Today’s Community Scripture – 2/19/2025

One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”

Luke 7:36–39 (MSG)

– Reflection:

Anointing His Feet

I remember my thoughts when I first read this story. Trying to make sense of what was happening in these verses, I ran to the simplest conclusion, the one that my mind jumps to with ease “What on earth is this woman doing? Is she not embarrassed to be making such a scene?” I found myself in good company with the Pharisee a few verses later. How quick I was to dismiss a profound act of faith, one that was shameless, generous, and (perhaps) a bit uncomfortable. Yet this profound act of worship is commended and outlined in detail in our text this morning. Jesus has just gotten to dinner, taken off his shoes, and sat at the table to chat with one of the religious leaders in town, when suddenly a “sinful woman” arrives on the scene. Perhaps she’s heard that Jesus is a friend of sinners, and she wants to see what he’s all about. Perhaps her hurt is too heavy for her to bear, and she’s so desperate for some relief. Perhaps it’s a little bit of both. Whatever her reasons were, she arrived at the dinner table too. And she’s not empty handed! She brings with her a beautiful jar full of expensive perfume and the overwhelming pain of the last few years, and she gives it all to Jesus. Her tears make pools of water on the floor. She washes Jesus’ feet and dries them with her hair. The scene is very raw, vulnerable, and intimate. This woman is risking everything for a word of hope from Jesus. Jesus meets her in her vulnerability and speaks a word of blessing over her. That is the person I wake up trying to be each and every day.

– Where do we go from here?

When was the last time you yielded to your own sense of desperation, hopelessness, guilt, or shame, and surrendered it all to Jesus? When have you named your needs clearly and without shame? When have you risked feeling embarrassed to draw a bit closer to Jesus – the friend of sinners? May we all learn from the woman in our passage today and approach Jesus unashamedly and with great love.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, please handle us gently as we come to you bearing our shame, guilt, and pain. May we find the strength to present our true selves and lay everything at your feet, Jesus, trusting that your love for us is far greater than we can ever comprehend. Thank you, and Amen.

Coach Arthur Poston Jr.
Focused Development Organization
Middle School Coach