Two women - Lk 7:36-50, Jn 8:1-11

The original Korean text: http://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025469425

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Sin is dirty and harmful. Sin is never to be glorified or justified. Sin is a thing to be forgiven, not to be justified.

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Jesus was invited to the house of Simon, a Pharisee. He didn't have to decline the offer of the meal. However, this Pharisee, one of the religious leaders in Israel, treated Jesus as a beggar. Usually, when a guest arrives at the house, the man of the house should prepare water to wash the feet for him, and be careful for the guest not to be inconvenient. But this Simon didn't show respect to Jesus, treating him as a beggar. Maybe he decided to put Jesus to shame publicly.

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And there was a woman in the neighborhood whom people criticized. She is a sinful woman, so she is probably a prostitute. This woman came in the house of Simon, and sobbed, shed tears on Jesus' feet and wiped them with the hair of her head, and anointed his feet with the ointment she had brought in an alabaster flask.

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Why did she weep? Because perhaps she felt ashamed of her life. Why did she pour her fragrant ointment on his feet? Maybe she did it because she wanted people to know that even the lowest part of Jesus is the most precious part in the world. And maybe she thought that such a sinner as she can't pour the ointment on the head of the noble Jesus, so she poured the ointment on his feet humbly and fearfully. This prostitute's behavior was different from that of Simon, the Pharisee who invited Jesus. Simon didn't give Jesus even common water to wash the feet, but the woman washed Jesus' feet with her tears; Simon didn't anointed Jesus' head even with cheap olive oil, but the woman dared not anoint his head but anointed his feet humbly with the expensive fragrant ointment.

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People sometimes do not notice a really noble person. But at times the abject recognize the noble man and pay due respect to him. God opened the eyes of a woman treated with contempt by people so that she could notice the Savior Jesus, in order that Simon who despised Jesus might realize his fault. By the way, in the Bible, unclean spirits recognized Jesus earlier than other people and cried, "Son of the Most High God! (Mk 5:7)"

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Jesus said to the woman who shed tears and wiped his feet, "Your sins are forgiven."

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In the Bible, there is a woman who voluntarily came to Jesus - the above woman; and another woman who was dragged out to Jesus. The latter one is a woman who was caught at the scene of adultery and brought to Jesus. Jesus said to people, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." Seeing them go away, one by one, Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again."

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This woman heard from Jesus not "I forgive your sins" but only "I don't condemn you." This situation is the same as when a judge gives a suspended sentence even though the guilt is obvious. If she commits the sin again, she will obviously be condemned then.

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What is the difference between the two women above? Maybe the first woman hated to prostitute herself more than death, but had to do it to live. But she met the good Savior Jesus and repented her sins, and perhaps seemed to decide to live a good life like Jesus. Jesus saw this woman's sincere heart and declared forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is a promise to restore the good relations that one had gained before he committed sins.

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But the second woman liked cheating and voluntarily committed adultery. This married woman, who could live well with her husband, loved other man and committed adultery voluntarily and was caught, and she was dragged from the scene to Jesus, and got a suspended sentence (a conditional release) from Jesus. A suspended sentence does not admit that she is innocent, nor does it mean the restoration of the good relationship before the sin. It just overlooks the sin for a while. Why did he overlook the sin? It is because Jesus came into the world at that time not to condemn man, but to die on the cross for man's sin. It was lucky time for the woman, who could escape death then as prisoners were released on a special pardon of 8.15 Liberation Day.

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You are forgiven sins when you repent of your past sins and love the Savior Jesus.

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