“Who does she think she is, walking in here like we don’t know what she did to get that expensive jar of perfume? Look at her. She has some nerve getting that close to Rabbi. Has she no shame? Why is Rabbi letting her touch Him, anyway? He should know better, being that He is a prophet of God. I’ve never seen such mockery in all of Israel. This is unthinkable!”
The Bible has no record that those words were ever spoken, but I imagine more than one person had those very thoughts when a certain woman entered the home of Simon the Pharisee. The King James Version of the Bible refers to the woman as a “sinner,” but other translations call her an “immoral woman,” which is why many theologians think she was a prostitute. We don’t know for certain what sins she was guilty of committing, but whatever she did, she was notorious for her deeds. And her notoriety would only increase.
It was customary for common people to attend the dinners of affluent residents like Simon, but they were supposed to sit quietly and observe. They weren’t welcome at the dinner table, much less allowed to touch the guest of honor. That this woman dared to show up—at the table—was unthinkable.
I believe it’s impossible for us to be in the presence of the Lord and not be radically transformed by Him. Even if a person chooses to reject Christ, he or she will never be the same when the Lord makes His presence known. Could it be that word had spread quickly about the miracles Christ performed, and this woman wanted Him to do for her what He had done for others?
When she entered Simon’s house, she found Jesus reclining at the table. The woman was so humbled at the sight of the Savior that she refused to stand in His presence; instead, she knelt at His feet, just weeping. Our tears are never wasted, as Psalm 56:8 (NLT) says: “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”
Christ knew every tear she offered in sacrifice to Him. And when her precious tears fell upon His feet, she dried them with her hair. In biblical times, it was a disgrace for a woman to wear her hair down in public, but this woman had no shame. She left it at the feet of Christ, along with all the hurt, loneliness, rejection, embarrassment and fear that had diminished her self-worth. The Bible says a woman’s hair is her glory, and this woman was using her glory to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords, whether or not she knew at the time that she was bowing to royalty.
Luke 7:38b says, “Then she kept kissing His feet and putting perfume on them.” She didn’t kiss His feet one time; she did it over and over again. How often do we slip to our knees to thank the Lord for being so kind and merciful to us? How often do we thank Him for taking our place on the cross? When is the last time we showed our gratitude for the peace and joy we experience every day as a result of the liberty we have in Christ? People worship God in many different ways: through song, prayer, personal sacrifice, financial giving and more. But our worship should always be a reflection of a grateful heart. Many Christians believe worship is something we do when we go to church on Sunday mornings. It is, but it’s so much more than that. Worship is a way of life for the believer. {eoa}
This article is an excerpt from Unthinkable: Do the Unordinary to Experience the Extraordinary (Charisma House, 2018) by Mia K. Wright. Wright is co-pastor and director of ministry at The Fountain of Praise in Houston, Texas. Host of the popular Metamorphosis women’s conference, Wright is a noted community influencer. She has been a host on TBN’s Praise the Lord and a guest on Daystar’s Joni Table Talk and Celebration programs. Wright holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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