Dave spoke this morning at Cherry Tree Court from Luke 7:36-50, the story which tells us of the woman anointing Jesus at the home of Simon the Pharisee. Luke often gives us personal details not found in other gospels (the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the story of Zacchaeus are only found in Luke’s gospel, for example), and he clearly relates to the woman’s heartfelt response to Christ’s lavish love.
The woman is described as having a ‘sinful life’ and she comes to be with Jesus because she knows she desperately needs His forgiveness and unconditional love. The depth of her repentance and love is shown in the lavish gift she pours on Him – perfume costing a year’s wage, poured from an alabaster jar (in itself a beautiful pot.) She cries wracking sobs and weeps tears of shame and gratitude in an outpouring of emotion which clearly made Simon, the host, uncomfortable and made others discuss the waste of such extravagant devotion. Jesus, however, never views devotion in coldly clinical terms, remarking that those who have been forgiven much love much, whilst those who have been forgiven little love little. Simon’s curiosity in Jesus is intellectual; he presumably is confident of his own righteousness and therefore can remain detached from Him. Those who know their need for love and forgiveness cannot be so measured in their response to the lavish, unconditional love which Jesus offers us freely – but at great cost to Himself. The woman’s selfless devotion prepares Jesus for the burial which is to come.
Do we realise what God has done for us? Do we understand how desperate our situation is without God? Only when we see the depth of our sin and the desperation of life without God can we come to appreciate all He has done for us.
‘I am broken at Your feet
Like an alabaster jar
Every piece of who I am
Laid before Your majesty
I will bow my life
At Your feet
At Your feet
My lips
So lost for words
Will kiss Your feet
Kiss Your feet
Oh the gravity of You
Draws my soul unto its knees
I will never be the same
I am lost and found in You.’ (‘Alabaster’, Rend Collective)
We also had a birthday to celebrate:
