HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE HIS FEET?

Can you see Him?

“Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman?’ I entered your house; you gave Me no water for my feet, but she, with her tears, has washed my feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint My head with olive oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little. Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” Luke 7:44-48 (CSB)

While Jesus was having dinner at a Pharisee’s (religious leader) house, a woman with bold faith and a true love for Jesus came into where He was. She had an Alabaster jar of perfume with her.

(Alabaster was a stone commonly found in Israel and one of the precious stones used in the decoration of Solomon’s temple. These alabaster jars would be filled with expensive perfume to keep them pure and unspoiled, and sealed with wax to retain and preserve the scent).

She stood behind Jesus weeping; her tears were flowing so much that she began washing Jesus’ feet with them; so many tears that she wiped them dry using her hair. Then, she began to anoint His feet with the perfume and was kissing His feet. 

In Jesus’ day, they walked dusty roads with only sandals on their feet. So His feet could have been pretty dirty. As a nurse, I find this intriguing. When caring for people in clinics and hospitals, or their homes; I can’t imagine washing someone’s feet without gloves on let alone kissing their feet. 

But if we love Jesus, if we truly love Him, and know who He is and what He’s done for us, could we kiss His feet in that way? Could we let go of our own insecurities and kneel at His feet and kiss them? 

The Pharisees called her out as a sinful woman and if Jesus were a prophet He would have known what kind of woman she was. But Jesus did know and He loved her all the more; forgiving her sins. 

As I read this story again, some things came to my mind. Just put yourself in the woman’s shoes (or sandals) for a moment. She had obviously done some bad things and had a reputation for them, but yet, she boldly stepped into this religious leader’s house, “sin baggage” and all. 

The mere presence of Jesus caused her not only to cry but the Scripture says she was weeping. 

She fell to His feet with no regard to how it looked; she just knew what she had to do, and that was to praise Him; to show Him love with what she had.  

We are fortunate that His spiritual presence is with us always. But imagine with me for a moment, what if He were physically standing or sitting right beside you right now? Would it cause you to cry or to weep and fall to His feet?

We’ve all done things in our lives that we’re not proud of and often times we hide from Jesus out of shame or guilt. One day we will meet Jesus face to face, and the Bible tells us that “all of us will bow before Him.”

Why wait until then? Bring everything you have to Him now. He’s here, right here in this moment and time. 

In the end, all the things we’ve held on to that are of this world won’t mean a hill of beans, so to speak. We can fall at His feet, weeping as the woman did; giving Him everything we’ve ever done; shifting our perspective  from “I can’t”, to “but He can.”

1Interestingly, the woman’s focus was on Jesus’ feet. Prophesying about the salvation that would come to Israel through the Messiah. In Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful on the mountains are the “feet” of the herald, who proclaims peace, who bring news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

A Pharisee, who was quite learned in the Word of God, did not recognize this truth. But a sinful woman, an outcast, acknowledged the prophecy and demonstrated her understanding of it by focusing on the feet of the greatest Prophet, the One destined to bring her peace and salvation (Luke 7:50). She fully understood the forgiveness of Christ and unashamed to show her love for Him.

Do you recognize Him? Can you see Him?

Here’s right here.

1Holman Bible Publishers. (2018). Luke. In The study Bible for women: Christian standard bible (pp. 1315–1315). essay.