Our extravagant worship comes flowing out from experiencing and understanding of His extravagant love

In Luke 7:36-50 We are witnessing a scene where Simon, a Jewish leader has asked Jesus to dinner along with several other guests. Jesus has accepted this invitation and they all are reclined at the table.

In this neighborhood there is an immoral (sinful) woman that has heard of Jesus’ visiting Simon’s house. She took her exquisite flask made of alabaster, filled it with the most expensive perfume and is making her way into the home of the Jewish leader. When she enters she immediately comes in behind Jesus and kneels down at His feet, in front of all the guests.

Broken and weeping, she covered his feet with the tears that fell from her face. She keeps crying and drying his feet with her long hair. Over and over she kisses Jesus’ feet. Then she opened her flask and anoints his feet with her “Channel No. 5” perfume, as an act of worship.

Simon’s poker face wasn’t serving him well and it must have said a thousand words because Jesus’ uses a parable to explain forgiveness and then challenges Simon.

(vs.44-47 TPT)“Do you see this woman kneeling here? (He wants Simon not to look at her, he wants him to SEE her) She is doing for me what you didn’t bother to do. When I entered your home as your guest, you didn’t think about offering me water to wash the dust off my feet. Yet she came into your home and washed my feet with her many tears and then dried my feet with her hair. You didn’t even welcome me into your home with the customary kiss of greeting, but from the moment I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t take the time to anoint my head with fragrant oil, but she anointed my head and my feet with the finest of perfume. She has been forgiven of all her many sins. This is why she has shown me such extravagant love.But those who assume they have very little to be forgiven will love me very little.”

Did you find those last words haunting? When our hearts are haughty we can’t love God or others the way we should.  

At this time Jesus looks down at the woman and tells her, ALL her sins are forgiven. Which starts off a chain reaction of conversation among the guest, questioning who this man thought he was that he could forgive sins…..All of the guests, teachers, and pharisees had NO idea who they were having dinner with, but the sinful woman did.

I’ve been studying the book of Isaiah through a Community Bible Study I attend and find it interesting that much like the Israelite’s (God’s chosen people – us included) continue to have this same challenge of  living from knowledge opposed to understanding. Checking off religious duty’s instead of living from a relationship.

We can have a head full of knowledge of who we think God is, but have a heart that is so far away from Him that we will find ourselves studying to gain perceived “wisdom”.

OR We can have a revelation and continued understanding of who He is and we are transformed through the relationship we experience at His feet.

Our extravagant worship comes flowing out from experiencing and understanding of His extravagant love.