Extravagant Love
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Luke 7:36-50
How can we convey our gratitude, our reverence, our devotion, our humility, our repentance, and our wholehearted love to and for Jesus?
Luke tells of a “fallen” woman who approaches Jesus while he is reclining at a meal in the home of Simon the Pharisee. She washes the feet of Jesus with her tears, dries his feet with her hair, kisses his feet, and anoints him with precious and costly oil from her alabaster flask.
A little much? A little over the top?
Not for one who experiences grace and mercy and compassion. Not for one who learns (despite her sins) she is valued as a treasured child of God. Not for one who is forgiven!
It’s beautiful, really! How the woman forgets herself. How her actions reflect her devotion and her indebtedness to Jesus.How she demonstrates her love extravagantly, paying no attention to the guests or caring what they are thinking of her. How she keeps her eyes on Jesus! How she shows Jesus is her All in All!
Simon, host of the meal, is aghast at he woman’s behavior and thinks: if Jesus is truly a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him – She is a sinner!
Of course, Jesus knows who is touching him, and he also knows what Simon is thinking.
“Simon, I have something to say to you.”
Jesus tells a story about two men - one who owed the creditor five hundred silver coins and the other who owed fifty. The creditor cancels both debts.
“Who,” Jesus asks, “will love the creditor more?”
Simon answers, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled.”
Jesus replies, “You have judged correctly.”
And then Jesus turns toward the woman (yes, turns towards this “fallen” woman), and says to Simon, “Do you see this woman?”
And then…and then…Jesus contrasts the behavior of Simon the Pharisee who knows that in an honor society, hospitality should be extended to guests (and Jesus was Simon’s invited guest). “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 of greeting, but from the time she entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil.”
What a stark contrast between Simon’s self-righteousness and the woman’s humility.
Yes, the woman has sinned, but so has Simon. She is aware of her sin, is remorseful, and is repentant. Simon is guilty of the sin of pride. He does not recognize who Jesus is!
Jesus says to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The woman was not saved by her tears or her costly and extravagant gift of oil. Jesus accepted the gifts and the extravagant way in which she gave them as evidence of her faith.
“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6).
How can we convey our gratitude, our reverence, our devotion, our humility, our repentance, and our wholehearted love to and for Jesus?
We can look to the forgiven woman as a model of extravagant love.
We can forget ourselves and look to Jesus!
We can praise Jesus, honor Jesus, and thank Jesus in all ways and in all places.
We can demonstrate our love for Jesus by offering him our most precious possessions, talents, and time.
We can love Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
We can show the world Jesus is our All in All!
Is that a little much? A little over the top?
Not for one who experiences grace and compassion.
Not for one who has been saved by the Grace of God.
Not for one who is forgiven.
Not for Jesus who sacrificed his life for us!
Not for one who experiences the overwhelming love Jesus feels for us and shows us every minute of every day!
Kay