The Wealth of Opportunity Found in Our Woundedness
Luke 7:37-38
“And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner and when she learned that He (Jesus) was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume.”
A Divine Revelation
Wealth can be defined in a variety of ways but usually refers to something costly or valuable. When we think of woundedness, the word wealth does not come to the forefront of our minds. However, in the case of this woman, she acquired her wealth through woundedness. That alabaster vial contained not only expensive perfume but also served as a shameful reminder of the sins she had committed to acquire it. Like many of us, her past was filled with a wealth of pain and no man-made expensive perfume could hide the stench of her guilt or soothe the woundedness of her heart.
Then she meets Jesus! He gave new meaning and purpose to the contents of that alabaster vial. The costly perfume that had once symbolized shame now testified to those in the room of her love for Jesus and her need for forgiveness. Her woundedness motivated an expression of sacrificial love that is one of the most remembered and treasured moments in Scripture. With a heart desirous of forgiveness and an alabaster vial containing that which her sin had purchased, she ran to Jesus. Falling to her knees, her tears of repentance washed away the dirt from His feet and she wiped them dry with her hair (her crown). Then she poured out the most precious thing she owned, the fragrant perfume of worship, and anointed His feet with it.
Those at the table observed the event in shock and disgust at the waste of this expensive perfume and the public display of affection shown by this sinner toward Jesus. What they failed to understand was the beautiful depiction of a sinner in need of a Savior. Jesus not only understood what the perfume represented in her life and forgave her right there and then, but He also saw the impending cross in it. Where the sins of all mankind would be poured out upon Him. I also believe He felt the Father’s love through this woman’s actions and understood the expressed purpose of the perfume. Do we?
A Divine Challenge
What is the expressed purpose for the perfume in your alabaster vial? Does it provide a wealth of opportunity for God to express the power of His forgiveness, the beauty of His sacrificial love for you, and the anointing of His Spirit upon your life? Or does it symbolize the wealth of pain you house deep within you that you have not laid at Jesus’ feet?
Call to Action
I pray you will do as this woman did and pour out the wealth of your woundedness upon Jesus. Let your need for forgiveness send you running to His feet. Let the tears of healing fall and His forgiveness flow over you like anointing oil preparing your flesh to die, to be buried with Christ, and be resurrected to newness of life! Beloved, He is the only one that can redeem the woundedness in your alabaster vial. Won’t you let Him?
Father, help us get to the place this woman did. Where our need for You rips the lid off of the woundedness we’ve hidden and brings us to the feet of Jesus. As we pour out our brokenness upon Him, may we experience forgiveness, healing, and complete reconciliation with You, Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!