The life of Jesus – 15
September 12. 2014
The woman with oil.
Luke 7:36-39 And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
This woman was known not by her name but by her reputation. She was known as a sinner. What a statement to make about someone. Her whole identity was wrapped around what she did. Whenever someone saw her she was called and identified by what she did. How would we feel when all we are known about is the very thing we did wrong. Imagine if nobody called you by your name because they don’t know you by your name they only know you by your actions. Then on top of it all, it was something terrible that she was known for. I am sure she deserved to be called this but the great thing I see in this is the fact that she not only knew how to do wrong, but she also knew to do what is right. Maybe she tried many times before to do something right. Maybe she tried to do something to have a different reputation but no one noticed. Nobody wanted to give her a chance to be known as something or someone else.
I see myself in this woman’s story. I see us all in this story. We do something wrong and it’s memory last longer than the memory of the things we do right. People seem to remember what we did wrong much longer than the things we did right. We all have a reputation. This makes the Gospel of Jesus even more glorious. Jesus came to forget our wrongs.
Psalms 103:11-12 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Jer 31:24 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
The fact that God send Jesus to redeem us and to forget our sins and transgressions means that God rid us of our reputation. I am no longer the man I use to be. Jesus put his own reputation on the line by standing up for this woman. God put His reputation on the line by saving us. Like the Pharisee that thought that Jesus should have known that she was a woman of ill repute, Jesus knew but was there to show that God came to redeem our past and give us a future. God knew what we were and still he chooses us. With God choosing us he deals with what was judging us.
She was a worshipper when she got into Jesus presence. His presence will change us from sinners to worshippers. She gave Jesus worship when the Pharisee gave her criticism. Our worship will draw God to our side while it will offend others. One act of worship was all it took for Jesus to respond to her. Worship is a way we draw nearer to God and then He draws nearer to us.
The Pharisee underestimated Jesus. He though Jesus didn’t know. “If he was a prophet he would have known.” Jesus was more interested in her touching him than her defiling him. Whenever sin meets righteousness, sin always looses. What was unclean now becomes clean. God longs for us to touch him. The church is praying for touches from God while God is saying: “touch me.” The woman with the issue of blood reached out and touched Jesus. There is a place where we get so desperate that we reach out to God for a touch. The difference between us asking for a touch and us wanting to touch God is that most of the times when we ask God to touch us it is to be blessed. Most of the times when we touch God in desperation it is because we need to be changed. Do you want to be blessed or changed? She didn’t touch Jesus to be blessed. She was desperate to be changed. Her reputation didn’t keep her away from Jesus.
So many times I stayed away from God because I was afraid of what people might say. So many times I missed a visitation because people’s opinions mattered. What a loss I have suffered! The ones I worried about lost nothing. I was the looser. I have determined to come close to God. No longer will I stay away.
