Sometimes our religion fails us miserably …
Sometimes the very people we condemn are the ones who could teach us what to do when God comes calling.
Trashy Women (Lyrics by Confederate Railroad)
Yeah, I like my women just a little on the trashy side
When they wear their clothes too tight and their hair is dyed
Too much lipstick and too much rouge
Gets me excited, leaves me feeling confused
And I like my women just a little on the trashy side.
Just a slutty little thing …
In his eyes, she was just a slutty little thing, but in Jesus’ eyes she was a person who knew what to do in the presence of God.
- Luke 7.36-38
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
- Luke 7.39
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
The great irony …
The religious know-it-all condemned everyone else in the room, doubting Jesus’ credentials and judging the woman for her sinful life. He missed the worship service and let an opportunity slip past him to see first-hand the work of God.
AND he is the only one in the room who doesn’t know who he is.
He didn’t know nearly as much as either Jesus or the woman. The woman knew who she was – sinner – and who Jesus was – Savior, and Jesus did know what kind of woman came up to him. He knew she had lived a sinful life.
Sinner, Savior, click … This is why he came.
Duh, religious guy!
How God treats people like this woman …
And so he treated her as God treats people who come before him in repentance. He loved her and forgave her. He shared a moment with her in time and space, set in eternity, and written down and studied and talked about for centuries.
So, yes, Jesus knew what kind of woman she was, and he also knew what kind of man the Pharisee was which was more than the man himself knew.
Again … Duh, religious guy!
IRONY … The resident expert on things religious and spiritual did not know himself.
But the woman did. She had lived a sinful life, and she knew what to do about it.
What kind of a woman was she?
A slutty little thing that knew what to do in the presence of God, and she was light years ahead of the Pharisee in understanding the relationship between God and man.
A winning combination – A woman of faith and a God who forgives.
Yes, Jesus, certainly knew what kind of woman she was.
