Love 3: A sinful woman

Ages ago I wrote two blogs entitled Love 1: Brandy and Love 2: Hosea. I'm fairly sure that I had five of those blogs in mind at the time. I don't remember all five but I do remember the third one and so this is it. Love 3: a sinful woman.

"Jesus is coming." someone shouted as they walked through the sleepy little Judean town.
There was a lot of excitement up ahead and the local prostitute wondered about what was going on. She snuck up quietly as the crowd listened to this man ranting about someone coming to town.

She listened as she heard Jesus' name mentioned. Even ladies of the night had heard of Jesus in these parts. He was like this rogue Rabbi that the other teachers of the law seemed to not get on with... more importantly: He was a miracle worker, healer, speaker of the Words of God and forgiver of sins.

Some even think He is the Christ, she thought to herself, I would love to see Him. He would never want to see me though.

As she walked on alone, away from the crowd, downcast because a Rabbi would never be interested in seeing a person like her; she reflected on her life.

She was to be married once, to a nice boy from the next village over. At least that is what her father told her he was. The other family changed it's mind and she ended up on her own. A woman in Israel alone had two ways to make money. The first was to beg as the widows did. She was no beggar though and would not stoop to such practices. The other was to enter a life of prostitution.
This was the life she was consigned to choose. She had no other option. It was the most dangerous of lives. If she was caught she would surely be stoned to death. Everything she did she had to do carefully in the black of night and in secret. She never used her name. Most people in the village didn't even know her name. It wasn't all that important anyway she wanted to keep her head down and get on with things. They knew her simply as 'the prostitute' in this town. She didn't matter to them. She didn't matter to anyone.

She had been saving some money up. She hoped it would help her to escape from the life she had gotten herself into. She knew something more precious than that money was in town today though and ran to fetch the money. Buying a jar of perfume that cost all the money she had she took it to Simon, the Pharisee's house, for she heard that it was there that Jesus would be eating that day.

When she got there the fear welled up again. Would she be allowed to see Him? Would He even want to see her? Would she leave here rejected as she had been many other times in her life?

She made it into the house and saw Him seated there at the table of the Pharisee's house. She stood behind Him and began to weep as she recalled all the things she had done in her life. Met with this man's presence she was overwhelmed by how imperfect she was.

She got on her knees and began wiping Jesus' feet with her hair, washing them with her tears. Then she kissed those same feet and anointed them with the expensive perfume she had bought.

Up until now she had been able to ignore the dissenters. There had been people gasping at what she was doing, and at her very presence in the room.
She could not ignore what Simon, the Pharisee said: "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."

Apparently Jesus couldn't ignore Simon's comment either and came both to her defence and to explain how things worked to the teacher.

"A certain money-lender had two debtors," Jesus began, "One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon answered with the one that had the greater debt cancelled and Jesus replied, "you have judged rightly."

Then Jesus turned to her. This was the first time He had looked at her and she looked at Him. Their eyes met. The holiest being on earth and the most sinful, as she thought of herself. There was overwhelming love there and it moved her again. It was pure love, it was perfect love, it was complete love.

Jesus kept looking at her but said to Simon: "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little."

Then He spoke to her... "Your sins are forgiven."

She knew He meant it, she knew she was forgiven. She knew that God no longer counted all the things she had done against her.

Somewhere in the middle of this overwhelming array of feelings she noticed more grumbling. It was different this time. For the first time in her life the grumbling was not about her.
She was shocked to discover this for she believed the Pharisee and his guests would be talking about her. Who they were talking about shocked her even more.
"Who is this, who even forgives sins?" they were mumbling among themselves.
Jesus completely ignored what they were saying, "your faith has saved you; go in peace." He said to her.

She left the room a different person than the person who had entered not too long before. She had met love personified. She had met her Saviour and she would not stop telling people about Him as long as she had the breath to.


I don't know if this is exactly how things happened in her story but to my heart and mind it makes sense.