— Luke 7:36-50 New Living Translation (NLT) —
“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 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.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said.
Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “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.”
Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.””
I revisited this passage of scripture in my devotional time recently and, although I have read this (and heard it preached from) many times, it stood out to me in a way that it never has before. This passage describes a phenomenal demonstration and how-to of worship.
Disclaimer: This article refers to the fullest definition of the term worship – not just musical worship, or collective worship. I am referring to a lifestyle of worship, as we “honour [God] with extravagant love and extreme submission” in every area of our lives (see What is Worship: In Spirit and in Truth).
The main character in the story is the woman who is never named, of whom we know very little other than that she was an immoral woman. Her identity has been reduced to her sin. Yet this woman carries out what would have been an incredibly strange and undoubtedly shocking act (and to a certain extent it would still be considered strange and shocking today). But when we put this into the context of the customs of the day, it becomes clear this was a very courageous and gutsy act of intimate worship.
It quickly becomes apparent (by the scorn of Simon) that she was not invited there. She invited herself to someone else’s dinner party! Now that in itself takes guts. This woman is not named (probably a gracious act by Luke as we know from the text that she was an immoral woman) but she will be forever remembered for her incredibly passionate and reverent act of worship towards Jesus. This reflects how God remembers our sins no more but forever sees us as the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). It would have been incredibly difficult for someone of her reputation to have gone to Jesus that day, but she was desperate to see Jesus and seized the opportunity, ignoring what everyone else thought.
What an incredibly brave and FEARLESS child of God!
There is so much in this passage that I believe can help us to understand more of what it means to live a lifestyle of extravagant worship, whilst maintaining integrity “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Although this initially started out as one blog post, I very quickly realised the volume and depth of information in this one text. So over the next 9 devotionals, we will highlight truths that will help us to life a lifestyle of worship.
I hope that as we explore this act of courage by an immoral woman determined to worship the man that she loved, our worship will become enriched, more intimate and more extravagant. Because we worship an incredibly rich, intimate and extravagant God!
Thank you, God, that You love me extravagantly
As I read this passage and this series of devotions, reveal your word to me, make it come alive
In order that it will help me to love you in return with ever-increasing love, through a lifestyle of extravagant worship.
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