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Lent is a time when some people fast or give something up for the 40 days before Easter. During Lent people give things up as a sacrifice and to draw closer to God. Let’s look at the woman in Luke 7:36-50 who gave up something, not just for a period of time, she gave it up for good.
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. 37 A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus at his feet, crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!”
40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
Simon said, “Teacher, tell me.”
41 Jesus said, “Two people owed money to the same banker. One owed five hundred coins[a] and the other owed fifty. 42 They had no money to pay what they owed, but the banker told both of them they did not have to pay him. Which person will love the banker more?”
43 Simon, the Pharisee, answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”
Jesus said to Simon, “You are right.” 44 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The people sitting at the table began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”
The passage calls her a sinful woman. We don’t know for sure, but, more than likely she was a prostitute. Back in Biblical times they didn’t bathe every day like we do today. As you can imagine they didn’t always smell the best. The perfume was used to cover up her body odor.
The woman not only let her hair down to dry Jesus’ feet. She let it down figuratively by doing something she wouldn’t normally do. She wouldn’t normally be seen at a Pharisee’s house crying and kissing a stranger’s feet. But, this Jesus, He was amazing! As soon as she met Him something changed inside her. And she didn’t care what anyone thought. She took the perfume that was very important to her livelihood and poured it on Jesus feet. She didn’t need it anymore!
Even though our lives have been changed by Jesus, it’s not always easy to let go of some of our old ways or habits. Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of? Leave it at Jesus feet. You don’t need it anymore!