By Rebecca Thackeray and Chalcedony Williams
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
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.
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!”
Luke 7:36-39 NLT
‘Go with the flow,’ people say, like a fish following the river's flow. Something in us makes us want to stick to the status quo. We tend to do this for safety, perhaps out of fear of being the odd one out or fear of being criticised or ridiculed. Breaking the mould is not something we would naturally do.
In today’s verse, we see two people breaking the status quo and with pretty big social consequences.
Firstly, we see a woman decide to seek out Jesus. She is someone with an awful reputation, perhaps full of shame. And yet, bold enough to walk into a room full of powerful, influential, “holy” men just to get to Jesus. It must have been pretty important to her to risk rejection to get to Him. Why would a famously sinful, full-of-shame woman decide to do this? She recognised that Jesus was a Saviour, and she responded. She responded in the most extravagant way, bringing a jar full of something expensive and precious. It may have been the most valuable thing she had, perhaps all she had. She poured it all out at Jesus’ feet. The sinful woman came to worship.
The second person to break the status quo is Jesus, Himself. Jesus recognised who the woman was and what she intended to do, and He responded in a way that completely stunned the Pharisees. It was unheard of for a woman to be in the presence of men like this, to touch a man like this, and to have her hair uncovered like this! It was completely inappropriate behaviour. But Jesus was not concerned about culture or tradition.
Because Jesus allowed this woman to touch Him, the Pharisees assumed Jesus had no knowledge or divine revelation to know who she really was. But Jesus knows everything, and He intentionally allowed this woman to touch Him.
Jesus’ Kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. He is not bound by the cultures and social norms of the world. As King, He introduces us to true culture and gives us a new standard to live by. He invites us to see His world and His people the way He does and to love them the way He does. All are welcome before the throne of God. He will not turn away anyone who comes with a worshipful and sincere heart.
Ask: How did Jesus respond to this woman amongst these people?
Seek: Are there any ways that you relate to this woman? Are there ways that you can relate to the Pharisees?
Knock: Ask God for boldness to pursue Him and others, allowing Him to give you His heart in all situations and for all people.
