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FAILING to SEE OUR OWN SIN
by David Wilkerson
"One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] 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" (Luke 7:36-38).
Simon, this Pharisee, also invited a select group of religious leaders
to join the supper table. It was clearly a religious gathering, made
up of men who fancied themselves the holy men of their generation.
Then a "woman of the city" crashed the scene and knelt at the feet
of Jesus. She bathed his dusty feet with her tears and wiped them
clean with her hair - something no decent woman of that day
would have done in public. Finally, she opened an alabaster box
and poured perfume on Jesus´ feet.
The Pharisees were indignant, thinking, "How shameful! If Jesus
were really a prophet sent from God, he would have known this
woman is evil and stopped her." Indeed, Scripture says those
were Simon´s exact thoughts (see Luke 7:39). Jesus read his
thoughts and announced, "Simon, I have something to say to
you" (7:40). Jesus told the story of the two debtors, one with a
huge debt and one who owed less, who were freely forgiven by
their creditor. Then the Lord pointed out Simon´s arrogance,
judgmental spirit and lack of compassion. "Simon, you don´t
see the depravity of your own heart. You judge this broken
woman but fail to recognize that you need as much, or even more, mercy."
Jesus showed the spirit of forgiveness and restoration in the
Pharisee´s house that night when he turned to the woman and
said, "Your sins are forgiven" (7:48). He came to befriend and
restore the fallen, the friendless, those overtaken by sin, and
he is saying to us today, "This is what my ministry is all about.
Let me enlarge your heart to see hurting, broken people so that
you may extend my mercy to them."
by David Wilkerson
"One of the Pharisees asked [Jesus] 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" (Luke 7:36-38).
Simon, this Pharisee, also invited a select group of religious leaders
to join the supper table. It was clearly a religious gathering, made
up of men who fancied themselves the holy men of their generation.
Then a "woman of the city" crashed the scene and knelt at the feet
of Jesus. She bathed his dusty feet with her tears and wiped them
clean with her hair - something no decent woman of that day
would have done in public. Finally, she opened an alabaster box
and poured perfume on Jesus´ feet.
The Pharisees were indignant, thinking, "How shameful! If Jesus
were really a prophet sent from God, he would have known this
woman is evil and stopped her." Indeed, Scripture says those
were Simon´s exact thoughts (see Luke 7:39). Jesus read his
thoughts and announced, "Simon, I have something to say to
you" (7:40). Jesus told the story of the two debtors, one with a
huge debt and one who owed less, who were freely forgiven by
their creditor. Then the Lord pointed out Simon´s arrogance,
judgmental spirit and lack of compassion. "Simon, you don´t
see the depravity of your own heart. You judge this broken
woman but fail to recognize that you need as much, or even more, mercy."
Jesus showed the spirit of forgiveness and restoration in the
Pharisee´s house that night when he turned to the woman and
said, "Your sins are forgiven" (7:48). He came to befriend and
restore the fallen, the friendless, those overtaken by sin, and
he is saying to us today, "This is what my ministry is all about.
Let me enlarge your heart to see hurting, broken people so that
you may extend my mercy to them."