6 of 30) The Wrong Kind of People JESUS loved the innocence, trustfulness, and spontaneity of children, and He always had time for them. But He also had a particular love for people who were not innocent at all. His heart went out to sinners—provided only that they did not try to deceive themselves. If they knew that they were sinners, He was quick to accept them as His own and give them His love and understanding. This was something that the sternly righteous people found difficult to understand. He seemed to be condoning bad conduct. Jesus’ attitude toward sinful people bothered the Pharisees in particular. They were men who took their religion very seriously. They tried to live up to the Ten Commandments and all other teachings of Moses, as these had been understood and explained by many generations of rabbis. They were the “pillars of the church”—earnest, often humorless, but desirous of living up to all the externals of a godly life and setting themselves up as good examples to other people. No wonder they were puzzled by Jesus. He seemed to make the strangest friends. He associated with tax collectors, who were regarded as accomplices of the hated Roman rulers, and He was often with dubious men and women who made no real effort to keep the Ten Commandments, much less the detailed provisions for ritual purity. In fact, people of this sort appeared to feel a special pull toward Him. One day a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to dinner. He had been moved by Jesus’ teaching, and vaguely disturbed; he wanted to find out more about this man who could say such strange and uncomfortable things. While they were sitting at the dinner table, an odd thing happened. The door quietly opened and a haggard woman—though still with traces of beauty in her face—entered so quietly that her footsteps made no sound. “What are you doing here?” Simon demanded angrily. He knew the woman. Everyone in town knew her. Her reputation was notorious. The woman made no answer. She was intent on a small bottle of ointment in her hand. Removing the cap, she knelt down before Jesus and began weeping uncontrollably. Her tears fell on His feet as she knelt there. When her sobs began to slacken a little, she took her long hair and wiped His feet dry. Then, with infinite care, she rubbed the ointment on His feet. “A fine prophet this is!” Simon thought to himself, observing the scene in stony silence. “If this man were a prophet, He’d know that this woman is no good and wouldn’t let her paw Him like this!” Jesus looked up straight into Simon’s eyes. “I have something to say to you.” Simon was a little taken aback. “What is it, Teacher?” he stammered. 7 of 30) Forgiveness and gratitude “I’LL TELL YOU A STORY,” Jesus said. “A wealthy person once lent five dollars to one man and fifty to another. Neither one was able to repay him. So he decided to forgive them both and not ask for the money back. Which of the two men do you think would love him more?” “Why, the one who borrowed fifty dollars,” Simon said. “Fifty dollars is ten times as much as five dollars.” “Exactly,” Jesus nodded. Then He glanced at the woman and added, “You see her? When I came to your house, you didn’t bring out a basin of water for My feet. But this woman has washed My feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t give me a kiss of welcome, but from the time she came in she hasn’t stopped kissing My feet. You didn’t anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. You are right—she’s guilty of many sins, and they are serious ones. But she also knows how to love.” Jesus turned and faced the woman directly, as she still covered His feet with kisses. “Stand up,” He said kindly, taking her hand. “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” The woman stumbled to her feet, tried to say something, then dashed from the room as suddenly as she had entered. Jesus looked at Simon and the other guests. “If anyone is forgiven only a little,” he remarked in a low voice, “he will love only a little.” Simon, for his part, shook his head in bewildernment. At least the unwelcome visitor had disappeared into the night out of which she had come. He still felt upset. This episode had troubled him more than it ought to. The kind of people who turned most readily to Jesus were like this woman. They had no illusions about themselves. They did not pretend to be moral examples. They knew how far short they fell from the ideal. They were precisely the sort of people that many of the Pharisees scorned and carefully avoided. But something about Jesus gave these people a kind of boldness. They felt in Him an understanding, a love, a willingness to meet them where they were. It was as though His very presence made it possible for them to love, and to be sorry for the way they had lived their lives. -Dr. Chad Walsh, an excerpt from A Narrative Account on The Personality of Jesus, based upon the events related in the Four Gospels.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 08:03:34 +0000
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