Unlimited Grace: What DID Jesus DO?
We were sitting at our favorite table in one of our most-frequented restaurants after church one Sunday, innocently eating our pizza, burgers, and wings when Kate looked at us and nonchalantly said, “I’m going to take the picture boards you’re making for my graduation party to dad’s graduation party too if that’s okay.”
Before I had a chance to respond, she added, “Dad doesn’t have any pictures of me.”
I cocked my head to the side and asked her why she thought her dad didn’t have any pictures of her because surely he did have pictures of her to which she responded, “Let’s be real, even if he did, he’s not going to have anything like that, and that’s embarrassing. I figured since his party is after your party, you wouldn’t mind if I just took the ones you made.”
Thankfully, she rambled on for a few minutes longer, giving me adequate time to process my thoughts and respond appropriately. Finally, when she came up for air, I stopped her and said, “Is this important to you? Is it important to you to have these picture boards at your dad’s graduation party?”
Her response was an immediate yes.
I agreed to let her take the picture boards to her dad’s party as long as she returned them and as long as she understood that I already had paid for and printed the 600ish pictures for these boards, had purchased the 8 presentation boards for this project, and had already made half of these boards. I was going to finish the project I had started which meant that these boards would, undoubtedly, contain a myriad of pictures of me, my parents, and Russ.
Confirming that she was completely on board with this, I finished the project and nothing else was mentioned about her taking these boards I had spent so much time and money on to her dad’s party.
Until the day of the party.
When Kate forgot the boards.
And then came home to get them to take to his party.
To be completely transparent, I didn’t want to give up the picture boards I had spent excessive time and money on for Kate’s dad’s graduation party. My blood pressure started to go up as soon as she started talking to me about it. Thankfully, Jesus blessed me with a few minutes of her talking to allow me to breathe, calm down, and think about how I’m smack dab in the middle of this series on what Jesus did and should probably try to model those things in my own life.
It wasn’t easy.
I still complained about it.
I still grumbled a bit to Russ and my circle.
But, hey, I’m a work in progress.
What I do know is that:
I showed grace in a situation where it wasn’t deserved.
And
Kate felt comfortable enough with Russ and me to ask us and just assume we would be okay with it because we love her and want what’s best for her.
And those are BIG wins in my book.
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Comfort and Grace
There’s this really cool story Luke tells in chapter 7 of his book. If you’ve been in church for a while, you’ve probably heard it countless times. It’s the story of the woman who pours her expensive perfume on Jesus’s feet and then washes his feet with her hair. You can find it in verses 36-50. For most of my church upbringing, whenever we talked about this story, we discussed the great sacrifice this woman made in pouring this expensive perfume on Jesus’s feet. Then, we would talk about how Jesus was so moved by this woman and her actions that he used her to chastise Simeon and his religious friends. While these are all solid points, I want to look at this story from a different perspective today (shocking, I know).
Let’s talk about this woman for a minute. Here’s how Luke introduces her:
In the neighborhood there was an immoral woman of the streets, known to all to be a prostitute. When she heard that Jesus was at Simeon’s house, she took an exquisite flask made from alabaster, filled it with the most expensive perfume, went right into the home of the Jewish religious leader, and in front of all the guests, she knelt at the feet of Jesus. Luke 7:37 TPT
Here’s what we know about her:
She’s a prostitute.
She had no problem walking into Simeon’s house (I’ll let you chew on that one for a minute).
She had enough money to have an alabaster jar full of very expensive perfume.
She knelt at the feet of Jesus in front of all the guests at Simeon’s dinner party.
I seriously think this could be the start of a really bad joke: The Messiah, A Pharisee, and a Prostitute walk into a dinner party…I digress.
I just want you to stop for a minute and think about this woman who Luke describes as immoral, of the streets, and a known prostitute.
Now, think about her walking into a Pharisee’s house.
I’m not sure about you, but I’m not confident that if I were in her position, I would have had the courage or the confidence to walk into that room full of the religious elite.
Something drew her there, though–despite her reputation, immorality, and flaws, something so strong and so moving that she ignored the voices that told her she didn’t belong, wasn’t good enough, and was too dirty to walk over the threshold of that house.
And, that something was Jesus.
There was something so inviting, loving, gracious, and powerful about the person of Jesus that it trumped everything else and drew even the most broken, most disgraced, and most in need of grace to his presence. There was something so hopeful and promising about him that his presence was enough to make a prostitute walk confidently into a Pharisee’s house just to be near Christ and kneel at his feet.
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Grace-Inspired Worship
After this woman enters this Pharisee’s house and sees Jesus, Luke tells us:
Broken and weeping, she covered his feet with the tears that fell from her face. She kept crying and drying his feet with her long hair. Over and over she kissed Jesus’ feet. Then, as an act of worship, she opened her flask and anointed his feet with her costly perfume. Luke 7:38 TPT
In front of these religious leaders and their guests, this woman kneels before Christ–broken and weeping–and washes his feet with her tears–feet Simeon hadn’t bothered to wash when Christ arrived.
Then, as an act of worship, she anoints Jesus’s feet with her expensive perfume while these religious leaders judged both her and Christ. Luke explains how:
When Simeon saw what was happening, he thought, “This man can’t be a true prophet. If he were really a prophet, he would know what kind of sinful woman is touching him.” Luke 7:39 TPT
I can imagine the sneers, the scoffs, the gaping mouths, and the eye-rolling happening in that room. None of those reactions deterred this woman who was so moved by the grace and love of Christ. Despite the judgment of these men, this woman was completely broken and moved in the presence of Christ and focused solely on him.
Despite the religious customs that would have kept this woman completely separate from these leaders, Jesus allowed her to kneel at his feet, worship him, and anoint him with oil. He received her worship despite Simeon’s judgment.
Jesus showed only grace and acceptance despite the sneers and responses of these religious leaders, but more on that next week.
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Offering Grace
When I picture this scene and think about the grace and love Jesus showed this broken and weeping woman, I can’t help but think about all the broken and hurting folks we encounter daily. The example Jesus sets for us here is acceptance, grace, and love. Even more than that, though, his presence was so welcoming that this despised and rejected woman felt confident and comfortable walking into his presence and kneeling at his feet despite the judgment she surely knew she would receive from the Pharisees and their guests at Simeon’s dinner party.
Shouldn’t that be our goal?
Shouldn’t we be so loving, accepting, and gracious that the most despised and rejected in our world feel pulled into our presence?
My gosh, I was proud of myself because Kate felt comfortable asking me for those picture boards and for the grace I showed when I let her have them. That seemed so big in my life at the time, but it’s really so small when I consider the gravity of this scene between Christ and this woman and what that example means for us if we want to be like him.
This is the perfect time to step back and think about the grace and hope we’re offering others.
How comfortable do the marginalized feel in our presence?
How much hope are we offering the misunderstood?
How much love and acceptance are we pouring into those our society rejects?
Are we responding with the grace and love of Jesus or the judgment of the Pharisees?
It’s easy to read this story and focus on the importance of this woman’s act of worship. When we ignore what it took for this woman to walk into this home and Jesus’s response to her, though, we miss so many important details and lessons we desperately need in our world today.
Friends, let’s do better. Let’s be better. I pray you provide open doors and open arms to the broken, marginalized, misunderstood, and minorities this week and you show them the grace and acceptance of Jesus.
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Reflections:
What is the hardest part for you when it comes to having open arms, open doors, and open arms?
If this woman walked into your church this Sunday, would she find Pharisees or Jesus?
What can you do this week to open your arms and heart to those people?
