Outrageous Salvation!

Outrageous as this story may sound today, it was inconceivable when it actually happened two thousand years ago. A strange woman, especially a woman of questionable behavior, to come at your feet and start pouring her tears on them and kissing them, and even pouring an expensive perfume on your feet and drying them with her hair. We are talking about a woman who had probably been used my many of the men present at the house of Simon for their carnal desires, a woman whom other women would stay away from, a woman whom children mocked, and who caused parents to move away when she was coming about.

This woman heard that Jesus was in the house of Simon and without hesitation, she went and purchased an alabaster jar of perfume, something that even rich people would not do very often, and without shame or doubt she entered uninvited the house of a Pharisee, a man who practiced and upheld the law of Moses, a man whose self righteousness was a banner for everyone to see, yet I assume he may not have had time to react to this woman’s aggressive engagement, because she did not doubt, she did not stop at the door, she did not ask for permission, she walked in as if she was an invited guest, and before anyone could say a word, she was at the feet of Jesus.

I am sure Simon’s first reaction was to yank her away from His feet and throw her out, in fact I can safely state that many of the guests in there probably even attempted to do that, many may have even walked away when they saw what happened next, Yet it is obvious that if anybody tried to pull her away and drag her out, Jesus stopped them.

And I wonder about the look on people’s faces, as they saw this woman crying at Jesus’ feet, The Bible says she was weeping, literally pouring out her sorrow and her shame, and yet we learn that the reaction of those present was one of despise, embarrassment, and hatred.

But the Lord Jesus Christ looked at her with tenderness, with love, with understanding, and with joy at the sight of a person who was coming to salvation. He did not flinch, He did not make a sudden move, He just sat there quietly and let her express her repentance and her desire to come clean.

Jesus knew this would bring controversy, He knew Simon was not going to stand still while this woman violated the sanctity of his home, but the Lord Jesus Christ is all love and kindness and patience, and to spare the embarrassment to Simon, before he could open his mouth and make a fool of himself in front of everyone, Jesus caught him on his thoughts.

Jesus could have perfectly waited for what was coming next, Simon standing in outrage, protesting this action and ordering his servants to throw this woman out, He could have waited for Simon to show the darkness in his heart to rebuke him and to give him a lesson in humility and love.

Yet the Lord in his compassion, rather that humiliating him, rather than confronting him He told him a story.

With a simple parable He turned an explosive situation into an opportunity for teaching, for preaching, for bringing conviction to those who could hear.

With a simple parable He brought everyone to the realization that this woman was no less than any of those present at the house, that everyone was equally guilty, equally dirty, and that this woman with all her flaws, was getting the most out this meeting, because she was doing something none of the people present at that house had done, she was showing repentance, and with her actions she was begging to be forgiven, to be brought back to life.

We all live our lives pretending that everything is all right, many of us even brag about our security in Christ, we often become self righteous, and looking around us wonder how many of those we are looking at are saved (Luke 18:9-14).

Many of us have on occasions demean a person because he or she looks different or acts differently, and the Lord has to often stop us in our tracks, while we are thinking, before we open our mouth and commit an atrocious sin.

Because apart form Jesus there is no salvation, there are no scales of sin, or sizes of evil in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus asked Simon who would love more, and Simon answered, the one with the bigger debt (Luke 7:43) and that is because in the matters of the human hearts there are levels of appreciation, of understanding how deep in the mud we were when we were rescued by the gospel of Christ Jesus, but to God a sin is a sin, big or small  they are all sins, because we are all sinful (Romans 3:23).

So this message today seeks to bring you to the realization that as righteous as we may seem, as clean as we may think we walk, as much as we pray and preach and read the bible, we are still sinners, the same as every one of those that are today in the world, and apart from Jesus we are lost, apart from Jesus we are no more that a decaying piece of flesh that will eventually rot to nothing, and that when that comes to pass we ought to have our story straight as we stand in front of the judge.

Jesus told that woman whom everyone saw as a great sinner “your sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:48).

And this is the only word that matters when it comes to eternal life, there is no riches, no power, no righteousness, no deeds, there is nothing except for that word. And if you do not have that word you may as well had not been born.

I want to always remember that my sins have been forgiven, and act accordingly, in humility, in appreciation, in understanding that I was in the mud and through Him I have been clean, and that others out there who may look very dirty to me have the same opportunity that I had to become clean as well, as long as they come to His feet in repentance.

Rev. Jose A. Luna

A servant of Christ Jesus

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