Teatime with Sarah and Mr. Tumnus

A New Day

I love being on break! I can wake up insanely late and actually enjoy the day rather than just pushing myself through it. Vacations are all about renewing interests, at least for me. It has been a long time since I have read the parables of Jesus. It is amazing how a couple of years can change my interpretation of one. In my critical issues class, we discuss how great literature has a reputation of sustaining itself and providing something insightful to each generation that reads its pages. All I have to say is The Bible goes beyond this! Every time I open it I get something completely new. It is like it is living, breathing. One of my favorite expressions that I use when I come across something that has God written all over it and it is exactly what I needed to hear or see in that moment is “That is way too relevant.” Those moments go beyond coincidence. It is like He is standing inside my heart and hearing its cries.

You know what I just realized the word “hear” is in the word “heart.” It is one of my biggest pet peeves when I have to repeat important information simply because the other person chose not to listen to me in that moment. God ‘hears’ me. That expression sharing one’s heart with another has new meaning for me. When I am sharing my heart I am speaking and the other person is hearing my words, hearing the cries of my inward most self.

I read the parable in Luke 7 about the debts being wiped away. He asks his host which debtor is more grateful for the forgiveness of past debts, the one who has little or the one who has MUCH? The Pharisee replies the one who has received the most forgiveness. Jesus shares this story because a woman, a past adulterer, came in and washed his feet with her finest perfumes and dried it with her hair. The host and the other guests saw this as completely scandalous and I am not going to lie I probably would have reacted the same way. It still shocks me, but it also gives me amazing insight into the heart of Christ. I could only imagine how I would react if someone offered to pay off my school debt with no strings attached. I would jump for joy, probably cry because I do that when I feel an excessive amount of emotion all at once. However, the debt paid for this woman goes beyond monetary. Jesus saved her from herself, from the grips of Hell. Luke 12:4-5 says it best: “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” This woman lived out this verse. She knew the pain she once felt. She knew complete emptiness from a lifestyle that only leads further away from what God’s love desires for us, which is an intimacy with Him. She ran to Him and offered Him all of her because He first loved her. Matthew Henry commentary remarks how God’s love was the motivating power behind her actions. His love produced the after effect of her turning from her lifestyle so that she could be with Him.

Wow! I don’t know what to say in response. Basically what I took away from this parable is that Jesus desires all of us. He wants us to come to the realization that there is no sin that can separate us from Him. He paid the price and all we have to do is accept His love for us. Also I took from this that I am not to judge Jesus simply from a human perspective. This woman could have looked at Jesus’ offer of love as another ploy to take advantage of her. Instead this woman saw Jesus as the Son of God in human form. She offered him all of her because she knew He was the only one worthy of all she had to give. Her past transgressions did not kill the new heart Jesus offered her. It also explains to me why the Pharisees saw her action as more than just shock, but as appalling. In their eyes she was throwing herself at just another man because they refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. Yet He being the Son of God changes everything. He was not just another man, he was THE MAN.

Jesus simply amazes me, and it is so nice to be amazed by something fantastic in this day and age.

posted by Sarah @ 7:29 PM