Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Tuesday, 25 November 2014 “Jesus: God’s grace in actionToday's Scripture: Luke 7: Anointing His Feet
36-39 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”
40 Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Oh? Tell me.”
41-42 “Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”
43-47 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”
“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
48 Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”
49 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”
50 He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Have you ever known a person everyone thought was a “hopeless case”? Simon, like too many
religious people, looked down on anyone he thought was less “righteous.” When a woman who
was a known “sinner” (v. 37) entered Simon’s home, he had no doubt Jesus should send her
away. But Jesus said “no.” Grace and forgiveness can change any life, but only when we see
our need for them. Jesus saw Simon’s case as closer to hopeless than the woman’s.
• Jesus saw in the woman a beloved child of God, cause for a party in heaven (see Luke
15). Simon saw only a “sinner,” a person completely undeserving of real love. How did Jesus’ pointed contrast in verses 41-47 show the spiritual hollowness of Simon’s pious
front? Spend a few moments in silence and listen. What does Jesus have to say to you
(verse 40)?
• This story had an unseen “prequel.” This plainly was not the first time Jesus had met this
woman. Verse 47 gives a pretty clear idea of how he must have extended grace to her earlier.
In what ways can you identify with the woman’s response to Jesus? For what reasons, and to
what extent, are you grateful to Jesus for forgiving, accepting and saving you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, deliver me from the inner Pharisee who haunts my heart. Remind me of
how much I need your grace, and how much of it I receive every day. Amen.
Insight from Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at the Vibe, West, and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
When birthdays and Christmas roll around, my son actually picks out the gifts he wants to give to each parent himself. (I don’t know if that’s especially common or not, being that I haven’t been a father all that long.) It’s always interesting to see what he picks out, because it’s always something he likes and understands. He picks out the thing that’s funnest for him, not because he wants it, but because he wants to share that joy with me. I’ve gotten Annoying Orange and Jimi Hendrix t-shirts. My wife usually gets a video game. In all cases, the gift isn’t terrible by any means, but it’s not really the perfect gift for us. Here’s the thing, though–it’s the perfect gift from him. He picks out the coolest, funnest thing he knows and he wants to share that with you, he wants you to share in the joy that he has. It’s that thought that means the most to me. Of course, I then have to explain why I can’t wear my Annoying Orange shirt to a business meeting, but it’s still meaningful.
The story of the prostitute washing Jesus’ feet obviously has a much different feel to it, but there are some similarities there that are often glanced over. Here’s Jesus, who had been invited over to a religious leader’s house for some serious theological conversations, trying to show these pharisees what it means to live out God’s love. I imagine this woman standing outside for a very long time, catching parts of the conversation within, understanding even less of it, knowing that her place wasn’t there. Bear in mind, we’ve seen pharisees in other verses condemn prostitutes to death. The religious leaders within knew who she was and may have been looking for a reason to kill her. Even in a good scenario, she would be ridiculed, humiliated, devalued as a human being.
So when this woman picks up her jar of ointment and steps into this pharisee’s house, silent and shaking, she steps into the heaviest silence she had ever experienced. The glares are obvious. She knows she’s not welcome. And then she approaches Jesus to wash his feet with her hair–scandalous at the time, and reminiscent of the way she treated some of her customers. We like to look at the pharisees in this passage and think about how awful they are, but let’s be honest: if we saw this scenario go down in real life, we would probably do the same thing.
That’s when I imagine the murmurs starting. She can make out some of the statements, and they reaffirm all of her fears: she wanted to honor this savior, and she had completely missed the mark. She begins sobbing silently and the murmurs get louder, but she presses on, determined to do what she came there to do.
Her gift that night was much like a child’s gifts to his or her parents: not terrible, but not really what the son of God needed, or possibly even wanted. But she gave what she saw as the most valuable thing she could. The pharisees saw the gift, but Jesus saw the thought.
What I often hear taught on this passage is that we need to be more like Jesus and not be judgmental. I think there’s something else we can learn from this passage. I think we also need to be more like the woman.
I have to say, this nameless woman is kind of my hero. We look at people like king David, who worshiped so hard he took his clothes off and danced in the streets, and we commend them for their spirit. Where’s the praise for this woman? Her act of worship is one of the bravest things in the Bible.
I wish I had the courage to worship God in the face of such overwhelming odds as this woman did. I sometimes get self-conscious singing too loudly in church. Even when I’m worshipping at my best, I know my offerings to God are not much better than this woman’s misguided but genuine gift. Even when I realize that my gift is insufficient–and, let’s be honest, all of our gifts are insufficient for the creator of the universe–do I have the determination to worship God even when I know I’m wrong?
God delights in all of our gifts, even the ones that are misguided and insufficient, simply because they’re from us. We should delight in giving them as much as He delights in getting them.
In closing, I’d just like to say that my son has gotten better at buying gifts. For my wife’s recent birthday, he picked out a nice scarf and some useful car accessories for her. Of course, he also picked out two gallons of cranberry juice. Well, it’s the thought that counts.
____________________________
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at the Vibe, West, and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.When birthdays and Christmas roll around, my son actually picks out the gifts he wants to give to each parent himself. (I don’t know if that’s especially common or not, being that I haven’t been a father all that long.) It’s always interesting to see what he picks out, because it’s always something he likes and understands. He picks out the thing that’s funnest for him, not because he wants it, but because he wants to share that joy with me. I’ve gotten Annoying Orange and Jimi Hendrix t-shirts. My wife usually gets a video game. In all cases, the gift isn’t terrible by any means, but it’s not really the perfect gift for us. Here’s the thing, though–it’s the perfect gift from him. He picks out the coolest, funnest thing he knows and he wants to share that with you, he wants you to share in the joy that he has. It’s that thought that means the most to me. Of course, I then have to explain why I can’t wear my Annoying Orange shirt to a business meeting, but it’s still meaningful.
The story of the prostitute washing Jesus’ feet obviously has a much different feel to it, but there are some similarities there that are often glanced over. Here’s Jesus, who had been invited over to a religious leader’s house for some serious theological conversations, trying to show these pharisees what it means to live out God’s love. I imagine this woman standing outside for a very long time, catching parts of the conversation within, understanding even less of it, knowing that her place wasn’t there. Bear in mind, we’ve seen pharisees in other verses condemn prostitutes to death. The religious leaders within knew who she was and may have been looking for a reason to kill her. Even in a good scenario, she would be ridiculed, humiliated, devalued as a human being.
So when this woman picks up her jar of ointment and steps into this pharisee’s house, silent and shaking, she steps into the heaviest silence she had ever experienced. The glares are obvious. She knows she’s not welcome. And then she approaches Jesus to wash his feet with her hair–scandalous at the time, and reminiscent of the way she treated some of her customers. We like to look at the pharisees in this passage and think about how awful they are, but let’s be honest: if we saw this scenario go down in real life, we would probably do the same thing.
That’s when I imagine the murmurs starting. She can make out some of the statements, and they reaffirm all of her fears: she wanted to honor this savior, and she had completely missed the mark. She begins sobbing silently and the murmurs get louder, but she presses on, determined to do what she came there to do.
Her gift that night was much like a child’s gifts to his or her parents: not terrible, but not really what the son of God needed, or possibly even wanted. But she gave what she saw as the most valuable thing she could. The pharisees saw the gift, but Jesus saw the thought.
What I often hear taught on this passage is that we need to be more like Jesus and not be judgmental. I think there’s something else we can learn from this passage. I think we also need to be more like the woman.
I have to say, this nameless woman is kind of my hero. We look at people like king David, who worshiped so hard he took his clothes off and danced in the streets, and we commend them for their spirit. Where’s the praise for this woman? Her act of worship is one of the bravest things in the Bible.
I wish I had the courage to worship God in the face of such overwhelming odds as this woman did. I sometimes get self-conscious singing too loudly in church. Even when I’m worshipping at my best, I know my offerings to God are not much better than this woman’s misguided but genuine gift. Even when I realize that my gift is insufficient–and, let’s be honest, all of our gifts are insufficient for the creator of the universe–do I have the determination to worship God even when I know I’m wrong?
God delights in all of our gifts, even the ones that are misguided and insufficient, simply because they’re from us. We should delight in giving them as much as He delights in getting them.
In closing, I’d just like to say that my son has gotten better at buying gifts. For my wife’s recent birthday, he picked out a nice scarf and some useful car accessories for her. Of course, he also picked out two gallons of cranberry juice. Well, it’s the thought that counts.
____________________________
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