“And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house and sat down to meat (dinner).

And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment.

And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden (invited) him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

And Jesus answering. Said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master (teacher) say on. 

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, the other fifty.

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them shall love him the most?

Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave the most. and he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 

And he turned to the woman, and said to Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine (your) house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

My head with oil thou didst (did) not anoint but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she hath loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 

And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 

And they that sat at meat (dinner) with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

And he said unto the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”  Luke 7: 36-50

This is one of the most beautiful stories in the entire Bible.

To get some background, the Pharisees were the religious leaders of the day, they would be the spiritual ancestors of the Good Ol’ Boys Ministerial Club that unfortunately have victimized so many.

The were all about their rules and had no shred of mercy, compassion, or kindness and based everything on appearance with no thought to what really mattered, what was on the inside, in the heart.

Their hearts were as black as coal, and they were fine with that as long as they appeared religious on the outside.

So many of God’s lambs have been hurt and wounded and chased away by their modern-day counterparts.

But as we see in our story, they don’t get past God.

They constantly tried to accuse and hassle Jesus because he brought love, and mercy into the mix and he sought out those which they had condemned.

Jesus always knows his sheep and I love the fact that he heard the thoughts of Simon, when Simon didn’t even speak those thoughts out loud. 

Can you imagine the courage it took for her to go into that house, go to that dinner knowing that they would hate, ridicule, and accuse her to Jesus.

But she had faith that she had to go to him and pour out her heart.

And you know, she had no way of knowing what might happen once she got there.

She didn’t know if she would make it past the door or be thrown out as if she were nothing.

She just had complete faith to go to him and look past those who hated and accused her and only focus on him. 

No one knew her heart, no one knew what she had suffered in her life, and no one knew what had brought her to the circumstances she found herself in.

No one except God himself.

Her soul so crushed and her heart so bruised that all that pain flooded out at Jesus feet. 

He knew exactly who she was, he knew and had saw every single tear, he knew every abuse, he knew every heartache.

He knew ever vulgar name she had been called, he knew every degradation, every humiliation, and he knew every time that she wiped her tears picked herself back up and carried on believing some way there was still hope.

She had faith to believe that even though the Pharisees and religious people of the day hated her and offered her only condemnation that there was something more.

And she found that at his feet.

She found a love that did not condemn her, did not trash her, or accuse her.

A love that only reached out and saved her. 

Accepted her with mercy and grace that not only protected her but defended her in the face of those who despised her.

When we ourselves find that presence of the Lord, all that sorrow, pain, and all that’s been pent up for a lifetime comes out when we our cries are met by pure love and acceptance instead of the damning voices of darkness who only accuse, belittle, and berate wishing to only destroy us.

It’s often mentioned, the terrible price she paid for that alabaster box of ointment and as we get into Easter, we’ll look at a couple of more interactions between her and Jesus and get into that a little more.

But she gave everything she had at his feet, she gave him her heart, her sorrow, her most valuable earthly possession, and in a show of absolute humility the dried his feet with her hair, in those days, hair was your glory.

She performed all the customary kindness using only what she had. The Pharisees didn’t even bother with showing Jesus common courtesy of the day.

Guests were greeted with a kiss, and water to wash their feet after having walked through all the dust, they were given oil to refresh themselves.

The Pharisees hadn’t bothered to give Jesus any of these things because they did not truly view him as a guest, and he was not truly welcomed by them.

But she gave it all and in her faith of doing so she was blessed beyond measure and her enemies silenced from the mouth of God himself.

That is one of the clearest glimpses ever into the character of Jesus.

So please don’t ever let the religious of this world try to convince you otherwise.

He is beautiful and holy and loves his children and will always welcome us with nothing but love, mercy and peace unlike anything we have ever known.

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day. NBJ 2024/Rev. N Brown Johnson