Dirty Feet
November 23, 2015
Luke 7:45 "You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet."
Feet can be disgusting. Everyone has smelled dirty feet before and I doubt there is anyone who would suggest it is pleasant. Being close enough to smell someone's dirty feet is bad enough, but please don't ask me to touch them. Kissing dirty feet is just crossing the line; that's even worse than touching them. If the thought of putting your lips on someone's nasty feet grosses you out then the point has been made. This is exactly what happened to Jesus at a dinner party. A woman walked in to a dinner party where she wasn't comfortably welcomed, started crying for some odd reason, then poured perfume on Jesus' feet, kissing them with her lips and wiping them with her hair. It was rather awkward and slightly on the inappropriate side of social etiquette. People were embarrassed for her.
She was identified as a woman who lived a sinful lifestyle, not by her name. There are two different accounts in the gospels of Jesus having his feet doused with perfume. One account puts him at Lazarus' house and another puts Him at the house of a pharisee, Simon. Scholars suggest that these were truly two separate events. Regardless of who the woman was, she had lived a bad life. Some suggest she was a prostitute, but it is not known what offenses she committed. Apparently they were, well, bad. Apparently she lived such a life of regret that she came to the feet of Jesus crying, weeping even. Her tears were of remorse for her sin. I wonder why she was so full of regret? Was she simply a prostitute or did she cause harm to others? Did she abort her baby or she sell him? Did she participate in the trafficking of young girls? Why such remorse to the point that she could not contain her composure? I imagine she was a blubbering mess, not even able to talk about her sorrow and regretful lifestyle. Whatever it was, the weight of her sin was too much for her to carry. She wanted them wiped away and her dignity did not matter in expressing her feelings in front of others, to the point of being a sobbing mess at the dirty feet of a man called Savior.
The woman didn't care what others thought; she wanted to be at the feet of a Savior. She was tired of carrying around the guilt of her life. Did she plan on pouring the whole bottle of perfume on His feet? I doubt it. I think she planned on possibly washing His feet then maybe dabbing them with a little perfume to get rid of the dirty feet smell. I think when she initiated the process that her feelings got the best of her, that the Spirit of Jesus was so intense and her need for a Savior was so great that she could not contain her composure. She broke down and couldn't stop. Whatever happened, it probably wasn't fully planned. But it must have been something special to actually touch the feet of Jesus. Can you imagine actually touching Jesus, even if it was just His foot? If power exuded just from His words, just how much power was in Him? The Holy Spirit inside of Him, the same Holy Spirit that was powerful enough to raise Him from the dead, broke through to the woman's heart when she touched Him. She was already crying when she started, but then she could not contain herself. By the end, her lips were touching His feet, she was sobbing, and her hair was drying off her own tears from His flesh. He wrecked her composure but got rid of her sin.
You may not have the sin this woman carried with her, but you have something you've been carrying around with you. I wonder if you ended up in a room with Jesus, I wonder if you'd be able to maintain your composure, retain your dignity. Or would the power of His Holy Spirit fillet you open to the heart of your sin. How close do you want to get to Jesus? The closer you get the more likely you are to be moved by His power. Again, how close do you want to get to Jesus? Are you willing to kiss his feet? Be careful how close you get to Jesus, you might end up doing something socially awkward. But would it matter. It'd be better to say you touched the feet of your Savior than to say you maintained your Christian composure. Getting closer to Jesus has the potential to get a little messy. Careful, you might embarrass yourself.
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Luke 7:36-50, Hebrews 4:12
Luke 7:45 "You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet."
Feet can be disgusting. Everyone has smelled dirty feet before and I doubt there is anyone who would suggest it is pleasant. Being close enough to smell someone's dirty feet is bad enough, but please don't ask me to touch them. Kissing dirty feet is just crossing the line; that's even worse than touching them. If the thought of putting your lips on someone's nasty feet grosses you out then the point has been made. This is exactly what happened to Jesus at a dinner party. A woman walked in to a dinner party where she wasn't comfortably welcomed, started crying for some odd reason, then poured perfume on Jesus' feet, kissing them with her lips and wiping them with her hair. It was rather awkward and slightly on the inappropriate side of social etiquette. People were embarrassed for her.
She was identified as a woman who lived a sinful lifestyle, not by her name. There are two different accounts in the gospels of Jesus having his feet doused with perfume. One account puts him at Lazarus' house and another puts Him at the house of a pharisee, Simon. Scholars suggest that these were truly two separate events. Regardless of who the woman was, she had lived a bad life. Some suggest she was a prostitute, but it is not known what offenses she committed. Apparently they were, well, bad. Apparently she lived such a life of regret that she came to the feet of Jesus crying, weeping even. Her tears were of remorse for her sin. I wonder why she was so full of regret? Was she simply a prostitute or did she cause harm to others? Did she abort her baby or she sell him? Did she participate in the trafficking of young girls? Why such remorse to the point that she could not contain her composure? I imagine she was a blubbering mess, not even able to talk about her sorrow and regretful lifestyle. Whatever it was, the weight of her sin was too much for her to carry. She wanted them wiped away and her dignity did not matter in expressing her feelings in front of others, to the point of being a sobbing mess at the dirty feet of a man called Savior.
The woman didn't care what others thought; she wanted to be at the feet of a Savior. She was tired of carrying around the guilt of her life. Did she plan on pouring the whole bottle of perfume on His feet? I doubt it. I think she planned on possibly washing His feet then maybe dabbing them with a little perfume to get rid of the dirty feet smell. I think when she initiated the process that her feelings got the best of her, that the Spirit of Jesus was so intense and her need for a Savior was so great that she could not contain her composure. She broke down and couldn't stop. Whatever happened, it probably wasn't fully planned. But it must have been something special to actually touch the feet of Jesus. Can you imagine actually touching Jesus, even if it was just His foot? If power exuded just from His words, just how much power was in Him? The Holy Spirit inside of Him, the same Holy Spirit that was powerful enough to raise Him from the dead, broke through to the woman's heart when she touched Him. She was already crying when she started, but then she could not contain herself. By the end, her lips were touching His feet, she was sobbing, and her hair was drying off her own tears from His flesh. He wrecked her composure but got rid of her sin.
You may not have the sin this woman carried with her, but you have something you've been carrying around with you. I wonder if you ended up in a room with Jesus, I wonder if you'd be able to maintain your composure, retain your dignity. Or would the power of His Holy Spirit fillet you open to the heart of your sin. How close do you want to get to Jesus? The closer you get the more likely you are to be moved by His power. Again, how close do you want to get to Jesus? Are you willing to kiss his feet? Be careful how close you get to Jesus, you might end up doing something socially awkward. But would it matter. It'd be better to say you touched the feet of your Savior than to say you maintained your Christian composure. Getting closer to Jesus has the potential to get a little messy. Careful, you might embarrass yourself.
Don't take my word for it; look it up: Luke 7:36-50, Hebrews 4:12
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