Love Enough To Confront
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 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. 37 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, 38 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.
39 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."
40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Tommy's Thoughts:
Before I’m a Christian, I paid little attention or totally unaware of how wrong some of my actions and attitude were. There was totally no sense of regret or detest or to change. This was partly due to my belief that it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, as what I did before already invalidate me from being saved by God. I soon settled on trying my best to just be conventionally good, but still indulged in all those ‘little sins’.
Little sins will soon be fully-grown and at the end will give birth to ‘death’ (James 1:15). Because of God’s mercy, He came to me before it was too late; convicting me and I began to realize how and why things turned out so badly; the person I had became. Later, I understand how much I need Him, to believe in Him and His redeeming power. He forgave me as I repented and He gave me a new start.
It’s true that only when one realizes the depth of their sin, can they appreciate the complete forgiveness of God. We should be grateful and appreciate the wideness of God’s mercy, giving us a way to reconcile with Him and allowing Him to change us. As Christian, we are saved by grace through faith. We need to be like the woman in today’s passage who was saved by her faith alone. Her overflowing love and generosity was the result of her faith in Christ.
Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me of how You have saved me and how much I need You to change me everyday. Lord, keep me beside You always so I won’t go astray. Makes me lie down in green pastures and lead me beside quiet waters, restoring my soul and guides me to Your paths of righteousness. In the Almighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Bee's Thoughts:
As I read the above passage I just felt like crying...Jesus said, "her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much". Now I know why I can have such simple faith in Jesus and remain in this faith for so many years. Some people might think I am crazy to love an unseen Jesus so much. But what they don't know is that I love Jesus very much because He has forgiven me much too. Without Him I would have been gone long ago.
I have heard many who would say they rather love the one whom they loved but doesn't recipocate that love, to the one who loves them a lot but they don't love. I felt the reverse. I can be moved by true love and stay in that love forever till it is removed. So I love Jesus because He first loved me while I was still a sinner, not while I was good. He loved me just as I was and am now. How can I not love someone who loves me so much? I will love.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for loving me so much...
You loved me right from the start
And that has touched my heart.
I love You very much too...
I can't resist Your love so true
That captures my heart in surrender to You.
I just love You...
- Bee
.......the devotion of Bee & Tommy
