What are we in the Light of God’s Holiness?
Somewhere in time, about AD 33, Jesus was at the house of a Pharisee. He was invited as a guest, but when he entered the house, he was not given water to wash his feet, which was a custom at the time, and he was not greeted with a kiss. As he is reclining at the table, a sinful woman enters. She falls at his feet and washes them with the tears that gush forth from her over filled eyes. Seeing no towel, she wipes the feet with her hair. She does not stop as she anoints the feet with costly perfume and kisses them as if they are precious.
We have all heard the story, it is found in the Bible, in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter Seven, and verses 36-50. Put yourself in that room, where would you be? Sometimes I think I would be sitting at the table, I am a religious person. I go to church, I do my best to live my life according to God’s standards. Were the religious people at the table evil? Not really. The owner of the house was a little rude since he did invite Jesus, but he did not treat him like an honored guest, but not evil.
Think of this. Have you ever put something on in the dark and then stepped into the light to find a small stain. Have you ever tried to match a white to a white only to find one discolored? I know I have and it is a little inconvenient because you have to change. The point is that exposure to the bright light or compared to the clean, the dirt and stains are evident. That is what happened in the story. The sinful woman had opened her heart to the light and purity of God and she saw the sin and stains in her own life as she recognized the holiness and purity of Jesus.
The religious people in the story were still in the dark. They had no concept of who sat at the table with them. Do you think the scene would have been different if they had? I think so. Even though I am a religious person, I am a Christian because I was a sinner that needed God’s redeeming grace. I may not have been an obvious sinner like the woman at Jesus’s feet, but there are no degrees to sin. Sin is sin and we are all guilty. If they would have realized, they would all be at his feet. The tears would come in torrents as the secret sins, the little lies, the pettiness were exposed to the light of the Son of God. Compared to the holiness of God, what we have to offer is nothing but filthy rags by comparison.
Romans 3:10 (NIV) “As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.”
Jesus tells the Pharisee a parable about two people who owe money and yet both debts are forgiven. The point of the story is that the one who has been forgiven more loves more.
Luke 7:50 (NIV) “Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.””
Forgiveness is a fabulous thing. I hope everyone reading this as already asked Jesus for forgiveness and if not that you will soon, today even. I know that when I get to Heaven and I am in the presence of God my Father, I will fall at His feet. I expect to be crying. The questions will be, will I be crying over all the past mistakes and wrong choices I have made, or will I be crying grateful tears that because Jesus died for me, to forgive me, I can live in his presence forever. Either way, I will be happy to be there.
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