Hair

“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47).

Woman Washing the Feet of Jesus (Ann Marie Campbell)

I have been reflecting on the woman who washed the Feet o Christ with her tears and hair.

I suppose it is not a very significant thing these days for a woman to show her hair.  It is not even particularly significant for men and women – even those who are not married to each other) to touch each other.  And yet, in Christ’s time – twenty centuries ago – it was a completely different world.

When Christ was alive, good Jewish men did not touch women who were not their wives.  They certainly did not touch them or get touched by them in an intimate manner – on the feet.  And good Jewish women did not show their hair to men.  They certainly did not use their hair as a tool to wipe the feet of men.

And yet, we are told this story of the weeping woman who was a sinner who not only showed her hair to Christ, but touched His Feet with it while she anointed them with her tears…

“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table.  A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind Jesus at his feet, crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with the perfume.  When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, ‘If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!’” (Luke 7:36-39).

The people watching this exchange would have been deeply unsettled by it.  This activity of the woman would have made them feel incredibly uncomfortable because while we can see the woman’s love of Christ and her humility, they would only have been able to see her sin…

The Pharisee is trying to create distance between the woman and himself.  He does not want to be tainted with her sin.  But Christ is quite the opposite.  He explains, “her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.” (Luke 7:47).

This woman did not behave irrationally, she behaved with great love and devotion to Christ.  And Christ could see that.  Where other people thought she was inappropriate, Christ saw great love.  She loved Christ so much that she did not care what others thought of her or how her actions might be interpreted and received, instead she was concerned only with Christ and His ability to forgive.

The woman, unlike the Pharisee – unlike me – was able to understand her own need for Grace as far more important than the appearance of social acceptability.

And this is because that woman knew what Christ had done for her – how He had forgiven her.

And how marvellous to know a thing like that!

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.