“When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he [Jesus] was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.” (Luke 7:37–38, NLT)
The woman in the scripture above caused a rift between Jesus and a Pharisee named Simon, who had invited Jesus to dine at his home. Everything started out well. Pharisees usually saw Jesus as a false prophet or worse. Simon wanted to have a meal with Jesus to figure out whether Jesus was a true man of God or not. Simon seemed more open to Jesus, to Jesus’ teachings, to the gospel. Then, everything started to fall apart between Jesus and Simon. It was all because of this woman and her tears.
As Jesus sat at table to eat with Simon, Luke 7: 37-38 tells us that an “immoral woman brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume”. As Jesus ate with Simon, the woman knelt at Jesus feet. She began to weep. Then, as “tears fell on Jesus’ feet, she wiped them off with her hair”. Jesus’ feet, dirty from traveling, were cleaned by the woman’s tears. She then began to kiss Jesus’ feet while applying perfume on them. Where Jesus would later wash and clean His own disciples’ feet, this woman was washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointing them with perfume. The act of contrition by the woman (shown by her tears), caused Jesus’ heart to warm. The tears only made Simon upset.
Jesus could see the anger boiling in His host. Jesus then told a parable about love and forgiveness. Knowing what was in Simon’s hardened heart, Jesus mentioned, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.” (Luke 7:44–46, NLT). We are not told what Jesus’ words did to Simon’s heart, but what we do know is that Jesus’ teaching of love and forgiveness was not forgotten by the gospel writers. All four gospels include a version of this story. The woman’s tears and actions before Jesus led to an unforgettable moment filled with God’s forgiveness and grace.
The power of tears is often overlooked. I’m not talking about the fake tears of activists or politicians or the crocodile tears of the unrepentant. I’m talking about real tears that come from a repentant and thoughtful heart, the tears of mourning, or the tears of a person suffering for doing right or wrong. Jesus noticed such tears in this woman. These “real” tears were a sign of the woman’s regret, repentance, and hope in Jesus.
Soulful, repentant, and holy tears are noticed by Jesus not only in this scripture. They are noticed by others. They are noticed by the Father in Heaven. They also affect those who have a heart for Christ.
One night while preaching in Chicago, evangelist R.A. Torrey met a big man of some 290 pounds. The man was huge, strong, and very intelligent. After a short conversation, Torrey found out that for years, the man had been a hater of those he called “hypocritical Christians”. When in church, the man saw how Christians would pray for things but during the week would act unrepentant and sometimes cruel. This happened so often, the man’s heart was hardened. He even kept a book tallying up all the hypocritical Christians in his church!
Two months before the big man met Torrey, he was very ill. His doctor told him to prepare for death as it was coming soon for him. The man was so hardened in his heart, he did not care whether he lived or died. He had no real belief in God, since all the Christians he knew were hypocrites anyway.
Then, one day, a minister came to pray for the big man. The man told him, “Yes, you can pray for me if you want to. I have no objection, if it will do you any good, it won’t hurt me any. Yes, pray if you want to, if you will enjoy it. It won’t disturb me.” The minister knelt down at the bedside of the big man. But this minister was different. As the minister prayed, tears came down from his cheeks. The minister knew that the big man had given up any belief in God, so he prayed with all his heart that the big man would open up to Jesus. The man told Torrey, “As I lay there watching him out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a tear rolling down his cheeks. I said to myself, ‘Here is this man, a perfect stranger to me, with no possible interest in me, and yet he is weeping over my sins and my lost condition. That broke my heart.’” The big man began to wonder if all this stuff about Jesus was real. He began to second-guess his assumptions that all Christians were hypocrites. He began to wonder if the gospel may be real. The big man began to open up to God.
A week later, the big man’s health improved. The first thing he did was come to a worship service and then to see R. A. Torrey. He told Torrey, “That is why I am here tonight. That is why I got up and asked for prayers; that is why I have taken the Lord Jesus.” Later that night, Torrey wrote, “You will win more men and women by your tears than you will ever win by your arguments.” (pp. 54-56, Anecdotes and Illustrations)
The tearful woman who anointed Jesus with perfume enabled Jesus to teach about forgiveness. The big man whose heart was softened toward Jesus was changed by the tears of a minister who prayed with sincerity. Sometimes, tears have a way of opening people up to God in Christ when nothing else will work. Faithful tears affect others and God!
Tears expose things to others and God. Is there something from your past that still brings tears to your eyes? Is your heart open to the tears of forgiveness in others? When is the last time your tears of happiness or regret spoke to God in Christ? What did those tears reveal?
As Jesus sat at table to eat with Simon, Luke 7: 37-38 tells us that an “immoral woman brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume”. As Jesus ate with Simon, the woman knelt at Jesus feet. She began to weep. Then, as “tears fell on Jesus’ feet, she wiped them off with her hair”. Jesus’ feet, dirty from traveling, were cleaned by the woman’s tears. She then began to kiss Jesus’ feet while applying perfume on them. Where Jesus would later wash and clean His own disciples’ feet, this woman was washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointing them with perfume. The act of contrition by the woman (shown by her tears), caused Jesus’ heart to warm. The tears only made Simon upset.
Jesus could see the anger boiling in His host. Jesus then told a parable about love and forgiveness. Knowing what was in Simon’s hardened heart, Jesus mentioned, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.” (Luke 7:44–46, NLT). We are not told what Jesus’ words did to Simon’s heart, but what we do know is that Jesus’ teaching of love and forgiveness was not forgotten by the gospel writers. All four gospels include a version of this story. The woman’s tears and actions before Jesus led to an unforgettable moment filled with God’s forgiveness and grace.
The power of tears is often overlooked. I’m not talking about the fake tears of activists or politicians or the crocodile tears of the unrepentant. I’m talking about real tears that come from a repentant and thoughtful heart, the tears of mourning, or the tears of a person suffering for doing right or wrong. Jesus noticed such tears in this woman. These “real” tears were a sign of the woman’s regret, repentance, and hope in Jesus.
Soulful, repentant, and holy tears are noticed by Jesus not only in this scripture. They are noticed by others. They are noticed by the Father in Heaven. They also affect those who have a heart for Christ.
One night while preaching in Chicago, evangelist R.A. Torrey met a big man of some 290 pounds. The man was huge, strong, and very intelligent. After a short conversation, Torrey found out that for years, the man had been a hater of those he called “hypocritical Christians”. When in church, the man saw how Christians would pray for things but during the week would act unrepentant and sometimes cruel. This happened so often, the man’s heart was hardened. He even kept a book tallying up all the hypocritical Christians in his church!
Two months before the big man met Torrey, he was very ill. His doctor told him to prepare for death as it was coming soon for him. The man was so hardened in his heart, he did not care whether he lived or died. He had no real belief in God, since all the Christians he knew were hypocrites anyway.
Then, one day, a minister came to pray for the big man. The man told him, “Yes, you can pray for me if you want to. I have no objection, if it will do you any good, it won’t hurt me any. Yes, pray if you want to, if you will enjoy it. It won’t disturb me.” The minister knelt down at the bedside of the big man. But this minister was different. As the minister prayed, tears came down from his cheeks. The minister knew that the big man had given up any belief in God, so he prayed with all his heart that the big man would open up to Jesus. The man told Torrey, “As I lay there watching him out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a tear rolling down his cheeks. I said to myself, ‘Here is this man, a perfect stranger to me, with no possible interest in me, and yet he is weeping over my sins and my lost condition. That broke my heart.’” The big man began to wonder if all this stuff about Jesus was real. He began to second-guess his assumptions that all Christians were hypocrites. He began to wonder if the gospel may be real. The big man began to open up to God.
A week later, the big man’s health improved. The first thing he did was come to a worship service and then to see R. A. Torrey. He told Torrey, “That is why I am here tonight. That is why I got up and asked for prayers; that is why I have taken the Lord Jesus.” Later that night, Torrey wrote, “You will win more men and women by your tears than you will ever win by your arguments.” (pp. 54-56, Anecdotes and Illustrations)
The tearful woman who anointed Jesus with perfume enabled Jesus to teach about forgiveness. The big man whose heart was softened toward Jesus was changed by the tears of a minister who prayed with sincerity. Sometimes, tears have a way of opening people up to God in Christ when nothing else will work. Faithful tears affect others and God!
Tears expose things to others and God. Is there something from your past that still brings tears to your eyes? Is your heart open to the tears of forgiveness in others? When is the last time your tears of happiness or regret spoke to God in Christ? What did those tears reveal?