How do we love Jesus and His Body, the Church?
Let us meditate on Luke 7:36-50. This gospel passage is about the love of a sinner towards the Savior.
Jesus went to the house of a Pharisee for food on invitation. Normally, even on being invited, we would avoid going to some particular church for fellowship who do not agree with us on certain doctrines or to the houses of those who are like the Pharisees. Jesus Who exposed and scolded the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and pride, chose to accept the invitation of a Pharisee, namely Simon, and visited his house. This shows the humility of Jesus Whom we should emulate. Jesus finally conveyed His message in unambiguous terms to Simon. Through His message, Jesus distinguished between a religious Pharisee and a penitent sinner who visited the house of the said Pharisee for meeting Jesus there. Meeting Jesus in the house of a Pharisee! What did this woman do unto Jesus in that house? She brought an alabaster box of ointment, stood at His feet behind Him weeping. Then she began to wash His feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, kissed His feet and anointed the same with the ointment.
The Pharisee found fault with Jesus and said that He, a Prophet, would have known that the woman who touched Him was a sinner. Jesus then told him a parable of a certain creditor who had two debtors; the one owed few hundred pence and the other fifty. When they had nothing to pay to the creditor, the latter frankly forgave them both. Jesus afterwards asked Simon to tell Him which of them would love the creditor most. Simon replied that it was whom the creditor forgave most. Jesus then said that Simon rightly judged.
Turning to the woman, Jesus praised her and pointed to Simon that when He entered his house, he gave Him no water for His feet but she washed His feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head; he gave Jesus no kiss but that woman did not cease to kiss His feet since the time He entered the house; he did not anoint His head with oil but that woman anointed His feet with ointment.
Jesus finally gave the message, “wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little”. Jesus then turned to her and said, “Thy sins are forgiven….Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace”.
Dearly beloved, you would have committed many sins and iniquities knowingly or unknowingly. Today as you read this message, will you please enter “the house of the Pharisee” in your life? Due to the deceitfulness of the sin in your life, your heart is hardened and your eyes are blind so that you are not able to see “the house of Pharisee” in your life. May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see the wretchedness of your spiritual life today! You should enter “the house of the Pharisee” – a place where you have followed certain religious traditions by way of visiting your church on every Sunday for worshiping God by hymns and for throwing certain pence into the offertory box there. You may be a born-again Christian. But, have you practiced Phariseeism in your life? Worshipping God through hymns but denying Him through your life! Adoring Christ at the top of your voice in the church but not following His doctrines! Praising Jesus, the Head of the Church, but not ministering to His Body, the universal Church! Do all these acts reveal the leaven of Phariseeism in your life?
Entering “the house of the Pharisee” means identifying the areas in your life where you have practiced Phariseeism. Oh, beloved, as you enter through your spiritual eyes “the house of Pharisee”,you may behold your beloved Lord sitting at meat there. He is there to accept you if you humble yourself as the woman of the Luke’s gospel.
Shed tears at His feet for you have grieved His dove-like Spirit in many ways during the year. Shed tears at His feet for you have not shared the good things of your life with the poor. Shed tears at His feet for your failure to help propagation of the glorious gospel in the dark places of the world. Shed tears at His feet for your have wounded or judged some servants of God without knowing the full truth of the matter.
After shedding tears at His feet, you should wash His feet with the hairs of your head and kiss them. The feet of our Beloved Lord are nothing but those members of His Body who carry the glorious gospel to the different parts of the world. It is now time for you to minister to these members of His Body through your tearful prayers and sacrificial offerings. Have you ever shed tears through intercessory prayers for God to make use of these members of His Body mightily and to protect them and their families from the enemies of the Cross? If so, in His presence, can you name these servants of God for whom you have shed tears in the past?
Finally, you should anoint His feet with your oil. If you have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you have to pray in the Holy Spirit for God’s anointing on the feet of Jesus Christ. Praying in the Holy Spirit is praying as led by the Holy Spirit. Have you interceded for God’s anointing on the persecuted Christians in other nations, who are members of the Body of Christ, of which you are also a member? Ministers in various mission fields and persecuted Christians need God’s anointing on them through your prayers.
God will give you more of His grace and power today if you come to Jesus Christ in the same manner as the woman of the Luke’s gospel. After shedding tears at His feet for all your failures in the past, you should now decide to wash His feet with the hairs of your head and to anoint His feet with the oil. If your sins, which are many, are to be forgiven through the Blood of Jesus Christ, you should come to the Cross of Calvary with a broken heart today. As the many sins and iniquities are forgiven today, you should minister to His Body more than ever before and love His Body more than ever before.
- Job Anbalagan