It wasn’t only the smell of the perfume that filled the room. It was the sound of the woman’s soft cries. As tears and oil ran together down Jesus’ dirty feet, tension at the dinner table began to swell. This woman had a reputation, and the Pharisee who had invited the teacher was concerned. If this Jesus was such a great prophet, as so many said he was, then he would know that her disgrace made her unclean. She had no place among the clean, yet here she was, physically touching a rabbi.
This was just one of many times Jesus associated with the unclean, and the Pharisee in our hearts is repulsed by it. He has staked his claim on his own observance, which he thinks God will surely reward – forgetting, of course, that there is no one righteous before God.
But this is where Jesus, the Messiah, has come to live - in a filthy world of condemnation and hopelessness. Crushed by our guilt, we, the lowliest of the unclean, weep at his feet. We strain for just a touch of his garment. We plead for his mercy. We don’t look at all like one of his own, but where else can we turn?
Mercifully, the patient and gracious teacher has something to tell us: this deep, torturous guilt over our sin gives way to grace from God that is all the more profound. The more bitter the condemnation, the sweeter the grace.
And the good news is that he gives it freely. It is his to give. He has guaranteed it at the cross and empty tomb. Therefore, as our celebration of Easter continues, Jesus’ words to the broken and unclean are for us, too: “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
