Continuing, Michael writes that in Mark 7 is the account of the woman who was known to the townspeople as a sinner. She entered the house of the Pharisee who had invited Jesus to his house for dinner. She bowed down at Jesus’ feet weeping. She poured precious ointment on his feet, washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. It’s difficult to understand the significance of her actions without understanding the customs of ancient biblical culture. Psalms 56:8 says, ... put thou my tears in thy bottle, are they not in thy book? Many people saved in a bottle the tears they shed righteously in prayer and in suffering for the Lord. Though not in Holy Scripture, they were buried with their tear bottle and thought that the weight of the tears they saved would determine their rewards in heaven. This woman poured her righteous tears, her most prized possession, on Jesus’ feet along with precious ointment. Then she washed Jesus’ feet with her hair, considered her crowning glory. This is a picture of humility to serve her heavenly Lord and Master ... she considered her most precious possessions worthy to be offered as a sacrifice at Jesus’ feet.
The Lord Jesus himself washed his disciples’ feet in the upper room after the last supper. Jesus said, I have done this as an example of serving one another with a heart of humility. Jesus had said to them before, that which you have done unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. The poem “One Solitary Life” says, “Blessed are the poor, mournful, and meek”. When we, with a heart of humility, give up our own selfish selves and with meekness seek to bless others, then we too will be blessed. Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the Mount is upside-down from the world’s definition of success. Jesus himself was our example of humility.
The essay “One Solitary Life” by James Allen Francis is about the contrast between Jesus’ life and the things that the world holds in high esteem.“He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.
He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.
Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.”
One characteristic of a man and woman of God is that they want to spend the rest of their life learning to become more like their Lord Jesus Christ. For a new you in ‘22, resolve to pray Psalm 139 ... “search me O God and know my heart... Examine me and see if there is any wicked way in me... and lead me in the way everlasting.” As King David prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” You’ve given me so much Lord. Please give me too, a heart that is always grateful to you, that I may live to the praise of the glory of your grace.
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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