Luke 7:36-39 (NIV) Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and 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.”
The Pharisee was an absolutely righteous man as far as his external actions went. But he had a hard, unloving, unforgiving heart. He invited Jesus to eat with him out of curiosity, not devotion. Jesus went because it was His assignment for the evening.
The woman was a sinner, although the kind of sin is not specified. Many people jump instantly in their minds to adulterer or prostitute, but it was just as likely that she was a thief, a gossip, or an idolater. But the nature of the sin was not the important point. What was important that night was that the woman, because of Jesus’ presence, had determined that she wanted to make a change in her life, and that the time for the change was now.
Like a lot of sinners, she had no real idea of how to go about making that change. She determined that bringing a gift to Jesus, the holy man, was the best place to start. So she dug out the most costly thing she owned: a bottle of expensive perfume.
A little asking around led her to the Pharisee’s house. The closer she got, the softer her heart became, and the more freely her tears began to flow. By the time she arrived, she was crying so hard that she couldn’t even express her sorrow for her sins. All she could do was to stand at Jesus’ feet as He reclined at the table.
She suddenly realized that her hot tears were falling on Jesus’ bare feet. In embarrassment she dropped to her knees and, lacking a towel, used her hair to wipe off the tears. Then she kissed Jesus’ feat and, breaking open the alabaster jar of perfume, poured it onto His feet, massaging it in.
The Pharisee had been watching this whole scenario, not with wonder, but with disgust. He knew who this woman was, that she was a vile sinner. He would never have allowed this woman to come near him, and definitely wouldn’t have allowed her to touch him out of fear that her sinful uncleanness would contaminate his own righteousness just through the physical contact. And it filled him with wonder that Jesus would allow this kind of contact from someone so unclean. It convinced him that Jesus could not possibly be a prophet. A prophet would surely be able to sense what kind of woman she was and pull away in disgust.
But the Pharisee’s heart was so hard that his eyes were blinded to the real dynamics underlying the interaction. He could not see the woman’s heart breaking over the darkness of her sin. Nor could he see the merciful heart of God glowing through Jesus and reaching out to the woman.
Father, it is horrifying that a person could be so righteous on the outside and, at the same time, so spiritually hard-hearted and blind to what You are doing. Help me to keep my heart always soft before You, so that I can see what You are doing in the lives and hearts of those around me. Amen.