Jesus Anointed. Luke 7:36-50
36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." 40"Simon, I have something to tell you," Jesus answered him. "Tell me, teacher," he said. 41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. 44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." 48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
What person do you relate to? The Pharisee or the Woman? Have your sins been forgiven?
1 comment:
i used to live the Pharisee life.. perfect on the outside in behavior.. but then when my divorce hit, i became the woman wiping his feet with her tears...i think when we come to terms with our sin, and realize how we are undeserving of forgiveness as the Pharisee thinks of her, we understand the depth of His love for us to die for our sins. Who else would do that? And the most Compassionate and Passionate Christians I have met are those who have been in the gutter and allowed God to pull them out and use them. The hardest thing for me is when church leaders and other Christians hold the measuring stick so far above our heads, we feel we can never attain what they expect of us, because they are living such a righteous life in actions and words. I am constantly reminded at my current church, well if you have easter baskets and eggs, that is not Christian, that is not what Easter is about. If you let your kids go to Halloween or give out candy, you are not a Christian. If you play lottery, that is not a Christian. If you don't tithe and believe a financial blessing will come out of it, then you are faithless. If you were Catholic and taught children, you were teaching them falsely. All I know is, I was all those things, and I tuaght children the love of Jesus. Not catechism. I was raised in the Church of Christ, and on the bible. That is what I taught. And there was beauty and love in those classes, and I learned so much from those kids. But according to them, my whole life has been a lie, and I feel ashamed. I have now lost 1/3 of my salary, and as a single mom get no child custody, and can't pay my bills anymore. When I asked the church to help me with food and gave them all the details of my financial position, they quickly said they don't give $ to people, they dont know of a church that did and reminded me I had already received 2 food cards and the council approves only 3 per family, but then said i could get food from the canned goods pantry. I felt so ashamed, I did not want to ask again for food from their pantry. I serve in the church and at every bible study, friday night praise team practice, but I have felt very ashamed of myself and my former ways from the moment I walked through the doors of the church. My life has definitely been thru a transformation for the 1 1/2 years I have been there, but feel more Condemnation in my life than I ever have. i do not have any close friends there, but in the other churches where i served previously the people were not perfect, but loved so much, and we did so many things together, lunches, teaching together. I am wondering if I am at a Pharisatic Church.
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