The Oil of Worship

I had a thought the other night (good for me, wow, that still happens! LOL)...perhaps I could share some of my SS lessons here. So I'm going to do that tonight. This is the last part of my Sunday School lesson that the Lord gave me last week about "The Oil of Worship." Enjoy!

Read Luke 7:36-50

This story, or one similar to it is told in all of the gospels. Apparently, there were at least two incidents of this happening, because two of the gospels mention that it was poured on Jesus’ head, while the other two tell us the oil was poured upon His feet. The meaning is still the same.

Jesus had gone to the house of Simon the Pharisee. They sat down to eat. You must understand here that they did not sit at a table such as do today. Rather, they ate at tables low to the ground/floor and they reclined upon low couches, so it was possible that while Jesus was sitting to eat, he was facing the table but his feet were reclined in a position behind him. While Jesus was sitting there to eat, a sinful woman came up behind him, carrying a box or flask of ointment. This was very precious oil called spikenard. It was very expensive – the cost of this small flask was worth about a year’s wages. It was usually used to prepare a body for burial. If a person possessed spikenard, it was to be used for their burial. Because bodies were not embalmed in those days and because of the heat, bodies decayed very quickly. People anointed corpses with oils such as this and spices to help cover the stench of death.

A sinful woman – one who was known to everyone else by her actions – probably a prostitute, came up behind Jesus and began to cry – to weep profusely. Her weeping was so profuse, that the tears began to fall on Jesus feet and that she literally washed his feet with her tears. She then took down her hair (which was likely long) and began to wipe them dry with the hair of her head. Some of my study resources have indicated that no respectable woman would have taken her hair down in public. This was considered a very intimate act and was not to be done in public. She also kissed his feet and anointed them with the spikenard. Now remember, these are the dusty, smelly feet of a man who has been walking outside, probably in sandals. To wash someone’s feet was considered an act of hospitality (which Simon did not afford Jesus), and it was usually done by a servant. But what this woman did for Jesus was not just an act of humility or an act of hospitality. It was an act of worship. This anointing with oil was an act of worship.

You have to think, “Why did this woman do this?” Why in the world would someone want to wash someone’s feet with her tears, dry them with her hair, kiss them, and then pour expensive perfume on them?

The woman who did this was known as a sinful woman to the community. She was probably a prostitute. Prostitutes did not associate with polite society such as the Pharisees, who would openly judge and condemn them. But this woman was on a mission. One of the passages about this story tells us this woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. For this woman to come to Jesus in this way tells me that He had changed her life somehow in a profound way. She was a woman who had spent her life being hurt and abused by men, but there was something about this man that was different. He didn’t want to take her self-respect from her and abuse her; rather, it is likely that by hearing Him teach, her life had been changed, transformed. And while polite society did not recognize the change in her life, Jesus knew that she had been transformed within, and she was not the same woman. So grateful was this woman for what Jesus had done in her life, that she slipped in quietly while he was eating, and just knelt behind him. Because of the great change He had brought about in her…that He had seen in her the ability to be changed by His power…she began to weep because of the dramatic change that He had made in her. She was a new woman, whether the Pharisees saw it or not. Jesus had changed this sinful woman who was not loved and respected into a woman with a hope and future. So great was her weeping that she washed his feet, his dirty, smelly feet with her tears, and then she tenderly wiped them dry with her hair. She kissed his feet because of her great love for Him, because He had wrought such a great change in her. And then she poured this expensive oil/perfume on his feet. What she did was a profound act of love, adoration, and worship.

But Simon the Pharisee judged not only her, but Jesus as he watched this happen. He had no illumination or revelation as to why this was being done. He simply judged it based on his own heart. He thought within himself that if Jesus were truly a prophet that He would know that a sinful woman was touching him and making a spectacle of herself at his feet.

Jesus discerned Simon’s thoughts and spoke a parable. He told the story of a man who had two debtors – people who owed him money. Neither of them had the money to repay him, and the man forgave both the debts. Jesus then asked Simon which of the people who were indebted would be most grateful? Simon answered the one who was forgiven of the greater debt. Jesus told him that he was correct.

For the first time, Jesus turns to the woman. He points out to Simon that he did not greet him hospitably by washing his feet, but that this woman had washed his feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair. While Simon did not greet Jesus with a holy kiss, as was the custom, this woman had kissed his feet repeatedly. Simon did not anoint Jesus’ head with oil, which was to cleanse and refresh a person, and yet, this woman has given of a costly perfume/oil that she has generously poured out upon his feet. Jesus then declares that though this woman’s sins were many, they are now forgiven, and that her faith has saved her.

The sinful woman was not saved because of her act of worship. She came to Jesus with a repentant heart, sorry for her sins, willing to turn from her sinful life, if indeed Jesus could change a woman such as her. As she poured out her sorrow for her sinful life and her desire to change, and her gratefulness in knowing that He had indeed changed her from that woman, that she had to express this in some way. She came in the only way she knew and simply bowed at his feet to express her love and gratitude. By pouring out this expensive oil on his feet, she showed the depth of her desire to bless him and worship him…She probably did not understand exactly why she was pouring out a burial oil on Him or that He was in fact, about to die. She came to Him, compelled to show Him her devotion and her worship, and she poured out the most precious thing in her possession. She poured out her love, her devotion, her selfless desire to bless Him in some small way, this man who had changed her from that sinful woman that she hated. She gave Him what was most precious to her, and in so doing, prepared Him for what was ahead for Him.

Oil was used in the Old Testament to anoint the high priest and priests. This special anointing oil was also used to sanctify (to set apart for a holy purpose) the furniture in the tabernacle. It was also used as a part of the actual sacrifice that the priests performed. In other words, it was used during the sacrifice, which was an act of worship.

So we must come to Jesus…with a grateful heart of worship, running over to the brim with our repentance, our desire to change, and our desire to show Him how much we love Him. As we sit at Jesus’ feet and humble ourselves before Him, it does not only bless Him, but sitting at His feet changes us. As we sit in His presence and worship Him, the oil of our worship is poured out. It is a costly thing, it is a precious and intimate thing, and not only does it bless Him, it changes us. One of the other gospels says that the odor of the oil filled the house where they were sitting…the oil of worship will not only transform us, but it will change everything that is around us. Everyone will know that we have been transformed by worshipping the Messiah, the Most High God. Our worship in His presence will bring change wherever we are.

The scent of this oil must have lasted for several days. As Jesus walked for the next several days, the scent of her worshipful act followed Him. May our worship be a sweet-smelling savor to the Lord, and may our worship bring not only blessing to Him, but everlasting change and joy as we sit at His feet and worship Him.