Extravagant love
Extravagant love
I was reading Luke 7:36-50 about Jesus being anointed by the sinful woman and was encouraged and challenged by the extravagant love she showed to Jesus.
For one, she was considered a sinner in the eyes of the righteous Pharisees, and perhaps by many of the common townfolk too. And two, she seemed to be shunned by her own people because of her liftstyle though the kind of life she lived wasn't made explicit in this passage. Three, I supposed she wasn't someone exceptionally rich, otherwise she wouldn't need to be living the kind of life which others considered sinful but perhaps was her means of livelihood.
Despite these factors, her love for Jesus was so extravagant...
- She was bold in expressing her love for Jesus - in the presence of all eyes, she boldly expresses her gratitude to the Lord in the way she found to be the best that He deserved.
- She was courageous enough to risk rejection and express her love to Jesus in such a public place. I supposed she does have a choice of going to Jesus when He is surrounded by fewer people.
- She was genuine in her expression of her love - her tears, her action of wiping the tears away on Jesus' feet with her hair, kissing Jesus' feet and anointing His feet with perfume ...
- She was appreciative and grateful. Because of what God has done for her, she returned with great appreciation and love. Perhaps the proprtion of love shown is sometimes expressed by the gratitude felt??? Isn't it, read Luke 7:47b "he who has been forgiven little loves little."
Many of us exclaimed that we love God, and many of us are comfortable enough expressing this love within our circle of Christian friends and church. The real test comes when we need to show extravagant love to Jesus in a place where all eyes are on us ... when everybody else but us say we know and follow Jesus ... when our lives and reputation are at stake ...
I saluate this woman and what she has done. In somewhat identical accounts recorded in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9 and John 12:2-8 (note: Matthew & Mark recorded Jesus at the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany, while John records Mary the sister of Lazarus as the one anointing Jesus), Jesus commended the action of this woman. As much as she was extravagant in her love towards Jesus, Jesus' love to each one of us is even more extravagant. Do we show Him less than what He deserve? In this Advent and Christmas season, may we refresh, renew and revive our love for the Lord.
I was reading Luke 7:36-50 about Jesus being anointed by the sinful woman and was encouraged and challenged by the extravagant love she showed to Jesus.
For one, she was considered a sinner in the eyes of the righteous Pharisees, and perhaps by many of the common townfolk too. And two, she seemed to be shunned by her own people because of her liftstyle though the kind of life she lived wasn't made explicit in this passage. Three, I supposed she wasn't someone exceptionally rich, otherwise she wouldn't need to be living the kind of life which others considered sinful but perhaps was her means of livelihood.
Despite these factors, her love for Jesus was so extravagant...
- She was bold in expressing her love for Jesus - in the presence of all eyes, she boldly expresses her gratitude to the Lord in the way she found to be the best that He deserved.
- She was courageous enough to risk rejection and express her love to Jesus in such a public place. I supposed she does have a choice of going to Jesus when He is surrounded by fewer people.
- She was genuine in her expression of her love - her tears, her action of wiping the tears away on Jesus' feet with her hair, kissing Jesus' feet and anointing His feet with perfume ...
- She was appreciative and grateful. Because of what God has done for her, she returned with great appreciation and love. Perhaps the proprtion of love shown is sometimes expressed by the gratitude felt??? Isn't it, read Luke 7:47b "he who has been forgiven little loves little."
Many of us exclaimed that we love God, and many of us are comfortable enough expressing this love within our circle of Christian friends and church. The real test comes when we need to show extravagant love to Jesus in a place where all eyes are on us ... when everybody else but us say we know and follow Jesus ... when our lives and reputation are at stake ...
I saluate this woman and what she has done. In somewhat identical accounts recorded in Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9 and John 12:2-8 (note: Matthew & Mark recorded Jesus at the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany, while John records Mary the sister of Lazarus as the one anointing Jesus), Jesus commended the action of this woman. As much as she was extravagant in her love towards Jesus, Jesus' love to each one of us is even more extravagant. Do we show Him less than what He deserve? In this Advent and Christmas season, may we refresh, renew and revive our love for the Lord.
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