Jesus and the woman at His feet.

Today a friend reminded me of the story in the Bible when a woman came before Jesus and washed His feet with her hair.

Rewind a bit.

Jesus is at dinner with a bunch of religious leaders.

In comes a woman.

(Women were looked down upon.)

Most likely she was a scandalous woman.

(Scandalous women were EXTRA looked down upon.)

The woman approaches Jesus and begins to let down her hair.

No big deal to you and I. We imagine her hair was up in a bun... maybe it was a bit too tight... so she took it down....

But no. It was nothing like that.

In her day, women ONLY let down their hair in front of their husbands. It was a symbol of intimacy.

As her hair came undone the tears began to stream.

She fell at His feet in deep gratitude.

Whether or not she was aware of the room full of men that were looking down at her in disgust...
I don't know.

But I do know that her desire for Jesus was greater than any fear of what people thought of her.

She gently used her tear drenched hair to wash His dirty feet.

An act of a servant.

Then she pulls from her pocket what I imagine to be a bottle. It is filled with perfume.

Expensive perfume.

This perfume was perhaps the most valuable thing she owned.

But it didn't matter.

He was more important.

Within moments the perfume had been poured out upon His feet.

Men scoffed- they deemed her "wasteful".

But He looked upon her with love- He deemed her "royal".

All in a matter of moments her love for Christ outweighed her fear of people's opinions.
Her desire for Him was stronger than a desire for any other man.
Her awareness of His value inspired her surrender.
Her gratitude for His sacrifice invited a sacrifice of her own.
He loved her as His princess... so she served Him as a servant serves a King.

I hope my life resembles hers.

She sounds beautiful.