Feet. Tears. Perfume. Hair. Scandalous gratitude and righteous rudeness. Early in Jesus’ ministry, he was invited to dinner in the home of a pharisee named Simon.
The guests have arrived and taken their places. Jesus is reclining at his assigned place at the table as a guest. Then, unnamed and unwelcomed, a woman enters with a jar of alabaster. She is “a woman from the city, a sinner” (Luke 7:37).
Jesus doesn’t speak. And as far as we know, neither does the woman. But their actions speak volumes.
She approaches the table and kneels behind Jesus. Let’s down her hair. Her tears rain down on his feet. She caresses them dry with her hair and kisses the top of his feet. She breaks open her alabaster jar and pours the substance over his salty skin.
Simon, the host, is disgusted. He loathes not only the woman but Jesus, who tolerates her. “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. He would know that she is a sinner,” he says to himself (Luke 7:39).
Anne Lamott writes, “You want to know how big God’s love is? It’s bigger than you are comfortable with.”