August 2026 Reflections From Dave's Corner of The World

The Woman Who Wiped The Lord’s Feet With Her Tears:

I would encourage you to read Luke 7:36-50 prior to reading this article.  This passage is about the woman who came to Christ absolutely broken and repentant over her sin.  There was a Pharisee present, Simon, who not only was not convicted of his own sin, but was focused on hers and critical of Jesus as well.

              This passage is not about how much sin either person (the woman or Simon) had, but rather about how much they perceived or saw their own sin!  She saw the magnitude of Jesus’ forgiveness toward her and, as a result, had a big heart of love.  The Pharisee also only saw her sin, but it made him feel good and he had very little love.  Apart from getting right with Jesus, they were both headed for hell, and he might be there.

 I want to share an important truth:  man is always looking for justification in one of two directions.  The Scriptures tell us we can be forgiven and justified in Christ through salvation, which frees our soul from guilt, freeing us to love.  This is the beauty of God’s love and forgiveness.  It is powerful when you truly experience this in the Lord.  On the other hand, as with Simon the Pharisee, if we, ourselves, have not been forgiven and justified in Christ, we tend to seek it by judging others to make us feel better ourselves. 

 Here is the truth of what Jesus was teaching in this passage.  The woman saw the severity of her sin, her need for Christ and, in complete abandon of pride, she became desperate to turn to Jesus.  She saw she had much sin, brought it all to Jesus and became free of her bondage, finally free to love.  Wow, repentance is powerful, and she received that power!  Simon, proud of his position and stature, couldn’t admit the sins of his heart.  In finding fault with both the woman and Jesus, he “gained” the freedom to dodge his guilt and the need to confess his sin.  In doing so, he heaped a false “righteousness” upon himself.

 The problem with this approach was that he had not truly been forgiven by Christ; his only righteousness was what existed in his own mind, he just “sees” himself as righteous.  The sad thing was that, in finding his righteousness in condemning his neighbors, the woman, and God, he couldn’t find freedom from his guilt or freedom to love them.  He is not free to really love them, because he eases his guilt condemning them, which leaves him with little love.  Matthew 5:20 says;  “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  The truth of what I am teaching is what is at the heart of what Matthew 5:20.  Jesus is not encouraging us to try to “exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” as they try to “seek” righteousness, because they try to gain righteousness by lifting themselves up at the expense of others.  To exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is not just more self-justification, but, no self-justification.

 To exceed the justification of the scribes and Pharisees, we simply need to stop hiding our sin from man and God and bring it to the Lord (and our neighbor, if we have sinned against him).  Self-justification destroys love .  Because the very essence of self-justification is lifting up yourself at the expense of others.  When we are justified in Christ, as this woman was, our guilt is removed by Christ and we will want our neighbor to experience His love and forgiveness also.  Truly, the difference is night and day!

 How do we walk this out?  Do as Jesus suggested: see the magnitude of your sin, not as compared to your neighbor, but as compared to your holy God.  The “greater” you see your debt, the “greater” you will see your forgiveness, and the greater will be your love. 

God and everybody knew what kind of a woman she was, God and everybody knew what kind of a man Simon was.  We think we can hide our sins, but they find us out.  People like Simon are hard to be around- you can feel the judgmental spirit.  I’m inspired by the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears.  She found freedom that day, freedom from guilt and the freedom to love.  I share this truth with our guests at A Ray of Hope:  they can break free from the bondages of sin that have dragged them down. 

As we see how much God truly loves us, laid down His life for us, and has forgiven us, we can pursue Him and walk in His righteousness. Then we can be free in Him, and in Him alone.  It is a fallen and broken world, but we can choose to walk with the risen One and choose to repent and love much as this bold woman did.  It simply means boldly repenting of the old and lunging toward the new!  Right? She didn’t care who was in the room, she was desperate to get right with God, and we all respect her courage!  She did it, we can too.

Amen?  Amen!  Dave.