Luke 7:36-38(NLT)
“36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 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.”
What makes a woman immoral? During the time in which Jesus Christ walked the earth, it didn’t take much. If a woman worked and earned her own money, this was a sin, and she was considered a prostitute. In those days, a young woman would be given away in marriage by her father. If no man wanted to claim her as his wife, she was labeled a burden to her family, because her father would be expected to care for her the rest of her unmarried life. If by chance she fell in love with a man who tricked her into thinking she would be his wife, but only had one thing on his mind, he could ruin her reputation. Back then, a woman’s reputation was everything. It opened doors of opportunities for her. If her reputation was tarnished, even if it was no fault of her own, life could be extremely difficult for her.
The woman in this record in Luke 7:36-38 had run into a set of circumstances that caused her to be labeled immoral. She was a known outcast and many men thought that she had no worth. Women were already at the bottom of the totem pole in biblical days. They were pretty much considered a man’s property, and a good wife was looked upon primarily as a good servant. It doesn’t take much imagination to get a picture of all this woman had been through, but even at her lowest point, she recognized an opportunity to tap into a dimension that far exceeded the one she had lived in for so many years.
Our Lord and Savior was a friend to sinners and those that had been ostracized. For the people that were ridiculed and despised publicly, he gave healing, support, and comfort. He taught them the Word of God, and they could not help but fall in love with him and the compassion he demonstrated. Jesus was a guest in the home of a Pharisee when this woman came to tend to him with her alabaster box. The Pharisees were notoriously arrogant, and had no good intentions where Jesus was concerned. When he entered this man’s home, Jesus was not greeted or treated as the King he is, but this woman knew who he was. She had heard his teaching and had no doubt been changed by it. She understood that she had received from the Master something that no other could give her. It was worth more than life itself.
This woman came to acknowledge what Christ had done for her, yet she came behind him and did not even look him in the face. Talk about humility; this is it! She came behind him weeping, and when her tears fell on his feet, she used her hair to towel them dry. She continued to kiss his feet and put the perfume in her alabaster box on them. She brought her best for Jesus Christ. We really do have to ask ourselves if we have cultivated this level of humility for the Lord ourselves. Have we given Jesus our best?
Some of us feel such an internal need to be loved by a man, and we are not quite sure why this need is so strong. But Jesus Christ said something extremely critical and it will shed some light on this need. To the arrogant Pharisee, he said in Luke 7:46-48(NLT), “You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. 47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Examine this extraordinary statement that Jesus made about this woman. He said, “she has shown me much love.” The key to her receiving on such a magnanimous level was revealed in this statement that Jesus Christ made. Think of it, the record of her humility is in God’s Word for the rest of eternity. There is no greater legacy than this, and she made it possible because her heart was filled with love for Jesus Christ. This must be the testimony of every woman of God. Loving God through Christ with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength is the key. Deep down, this is the real yearning we have inside, it is to love Christ like the woman with the alabaster box. When we love him like this, with a heart overflowing with humility, it will most certainly unlock the blessings we so earnestly desire.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“She Kept Kissing the Savior’s Feet” written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2020. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.