I am in the middle of reading a book called Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman, which so far I highly recommend. The most basic premise boils down to the question of asking yourself whether you are a fan or a follower of Jesus Christ. It's an invitation to step out from the admirer role and consider what it really means to follow Christ. Both very challenging and powerful. Anyways, this book, along with God's abounding grace and understanding, has really helped me dig into the gospels and see many of the stories in a new light. So I'd like to share with you today one story that has made quite the impact on me lately, from Luke chapter 7.
So in the middle of Jesus' ministry he has been invited over for dinner by a Pharisee named Simon. Pharisees were a group of religious leaders who seemingly knew it all. They had all of scripture to that point memorized, they would have won any sword drill in a heart beat, and they held plenty of knowledge of God. What comes fourth from this story and many others like it is the sad truth that the Pharisees knew all about God, but didn't really know him. Jesus describes the Pharisees in Matthew 15:8 like so, "These people [the Pharisees] honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me." Now back to Simon, the Pharisee, for him to have this rabbi, Jesus, over for dinner was considered hot stuff. While Jesus should have been treated as the honored guest, it quickly becomes evident that Simon had Jesus over as a sense of duty instead of a desire to honor him.
Let's take a brief pause in the story to check up on some cultural aspects of this time that are crucial to grasp the full understanding of what is being taught here. Just as there are now, certain rules of etiquette were put into place with guests, especially one as honored and regarded as Jesus. The customary greeting of the time for an honored guest would have been a kiss (my how times have changed). If the visitor was a person of equal social rank, then it would turn into a kiss on the cheek. If the guest was particularly high in honor, a kiss on the hand would be in store. To neglect these standards of a kiss would be equivalent to openly ignoring someone in our day and age or refusing to even acknowledge their presence. Another important part of this time was the washing of feet, which was mandatory before meals and if one truly wanted to honor their guest the host would do it themselves. At the very minimum, the host would simply give the water to their guest to wash his or her own feet. Finally, for an especially distinguished guest, the giving of olive oil was common to anoint their head with, it was typically inexpensive but nonetheless considered to be an especially hospitable gesture.
Alright back to Simon and Jesus sharing a meal together. When Jesus enters the house in Luke 7:36, he takes his place at the table with no kiss of greeting, no washing of feet, and no oil for his head. Don't take this lightly friends, these are not simply accidental oversights, it was quite deliberate and insulting to Jesus, as we will soon find out. Simon knew all about Jesus, had studied for years upon years, if not his lifetime yet his heart was far from him and didn't know that the visiting rabbi sitting right in front of him was the promise Messiah that he had labored over studying about.
Just one verse after Jesus is so rudely ignored as to being greeted, a women comes into the scene, not any old woman friends, it specifies in verse 37 that this woman is a sinner of the city, most likely referring to a prostitute. Knowing that she is frowned upon in society, judged from every angle (especially in light of the Pharisees), and feeling like the scum of the Earth, something has changed in her heart in which she is desperate to see Jesus. She goes so far as to enter into the home of Simon the Pharisee, a dinner she would never ever be invited to in a thousand years. Imagine her walking through the courtyard with all the condemning glares of the Pharisees, yet she is so focused on Jesus that she forgets about herself and her past. What she does next is inappropriate, unheard of yet ever so radical.
This woman approaches the table and stands at the filthy feet of Jesus, beginning to weep she falls to the ground and these pouring tears drip onto the dirty feet of Jesus. Through her tears she realizes they haven't been washed so she lets her hair down, something considered idolatrous for women, a sign so incredibly intimate that it held grounds for divorce if let down in public. She begins to wash the feet of Jesus with her tears and dry them with her hair. Luke's account then says she had an alabaster jar of ointment. Most likely this refers to a flask that was often worn around the neck as a kind of perfume for women. Remember her profession? This flask likely would have been incredibly important for reeling the dudes in and she had likely used it a drop at a time many, many times, for many men. But now she empties the whole thing out, she won't need it anymore. She pours this flask, essentially her life, on his feet, and kisses them over and over.
The story concludes with Jesus saying 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 ten 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." Luke 7:44-46 (NLT)
What an amazing story, huh? It has definitely got me thinking this past week and I encourage you to read it and think deeply on it. Lay it upon your heart and ask yourself which character you are most like in this story. When was the last time you had a moment with Jesus like this woman did? When was the last time you have poured yourself out before him? When is the last time you demonstrated your love for him with reckless abandonment? Friends, we must connect our head knowledge with our heart's desire. Don't let one or the other take over and control your faith. We are to love God with both our heart and our mind (Matthew 22:37), not just one or the other.Labels: books, faith, God, heart, Jesus Christ, ministry, sacrifice, spirituality
