Have You Been There?

Recently in our Sunday School class we were studying Luke 7:36 – 48

In our discussion of the subject there were many good points brought out.

The one thing that came to my mind is that many are so quick to judge.

This woman was evidently a prostitute and here she came into the house full

Of those who would not dare to be seen around here. She comes to Jesus with a jar of expensive perfume. She then begins to weep at the feet of Jesus, washing his feet in her tears and wiping them dry with her hair. She truly repented.

Who are we to think ourselves any better than this woman? Who of us is without any sin? Does not our sin, no matter what it is send us straight to hell, if we do not repent, ask forgiveness, change our ways?

Have you ever felt like you were on the outside looking in? Have you ever felt like the one with a ‘mark’? Have your friends, peers, colleagues, family or even other Christians made you feel like you were not good enough? Have you ever made a mistake or fell into unfortunate circumstances only to have your so call ‘friends’ turn their back on you because you didn’t do things the way THEY felt you should?

I’ve been there before, only to have some that I trusted the most to turn their back on me because they did not agree with my choices. At some of the lowest times of my life, my support system was gone. I began to ask myself ‘who are these people to judge me? What makes these people any better than me?” At times I would even doubt the whole Christianity thing. But God spoke to my heart and helped me to understand that these people that are judging me will one day be judged themselves. I was to do what I know was the best for me, to serve my Lord Jesus with my head held high, because in the sight of my Lord, I was no lower than anyone else. These people that judged me were no higher than I was. I stuck to my guns. I did what I knew was right. I held my tongue for many years. In my actions I would come to prove those who judged me wrong.

So I as the question once again… Who are we to think we are any better than this woman at the feet of Jesus? Oh to have the courage and the heart to seek Him no matter what.

No matter what other’s thought. WHO are we to think ourselves any better than she?

Luke 7:36 – 48

³⁶Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. ³⁷When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, ³⁸and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

⁴⁰Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said.

⁴¹"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,^[d] and the other fifty. ⁴²Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

⁴³Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

⁴⁴Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

⁴⁸Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."