December 6: Hard core repentance

Then one of the Pharisees invited Him to eat with him. He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And a woman in the town who was a sinner found out that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of fragrant oil and stood behind Him at His feet, weeping, and began to wash His feet with her tears. She wiped His feet with the hair of her head, kissing them and anointing them with the fragrant oil. When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him — she’s a sinner.”  (Luke 7:36-39 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Each of the gospels has an account of a woman anointing Jesus with a jar of fragrant oil. The account in three of the gospels appears to be the same anointing, but this one in Luke is unique. The woman’s name is kept secret, and she is referred to as a sinner, which in the Bible normally indicates that she was a prostitute. It may seem strange that this woman would be allowed to enter the house of the Pharisee where this meal was being held, but the custom in the ancient Middle East at that time was to allow the public to watch and listen to a meal like this. This was common most particularly when the guest of honor was a spiritual leader, like Jesus.

The powerful message of this passage is that there were two types of people at this meal: a sinner and a “follower” of God. The sinner does not utter one word, but her actions speak volumes. Her tears reveal the brokenness of her heart and her great desire to change. When she used what many women would consider the most glorious part of their body, her hair, to dry the most dirty part of His body, His feet, and even kissed His feet over and over again, she revealed an extreme attitude of worship and humility. She honored Jesus as God, while the Pharisee decided that Jesus could not be a prophet because He was allowing a sinner to touch Him.

Her actions were some of the purest, most worshipful in all the Bible, whereas the Pharisee’s attitude was one of the most blind, ignorant, and unspiritual in the Bible. We see a message here that is repeated again and again throughout the Bible: sinners with pure hearts are accepted by God, and believers with impure hearts are rejected by Him. 

We can all learn from the humble, worshiping spirit of the woman in today’s passage.