Needing Knees


In Luke 7:44-47 we find these words: Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn't greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. 47 I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love."

This text is a story of two people and their interaction with Jesus. One is the dinner host, and the other was uninvited. One was called a teacher; the other called a sinner.

These two people both had access to forgiveness. One was a religious leader, the other a person with a sordid reputation.

This event followed on the heals where Jesus tells a story to his host, about two people who owed debts, one much more than the other—but both debts were such that neither could repay—yet both are forgiven. Jesus asked his host, Simon, “Which will love him more?” What Simon does not realize is that his answer will expose that he still sees with unforgiving eyes. The issue is not that one is allowed to love less, while the other is required to love more. The issue is that there is only one response to being made whole and free, and the only one who gets it is on her knees.

How about you? How will you respond? Will it leave you still living with labels and levels of grace, or will it leave you on your knees?

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