He Allowed Her To Worship Him….

It seems every time someone realized Who Jesus was, He refrained them from acknowledging it to others. The demons that He cast out were silenced. In all the healings He performed, He most often told the people to tell no one. Here in this passage we find a woman of little discretion, adoring Jesus in front of some prominent guests. She wiped His feet with her tears and hair. Then she anointed Jesus with very expensive perfume. Jesus never stopped her. He allowed her to worship Him right in front of all these people. It’s the only occasion in the NT that this type of adornment was allowed in His presence. If we read the other gospels, we find out that this happened right before His crucifixion. It was an early version of anointing His body for burial. I guess we will never know the full extent of why Jesus allowed only her to publicly adorn or worship Him, but we do know that she was forgiven of her sins and her faith “saved” her. All I know is when we truly worship God, lose ourselves in the process, He reveals more of Himself to us. This story gives all people hope. From the most vile to the most religious, and from the most guilty to the more innocent, faith in Jesus saves us. It’s the only way God chooses to reconcile us back to Him. I can’t argue with that, can you?

36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard He was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind Him at His feet, weeping. Her tears fell on His feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing His feet and putting perfume on them.39 When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know what kind of woman is touching Him. She’s a sinner!”40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” He said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people–500  pieces of silver to one and 50  pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer Me water to wash the dust from My feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet Me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing My feet.46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint My head, but she has anointed My feet with rare perfume.47 “I tell you, her sins–and they are many–have been forgiven, so she has shown Me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that He goes around forgiving sins?”50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:36-50