A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 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. When 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.” Jesus answered him, “Simon I have something to tell you.” “Tell me teacher,” he said. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denari, and the other fifty. neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both, Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly.” Jesus said. Luke 7:37-43 NIV
You see I don’t know about you, but I have been where the Pharisee is and I have been where the woman is. I was raised in church. My mother made sure that I went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night as I was growing up. I thank God for that. I was one of those kids in school that was too afraid to get into trouble. I was afraid of what my parents would do and I was afraid of what God would do. I have never used any type of recreational drug, no not even marijuana. I know some people find that hard to believe. I didn’t dare have sex in high school and avoided guys that expected that. I had a good friend whose parents always wanted her to hang out with me because she had a tendency to get into trouble. They knew that I would stop her because I wasn’t going that route. By the time I was 18 I knew I wanted a career in law enforcement and I wasn’t about to do something stupid and mess that up.
However, as I grew older I only felt the need to go to church on Sunday morning. I married a man who attended church with me every Sunday, but we divorced because he had an affair. I couldn’t believe that God had allowed this to happen. I couldn’t understand why I was being punished. I was crushed. In time, God showed me that he had given me warning signs that this man was like that. He had tried to show me before I married this person what I would be dealing with, but I didn’t listen.
I moved to a house on a canal off of a popular river about 20 minutes away from where I grew up. It was party central. It was a water town with lots of weekenders coming in to boat and party. I still stayed away from drugs but indulged in alcohol on the weekends. I managed to find time to attend church most Sundays, but not all Sundays. I stepped away from God and into a life of sin. I thought that because God had allowed my marriage to be destroyed that He would understand my heartache and would just give me a free pass to lead a sinful life until the right guy came along.
I am so much like those Israelites that we read about in Exodus and Deuteronomy. I was going around the same old mountain over and over. It was taking me 40 years to make a 14 day journey. They would praise God one minute and build idols and worship them the next. I would go to church on Sunday and be perfectly content to go about sinning Sunday night through to the next Sunday morning.
In this scripture passage you have a Pharisee who is a man of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance to traditional and written law. These men were known for their knowledge of the law and strict observance. They often times tended to be a little full of themselves. What I love about this scripture passage is that this Pharisee, Simon, thought to himself that Jesus must not be a prophet or He would know that this woman is a sinner and surely not associate with her. Jesus heard his thoughts. Jesus answered out loud what Simon had said to himself. Don’t think you are keeping any secrets from Jesus my friend, He knows.
Jesus responds to him with a parable. He tells him of two who owed money and had their debt forgiven. One owed a little money and the other owed ten times that amount. Jesus asks who will love the man that forgave the debt more and Simon correctly responds that it would be the one who owed more.
I have seen people that God has rescued from a life of drug abuse get up in church and give their testimony. Man that is powerful! Before my first marriage, I really didn’t have much of a testimony. I was raised in church, stayed in church, that was it. I loved God, but I didn’t realize how much I needed God until my world fell apart. When you stray from God and find yourself in a life of sin, you realize how much you truly need God. Hopefully if you have good sense you will run to Him with open arms and throw yourself at His feet.
A contemporary Christian group called Casting Crowns has a song entitled, Just be Held. It is a beautiful song and if you feel like your world is falling apart I strongly suggest you listen to it and pay close attention to the Lyrics. My favorite part of this song is the lyrics that say, “you’re world is not falling apart, it’s falling into place”. Sometimes when God is picking up the pieces and trying to put them into place, it feels as though things are falling apart. But if we draw near to Him, as this woman did, and trust in Him, He will put all the pieces into place.
The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We also know that sin is sin, no one sin is bigger than the other. So no matter your situation, trust it to God today. He’s a big, mighty, powerful God and He can handle it whatever it is.
It’s not too late to bow at the feet of Jesus. Let your tears flow and allow God to wash away your sins with the blood of Christ. No matter what you have done, he is faithful and just to forgive. So whether you have a little sin or a lot of sin, He can wash it all away if you only turn to Him.
Have a wonderful day!