Shameless
I recently pondered the Bible passage about the “sinful” woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume prior to his burial (Luke 7:36-50). That passage has troubled me for years. It is so intimate, so embarrassing, so scandalous — I get red-faced just reading it!
Luke 7:36-50The Message (MSG)
Anointing His Feet
One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”
Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Oh? Tell me.”
“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”
“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”
That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”
He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson
What was she thinking, going into the Pharisee’s house to do such a thing to Jesus in front of them all? She was a known sinner! Certainly, she could hear them talking about her — didn’t she feel embarrassed? Wasn’t this whole scene over-the-top without dignity, even shameful?
I wasn’t much bothered by the fact that Jesus embraced her (though it surprised me and everyone else in the room). What bothered me was that I wanted a piece of it — that extraordinary love, that overflowing forgiveness. But, I could not imagine how to get there. I could not kiss feet and dry them with my hair or any such thing. As a man, I felt confused, but I wanted to understand something deeper about this passage.
Then I realized what she really did. She overcame shame. With an urging from the Holy Spirit to do this deed, even before a disapproving crowd, she did it with all her heart, and without regard to what anyone might think of her. As the onlookers whispered among themselves disapprovingly and Jesus remained silent, she continued on. I’m sure everyone there was offended — except Jesus. He liked it. He approved. In an extraordinary way.
The Pharisee noted that she was a sinful woman, but I wondered would a woman who was not sinful even consider such a thing? I don’t think so. I even asked my daughters if they would do it as an object lesson in a classroom, “No way, not for love or money, impossible, are you crazy?” The embarrassment and humiliation would be unbearable.
To be shameless is usually not a good thing. But in this case, in the case of loving Jesus, to be shameless is an essential thing. How many times are we told not to be ashamed of the gospel, the cross, much less of Jesus Christ or our love for him? The verse that says if we deny him before men, then he would deny us before the Father, never seemed particularly challenging to me. Confronted by a savage with a choice between beheading or denying Jesus, I think I would choose Jesus, but probably more out of outrage and refusal to submit to evil than for my love of Jesus. Peter’s struggle, frankly, seems the more difficult to me, “denying” (or not acknowledging my love for) the Lord out of fear, embarrassment, confusion, insecurity before men — shame often pulls us up short of fully embracing Jesus. And he wants us to love him as he loves us — demonstratively, recklessly, with abandon.
As the Holy Spirit searched for the one who was to anoint Jesus for his burial, he, at last, found a woman, a sinful woman, willing to do the deed, desperate enough, shameless enough. Perhaps, because of her past, she was already beyond caring about her reputation or her personal dignity, ready to embrace Jesus shamelessly, ready to kiss and wash his dirty feet with her tears and dry them with her hair while the center of attention, before scornful eyes. That was pretty shameless!
But, how shameless was Jesus’ love? Jesus bore our shame and He endured the punishment: separation from Father (abandonment). He was falsely accused (which is worse that a real accusation — you can’t honestly confess!); He was abused, beaten, mocked, tormented, humiliated, stripped, and hung naked on the cross, quivering in pain and shivering with cold — in front of His own mother — the son of God, bruised, bloodied, powerless, and defeated. Then He cried out, “Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani!” That’s the part that nails it. Father turned His back on Jesus, as He bore all of our sin, all of our shame. That’s the price Jesus paid for us all. And that’s a price that we never have to pay because of what He did. That’s why he could say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Who was more shameless in their love? Mary, the sinful woman who endured public humiliation to anoint Jesus’ with perfume or Jesus? There’s no real comparison, is there?
As I began to explore this passage and the meaning it had for me, I searched for artistic interpretations of the scene and collected them. Then I remembered a song, titled “Shameless” written by Billy Joel, and made popular by Garth Brooks. When I put the song with the pictures, I understood.
