I'm sure women back then did the equivalent too...and to use her precious hair to wipe the dirty feet of a man who had been beating the dusty pathways for days?  I mean, Jesus didn't even have like a permanent residence...how many times a week you think He got to wash His feet?  They are Holy feet, I know...but even Holy feet get dirty...don't you think?  And to use one's hair to wipe them?!  WOW!  That is surrender...that is worship...

How much are we willing to surrender when we worship?

Sigh...

I would like to pause here to ponder for a while.  May the Holy Spirit speak to us and reveal to us what He wants us to learn, appreciate, and discern in this passage.  Amen!