Matthew 22:36-40
The Greatest Commandment
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.
Luke 7:36-50
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
We are not told why the woman weeps at the feet of Jesus...The woman who wept at Jesus feet must have felt her own brokenness...She must have felt the contrast of Jesus' Perfect Goodness, and how she had lived her life...The Pharisee Simon makes it clear she was a sinner...Simon said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”...But we all fall short to the Glory of God...We are all sinners...
The woman surely felt the LOVE of Jesus...And when we love we are vulnerable, and at some time will suffer with loving and love...Those who we love the most also give us our greatest sufferings, much because we love them the most...
Nicholas Wolterstorff, author of Lament for a Son, writes this about suffering and love...He says, “But we all suffer...For we all prize and love; and in this present existence of ours, prizing and loving yield suffering...Love in our world is suffering love...Some do not suffer much, though, for they do not love much...Suffering is for the loving...This, said Jesus, is the command of the Holy One: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."...In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer.”...And Wolterstorff adds, “God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers...It is said of God that no one can behold His face and live...I always thought this meant that no one could see His splendor and live...A friend said perhaps it meant that no one could see His sorrow and live...Or perhaps His sorrow is splendor... Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it.”...