October 27 I Wednesday

Jeremiah 12-14

2 Timothy 1

“Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The other guests began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’”   —Luke 7:48-49

Many of us need the eyes of Christ to see others differently, to see worship differently and to see evangelism and mission differently. We need to see through His perspective, His kindness, His delight and His redemption. The sinful woman who walked into a dinner party and started to wipe Jesus’s feet with her hair did not care what others thought. She saw Jesus and took the risk, pouring her love, her devotion and her worship before Him—ultimately, pointing others to the reality of who Jesus is. Because when we truly see who Jesus is, worship flows out of our life, and He uses our worship to make His fragrance known among those who do not yet understand. We become the aroma of Christ.

       Jesus turns His attention to the sinful woman at His feet and tells her, “Your sins are forgiven.” He sets her free from the stigma that the people labeled her with, free from the judgment of others in the room, free from the past that no longer defines her future, free to worship boldly and free to spread the aroma of Christ. Jesus sees her faith and understands that she recognizes Him as Saviour. He sees her worship, her weeping, her great love on display and her faith in action. He affirms her worship in the presence of His enemies and speaks to her words of redemption and freedom.

       Additionally, Jesus uses her worship to reveal who He is to the rest of the room as the others wondered, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” (Luke 7:48-49). The only person capable of forgiving the debt of sin is God Himself. When Jesus proclaims to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven,” He is essentially placing Himself in the position of co-equal with God. Through the woman’s worship, her prophetic witness and her tears, Jesus revealed to the blind and the lost who was in fact the guest at the party—God Himself.

       Jesus tells the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50). There was only one person at the dinner party who recognized Jesus, and she walked out of the party with a peace that transcends understanding and her sins completely forgiven.

       This passage shows that we can have a lot of knowledge about God, but it does not mean that we have the spiritual vision or discernment to see how God is at work. Do we see God correctly? Do we know what He values and how He works? Are we sure we are truly worshipping Jesus? If we answered “yes” to these questions, are we living in light of that truth?

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, may I live in light of Your truth and let Your fragrance spread everywhere I go. Thank You, Lord.