The Sinner

Luke 7 One of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him, and He went into the Pharisee's house and took His place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that He was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind Him at His feet, 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. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, He would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, Say on, Teacher.

It is interesting to me that we see so clearly the sins of others rather than our own.

What great love the Father has for us that He would be willing to become a man, flesh and blood and live among us. Sometimes I forget what an awesome sacrifice that was for Him. Holy God taking on flesh and living as a mortal. Amazing love. Amazing patience.

One of the greatest tragedies in the life of believer, or simply the religious, is to reach the point that we are unaware of our sin. If we keep the list of do's and don'ts, if we go to church, if we pray, read our Bible or sing in the choir then somehow that makes us immune to sin. We suppose that God will see our good and it will certainly outweigh our bad and then we feel okay with ourselves. And that makes it easier to find fault in others.

Take the woman of the city, for example. We might assume that she was a prostitute or some other unsavory woman, certainly unfit to touch the Lord. Who was this woman who considered herself of value and entered into the house of the Pharisee? And what was the Teacher thinking by allowing Himself to be polluted by her touch? Maybe He was no prophet at all.

Aren't you glad that Jesus looked beyond the behavior of the woman and looked instead at the condition of her heart? I am. Sometimes my behavior is not that pretty.

Just like the woman in this story, Jesus looked beyond my faults and sins. He was able to look beyond my behavior and decisions. He alone could see what I could be, who I could be. He has that rarest of love that looks beyond everything that we do or say and loves the person that He created, the person we would have been in a world where sin had never been introduced. He sees our brokenness and He is moved to compassion. Without shaming us, without pulling away from our filthiness. Instead of drawing back, He draws near. Embracing our sin and shame and taking it upon His own flesh, He loves us to repentance. His unfailing kindness and unconditional love draws us into relationship with Him and the more He loves us and the more of Himself He gives to us, the more like Him we become.

Jesus sees the condition of our heart. Her heart was broken over her sin and her life and that is the kind of heart that the Teacher is searching for; and that is the lesson of the Pharisee and the woman of the city.

A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love Him more? Simon answered, The one, I suppose, for whom He cancelled the larger debt....Then turning toward the woman He said to Simon, Do you see this woman?...Her sins, which are many, are forgiven-for she loved much.

It takes courage to come to Jesus as we are. We fear He will reject us because He will not be able to bear our sin.

He is able. He is willing. He is waiting for us.

I was that woman. So ugly on the inside that I could not bear to lift my eyes to the One who could heal me, so He came to me. He is the lifter of my head. Clothing me in His own honor; dressing me in the garments of His own holiness. He alone loves enough to take a woman of the city and make her His bride.