Smelly Hair and a Bottle of Perfume

Have you ever felt like you don’t love Jesus that much? I mean when you’re being truly honest with yourself, it’s tough for you to say that you really love Jesus? What do we do when we’re in this type of position? How do we come to actually love Jesus and have a relationship with Him, rather than merely acknowledging intellectually that Jesus is God?

I think the Bible provides us with an answer in Luke 7:36-50.  There are three characters to remember: Simon the Pharisee, Jesus, and Woman A (because she had no other name in this story).

GET THE CONTEXT

In Ancient Near-Eastern Culture, people wore sandals and walked on dirty roads.  And just like when you wear flip flops to the beach, your feet get dirty and need to be washed. So back in the day when you went to someone’s house, it was custom for them to wash your feet. This was a regular part of ANE culture.

Also in ANE culture, if you wanted to honor a guest, you would pour perfume or oil on their head (I know, it’s a bit odd).  Picture it like lending your friend your favorite Xbox game or something…I mean I wouldn’t just lend out Arkham City to someone.  If I actually did let you borrow that game, you would know that I am holding you in a special place of honor!

With this in mind, let’s now consider this story.

CRY ME A RIVER

Simon the Pharisee is throwing a party, and Jesus is invited. Woman A, someone known for her sinful lifestyle in the town, hears that Jesus is there and goes to find Him. Woman A crashes the party, finds Jesus, and goes right to His feet.  She breaks down and starts weeping on Jesus’ feet, and then wipes His feet with her tears.  Simon the Pharisee is muttering under his breath in shock that Jesus is letting such a woman touch Him in this way.  The entire time, Woman A is pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet, and He appears to be totally un-phased.  I mean, does this sound at least a little bit strange to anyone?

Jesus then asks Simon a question. Picture this: two guys owe a lot of money.  One guy owes $50,000, another owes $500,000. Both get forgiven of their debt. Who is more thankful?

With Searchlight Youth, we said to picture it this way: two students failed. One student failed a test, while another student failed the entire class no matter how hard they tried. The teacher decides to give them both A+ for the class.  Who is more thankful?

Simon correctly answers that the guy with the biggest debt is more thankful.

Then Jesus, in typical Jesus-fashion, calls Simon out by stating that Simon did not treat Jesus like a regular house guest by at least washing His feet.  Not only did Woman A wash Jesus’ feet, but she poured perfume on Him, exalting Him to a high position.

MY FEET STILL SMELL

So Jesus must be saying that Simon didn’t owe as much of a debt as Woman A, right? WRONG! The big take away from this story is that Woman A had the correct view of Jesus. She knew she was a sinner, and she also knew that Jesus was God and had the power to forgive her. It was this proper understanding of God and proper understanding of her own sin that made her so thankful for His forgiveness.

Simon the Pharisee, in his own mind, wasn’t a sinner. He felt that he didn’t really owe God anything. He didn’t have any sin in his life, he was completely righteous. Even if he did have sin, it wasn’t as “bad” as her sin.  Unfortunately, that was Simon’s problem; he wasn’t concerned with what God thought of him, but what others thought of him. But, when we compare ourselves to others, we lose sight of Jesus. And Simon’s attitude is a perfect example of this truth.

When we understand who Jesus is and how He has forgiven us, then we begin to love Him more, and can begin a deeper relationship with Him!

If we feel like we don’t need God, it can be really hard to love Him or want a relationship with Him. What we need to learn from this story is that we have to properly understand our sin and who Jesus is. When we get that, we will find ourselves more thankful and more in love with Jesus.