(Click here to read the passage)

There are people with whom we like to associate.  There are others we try to avoid.  Sometimes we have no choice in the matter – the “wrong” person shows up and we either try to ignore them, or we might try to accept them for who they are.  Jesus’ approach is to accept.

I am always intrigued by the Pharisees who invited Jesus over for a meal.  If I understand it correctly, an invitation to dinner implied acceptance and affiliation.  Religious Jews, for example, would not eat with Gentiles or Samaritans except under certain circumstances, but they would eat with others of their own kind.  So, there was an implied approval of Jesus by the invitation.  The problems that came up later were not about Jesus.  They were about the company he keeps.

Reputations are hard things to change, so, when a woman of ill repute showed up at lunch in the Pharisee’s home with Jesus, it ruffled more than a few feathers.  She showed up, uninvited, and gravitated to Jesus.  Then she did things the Pharisees would never do – cry at his feet, wet his feet with her tears, anoint his feet, kiss (!?) his feet!  Did Jesus know where those lips had been??!!  That’s the whole thing.  This was the kind of person it was okay to look down on.  This was the lowest of the low, the acceptably unacceptable. 

The GREAT news here is that there is no “acceptably unacceptable” in Jesus’ view.  No matter who we are, if we come to Jesus seeking acceptance and forgiveness, he gives it without reservation.  God the Father loves us in spite of knowing our reputation, our actions, even our inner thoughts and intentions.  And he forgives and accepts us when we come to him. Jesus’ example with this woman was to accept her and her gifts to him without reservation, seeing them in the best light possible.  He was as accepting of her as he was of the invitation of the Pharisee.

I will admit that Jesus had an inside track on knowing what was in this woman’s heart, so he could be surer than we might about her motivation.  That doesn’t absolve his followers of the responsibility of trusting the guidance of the Holy Spirit (who can see the heart).  I think perhaps we all might be better served if we are more concerned about how it is with our own souls, rather than questioning others’.

Back to the Pharisees.  In contrast to Jesus’ words and actions, their thoughts were judgmental of both Jesus and the woman.  It’s bad enough to hold someone with a poor reputation in contempt, somehow seeing ourselves as more deserving of praise or honor.  It’s even worse when it comes to looking down on Jesus.  “If this man were a prophet… ?”  They assumed that he did not know who this woman was, and that they could be appropriate judges of Jesus’ thoughts.  They were so wrong on both counts! 

We sometimes fall into the same trap.  I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself acting like the Pharisees, telling God what he needs to do about someone I have decided needs his attention.  I let him know what I’d like him to do, because I have already determined that the person of my complaint deserves some sort of correction or redirection.  It’s judgment no matter what I call it.  It has to end before I can begin to do what Jesus does. But the same thing is true when I see myself as an outcast. I can be tempted to look down on the religious around me because they seem to look down on me.  That’s just as much prejudgment on my part as their views seem to be.  The point is that neither the religious nor the outcast is better, more honorable, or more worthy of forgiveness than the other.  We all need God’s grace, and he is ready to give it immediately when we come to him.

Is there someone (or group of people) in your life you look down on?  Is there someone you like to think you’re better than for whatever reason?  Maybe it’s time to let that pride go and just care a little bit about them.  Don’t look down, look up!  If you ask God for help, you might just open a door to loving them like he does, too.

If you identify more with the weeping woman, know that the Father loves you.  Don’t assume you’re not good enough.  Don’t look down, look up!  Jesus doesn’t just accept your tears, he accepts all of you, and calls you to come receive his love.