Voices of Advent: 4 Famous Encounters With JesusНамуна

She was always disposable to men.  Especially the religious leaders. It's not difficult to imagine what they might have called someone like her. A poor woman with no prospects. A woman without a husband, and a sinner at that. She lived being looked at with disgust. 

Take a moment and consider what The Woman Who Washed Jesus' Feet with Tears feared most. More than whether she'd be able to eat day to day. More than how she'd ever pay off her debts. Even more than what she’d have to do to make the money to pay back those debts. Perhaps the thing she feared more than anything was to look at Jesus because of the way the Pharisees looked at her.

Imagine her fear or hesitation to even approach Jesus! If the self-described righteous leaders disdained you, wouldn't you keep your distance?  Who could abide the thought of having the Messiah look at them with the same disdain the Pharisees looked at sinners? 

If Jesus was disgusted with her, she'd feel it. If his famous love for the poor didn’t fall upon her, she'd know in an instant, and that would be too much to bear. Ultimately, she just had to know if the love and forgiveness Jesus preached was real.

Imagine her walking through the crowd to find out the truth. Timid as a mouse. Trying to hide in the throng of people, but suddenly the crowd moves. Suddenly Jesus turns, and as if by chance, their eyes meet. Time stops. Their eyes lock. The same man who told the famous parable about the shepherd who went looking for the one lost sheep looks back at her.

There was no disgust. There was no disdain. She was seen.  Jesus, eyes full of love, smiles with happiness to see her like he's seeing a long-lost friend. He knew exactly who she was. Everything she’d done. The bad, the sin, and the good too. He didn’t look away. Jesus reached out his hand. He smiled and called her daughter. Not “a woman lost in sin.” None of the other names people always called her. Daughter.

It's incredible to imagine what the Woman's encounter with Jesus was like. Scripture doesn't tell us, but we do know the rest of the story: the alabaster jar of perfume; how she entered the house where Jesus visited for a feast; how she washed his feet with her tears as she wept.

That was her first Christmas, right there in a forgotten town. A woman who responded with such extravagance to a Savior who met her in her shame and looked at her with the deepest, truest love.  

Prayer: Jesus, today as I ponder your advent into the world, I remember you see me and when you look at me you see me with eyes of acceptance and love. Thank you for knowing everything about me and for loving me. This Christmas, I pray for a deeper revelation of the love of God.  

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