In
the Company of Sinners
~~~**~~~
Now
when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake
within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet,
would have known who and what manner of woman this is
that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Luke 7:39
One day Jesus dined in the house of a Pharisee named
Simon. During their meal, a woman came up to Jesus with
an alabaster box of ointment. She wept and "began to
wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the
hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed
them with the ointment" (Luke 7:38). The Pharisee
couldn't understand why Jesus would let this woman touch
Him. She was a sinner, perhaps a prostitute. And yet
Jesus was allowing her to touch Him? Didn't He know she
was a sinner?
Jesus, of course, knew everything about this woman. He
knew her sins were many, but He also knew she wept
because of her sins and wanted to show her love for her
Savior by anointing His feet. Jesus didn't show disgust
at the touch of a sinner because His very purpose was to
show sinners love and save them from damnation. Jesus
spent time in the company of sinners because they were
the people He wanted to reach.
Are we, as Christians, showing the same love for sinners
as Jesus did? Or are we content with staying within the
walls of our church, secure in the company of fellow
believers? Could we show Christ's love to prostitutes,
convicts, and gangbangers? Could we reach out to the
hopeless and the hurting? Could we even dare to be in
the company of sinners?
You were a sinner once, but Jesus chose to love you. Can
you love as Jesus loved?
(If this devotional has blessed you, please pass it on.
There is a link down the page to use.)
From a fellow traveler just passing through,
Jason Mitchener
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