Devotionals

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Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Luke 7:36-50 NKJV

There’s something about us that makes us love a good scandal. Most psychologists and sociologists say it’s because watching and reading about other people who become involved in scandals makes us feel better about ourselves – it helps us to justify and/or minimize our own failures and short-comings. There’s probably a lot of truth to that, but it’s not Christ-like. Jesus did not abide the high and mighty, holier-than-thou types of His day, and, based upon Hebrews 13:8, we may assume that He has not changed His mind.

The Pharisees were a self-righteous bunch, overly obsessed with keeping the Law and overly impressed with themselves. Jesus’ willingness to socialize with sinners was utterly unheard of and His forgiveness of those sinners’ sins was downright scandalous (see Matthew 9:9-14 & Luke 15:1-7). His authority to do so was challenged by the religious leaders time and time again, and in response, Jesus would often come back with a parable that confronted and often confounded the leaders’ understanding of the God they claimed to know (see Luke 7:36-50, 18:9-14 & 20:1-19.)

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, to rescue the black sheep as well as the “spotless” lambs, and He frankly didn’t care who liked it and who didn’t. He welcomed those religious leaders who shed their self-made cloaks of holiness (e.g., Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea), but as for those who insisted on justifying themselves, He ignored them when possible and shamed them when necessary.

Grace. Unheard-of grace. Amazing grace. God’s grace. Grace available to all who call upon the Name of the Lord (see Acts 2:21). We must learn not to enjoy other people’s faults and failures. There, but for the Scandalous Grace of God, go we.

This Week’s Seed of Faith:

Father, I thank you for saving me, for blessing me, for forgiving and forgetting all of my sins. I know that if not but for the blood of Jesus, I would be eternally separated from you. I know that if all of my sins were known, I might find myself in the middle of a scandal. Please make me aware of any time that I am thinking or acting better than someone else, especially someone who is without you. Help me to reach those who don’t know you – help me to show them your amazing, even scandalous, grace.

Adapted from the author's website at http://www.seedwords.com/pages.asp?pageid=84022 (to be posted April 5, 2009)

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