Tears of Freedom

 

These thoughts come from the reading of Luke 7:37-49. Please read the passage in your bibles. I am giving you only a small part of the story.

^{Luke 7:44} Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house and 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 as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

This is the passage when a pharisee invites Jesus to come and dine with him; just as we are now, except he had different motives. Jesus entered into his house and sat at his table. Simon the Pharisee probably felt as though he was doing a good deed. Perhaps he was being hospitable or maybe he wanted to study Jesus more closely but not for the reasons you and I have for his intentions were to trap him.

From this passage we can clearly see that humbleness was not Simon’s best aptitude, surely not the kind of humbleness Jesus seeks in our hearts.  Simon might have been thinking that he was looking after God’s business, protecting his fellow brothers, being a good leader. He was doing what he had known to do. But what is it that Jesus wanted to see in his heart? What did Jesus want to see in the teachers of the law? what does he want to see in our hearts? Humility! Why didn’t they have humility? perhaps because they didn’t know the state of their sinful life.

The pharisees were so focus on the law and the physical act of the law that they ignored the Spiritual, emotional and psychological aspect of it. I suppose we can compare them to us modern U.S. Christians. We live in a comfortable Society. We feel deserving of our state because after all, we do good deeds, we go to church on Sundays, we pay tithes, we are hospitable and frequently or occasionally we invite Jesus to sit at our table.  He comes and reclines at our table but do we really comprehend how much He has done for us like the woman in the story? Are we like her or are we like the pharisee who judged Jesus for allowing her to pour the expensive perfume and her tears over his feet? After all, she was a sinner! She was dirty! how could a man of God allow an impure person near him? Surely He is not a man of God! Simon thought.

He sat at a distance not really getting to know Jesus and trying to learn from him but judging  Jesus and the woman. His focus was definitely not what Jesus could teach him but his judgmental bias. I am here, I often find myself judging where my focus should be The Master and what He is teaching me. When I focus on him and not on what is wrong with those around me, I can learn to reach those he wants to draw close to him and really join him in His work.

Let us see what really pleased Jesus in this story! The woman whom Luke said her name was Mary! She really understood what The Lord had done for her! why? because she was humble! She was humble in the sight of her savior! She knew that any kind of freedom came from him and he was full of mercy, she could feel it, she just knew it!

Simon relied on himself and his ability to follow the law. after all, “others were not as intelligent as he was” You may say; ” can you blame him?” The law was so ingrained into their minds for they had scriptures that said they should bind it as a sign on their hands (Deuteronomy 6:8) but what did they do with the scriptures that said Return to your God, observe kindness and justice (Hosea 12:6) David understood it. He knew that God did not want sacrifices but his heart.

What made David different to the teachers of the law? Why do we take side roads on this subject also? The bible tell us that David was a man after God’s own heart. Why? because David spent time getting to know Him and was humble in his sight.

As we sit closely to our God, we learn to recognize him and understand His power, His mercy and our state. As we study the Master, we receive the revelation that Mary received while sitting at his feet and wiping them with her tears and her hair. This dear friends is what will provide the freedom we are all in desperate need of.