A Moment of Undignified Worship: Shaped by Truth
“A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 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”.
Luke 7:37-38 NIV
It is amusing that these verses would become the inspiration for the name of my blog. This passage of scripture always used to make me feel super uncomfortable. I would skim over it quickly and move on. I never tried to understand the significance or why the woman would act as she did. But one day God brought it back to my attention. I tried to move on, tried to move away from it, but God just kept saying, “Read it again. Let it sink in”. So I did. I read these two verses over and over and over again. I sat with this passage until my discomfort turned to reverence and wonder.
I began to wonder who the woman was. We aren’t given many details about her. Really, the only thing we are told is that she lived a sinful life. Luke, the author of this gospel, who was committed to providing an accurate account of Jesus’ life (Luke 1:3), didn’t even dignify the woman enough to give us her name (however, there are many theories as to who the woman was). A nameless sinner. That is the woman’s identity. Yet, these two little verses reveal her heart, her character, her love for Jesus. This weeping woman, who fell at the feet of Jesus, was transformed from sinner to saved, declared redeemed. However, before we get to that, we need to study the woman, the significance of her actions, and understand her as Jesus did.
So, who is the woman? I’m not really concerned with the name of the woman, but rather what the passage reveals about who she is, the questions it compels us to ask. What was her story? What caused her to weep? Was she aware of her own sinfulness? Was she confronted by it in the presence of Jesus? Was she transfixed and simply in awe of the Savior of the World? Was she overcome by the love she felt for Jesus? Maybe none of that really matters for our understanding of this passage, but I do think it is humbling to think about. This woman was in a room full of people who believed themselves to be blameless and elites of Christianity; she was in the house of a Pharisee surrounded by other Pharisees. Yet, she didn’t care. Her eyes were fixed solely on Jesus. She didn’t care about those other people in the room. She didn’t care as she exposed herself to Jesus. As she wept, she offered a sacrifice of perfume. The woman who lived a sinful life, yet she bowed at His feet and was the one to prepare Jesus for his death and resurrection.
I realized after sitting with this passage what had made me uncomfortable; what now struck me was the rawness of the woman’s worship. As she worshiped Jesus, she wept, for her worship required sacrifice, and because of that, her worship was powerful. This woman, deemed a sinner, provides us with one of the most beautiful and authentic moments of worship, of a heart laid bare, of a sacrifice to the King. My heart aches for a moment of this magnitude. Of this level of vulnerability with Jesus. Because that is what it is. A moment of raw, undignified faith and in response a moment of Jesus’ compassion and love on display.
What if we encountered Jesus with this level of love? Of devotion? What if we came to Him with our hearts bare? With our sinful identity on full display? With the gift of everything we have to offer? With the sacrifice of our worship? Jesus showed tenderness towards the woman. Because I believe this is God’s desire. That we would come to Him exposed; In the vulnerability of our sinfulness, Jesus will transform us.
Jesus gives two powerful statements to the woman. The first is in verse 48, “then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven’”. The second statement Jesus speaks over the woman is, “your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50). Jesus didn’t just erase her old identity; he gave her a new one. He spoke life into the death-grip of sin. From sinner to saved. Her faith, her raw vulnerability before the feet of Jesus, transformed her completely. A new creation now knelt at Jesus’ feet. A creation able to leave behind all that previously defined her. He whispers over her, “Child, rise. Walk in freedom. Walk in peace. You are forgiven. You are no longer defined by what has held you captive. No. Now you will be defined as mine, as free, as SAVED.” This is what Jesus offers us in return for our life of worship, forgiveness and freedom. These are the truths that shape us.
I think Luke chose not to record the woman’s name, not because she wasn’t worthy to be recorded or because she was just one in the multitude. No, I believe he chose not to give her name because he wanted us to see ourselves in her story. Our redemption story is not much different from the woman’s. But we need to commit to the kind of saving faith that this woman showed. We need moments of undignified, unrelenting faith. Moments of complete surrender and abandon. It is when we fall at the feet of Jesus in sacrificial worship, knowing just how unworthy we are, that His saving grace will seep into the very fabric of our lives. Then we will be transformed from Sinner to Saved, and that Truth will define us.
P.S. Last week, we also examined this verse. We explored the importance of the Alabaster Jar and what it means to give our sacrifice to Jesus. I would love it if you would consider going back and reading that post if you missed it!