Love Trumps Dirt

 

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 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.

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.”  Luke 7:37-39

In reading an incredibly well written explanation of grace, I came across this passage as an example. It certainly speaks to grace and the author made excellent points. I was however, distracted by an entirely different image. My mind’s eye immediately saw images of the Chilean miners emerging from their underground nightmare. It wasn’t the over the top mercy and love of God evidenced in that rescue that caught my attention either; it’s the simple filth of the whole situation.

For sixty-nine days those men were underground. Now it is beyond fair to say that I know nothing about mining or what is and isn’t a part of that experience but I’m fairly confident in assuming that toileting and certainly bathing options were seriously limited if they existed at all. So, sixty-nine days after any real bathing opportunities, the men emerge. Did their love ones stand back or recoil at the sight and/or smell of them? No! They ran, they grabbed on, they hugged and kissed. The relief, the love and the truly miraculous nature of the moment negated anything else.

Go back to the Scripture. This woman is weeping and her tears are the “water” she is using to clean the feet of Jesus. Take the word Jesus out of the equation for a brief moment. This is a young man who walks everywhere on dirt roads also frequented by animals. Yuk! His feet aren’t just dirty….. Beyond washing them with her tears, she dries them with her hair. (Beth Moore must shudder at that thought! Most women do, I think.) Then, as if that isn’t intimate enough, she kisses his feet. Why? Okay, now put Jesus back into the picture, not just some random young man with dirty feet but Jesus Christ. Ah, that explains it. It’s love, huge, enormous, crazy love that spurs her actions. She knows him and she’s felt his graciousness. Much like the family of the miners, his condition is not the main factor. It is simply a matter of who he is to her and how much she loves him.

So what about her? The Pharisee, ever helpful, would like Jesus to get a clue. “Uh, hello, that chick kissing your feet is a prostitute. I’m just saying.”

 He’s so sure that if Jesus knew who she was he wouldn’t allow her to touch him. Wrong! And there it is again. Love. She is untouchable, at least in the light of day by men who wanted to be seen as respectable. Maybe in a dark corner somewhere if it could stay a secret but not like this! Does Jesus care? Yes, but not the way the Pharisee wants him to care. Jesus loves her. He is so touched by her open and obvious love for him. She doesn’t care about his dirt and he doesn’t care about hers. Now that, beloved, is pure, unconditional love.

Another quick image came to my mind. I saw my sweet husband after a few hours of yard work. The joke is always, “give me a hug” as he drips sweat and has dirt and grass clinging to his body. Um… no, thank you. I always give him an air hug and kiss, exactly what he expects. But suppose he’s filthy and sweaty from a near fatal accident? Or suppose I hadn’t seen him in days or weeks? Then I wouldn’t even see sweat and dirt. Then I would only see love.  My sight would be skewed by my love for him and his for me.

We are dirty, filthy, sweaty people, in far worse condition than those miners or even that woman. Yet, Jesus reaches his arms out without hesitation. Further, he transfers our dirt to his body where it was crucified and defeated. That, my friends, is LOVE!