The Creator of the universe went to Simon’s house for dinner,
Simon was a religious man, no lowly common sinner.
“Welcome to my humble home,” was Simon’s pious greeting,
“I hope that you’ll enjoy your stay while you and I are eating.”
When they all were seated, around a fancy table,
A woman snuck in, who lived in sin, the whole town knew her label.
She brought inside a special jar of the costliest perfume,
And when she opened up the jar its smell filled up the room.
No doubt this gift was bought by the tricks of her evil trade,
This offering of her sacrifice, its smell would not soon fade.
But that woman did much more than greet,
She kissed and washed the Master’s feet.
Washed with tears from broken heart,
And dried with her hair, this sinful tart.
Simon thought to himself that day,
This man’s no prophet, there is no way
He’d know that woman was a common whore.
Just look at the way she’s on the floor.
The Master said, “Now Simon, please, I’ve a question to ask of you,
Two men they owed some money, the payment overdue.
One man he owed a paltry sum, the other debt was great.
But he who held the note for them wiped clean both of their slates.
Which one had the greatest love for this lender full of grace?”
Simon said, “The one who had the greater debt erased!”
“You have judged correctly,” the Master, He replied,
“But when it comes to common courtesy, I feel I’ve been denied.
You gave me not a drop of water to wash my tired feet,
Nor offered me a kiss, when to me you did so greet.
You did not give a hint of oil to put upon my head,
But look upon this woman what she did for me instead.
She washed my feet with humble tears and dried them with her hair,
She kissed them without selfish pride, her love for me to share.
She anointed them with perfume, a costly gift for sure,
And by her loving actions her heart was changed to pure.
Her sins have been forgiven though she has not spoke a word.
For I can read the heart, and her beating heart I’ve heard.
Her many sins have been forgiven and she loved me with great zeal,
But when forgiveness is so little, so little love one feels.”
The Creator of the universe, stopped by my house of sin,
And forgave me of it all and by His blood my soul did win.
And now my love is greater than anything I’ve known before,
And I shall fall down at His feet when He greets me at His door.
My tears are for my Savior, my deeds for Him perfume,
For He’s forgiven my many sins and rescued me from doom.
Tertius
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—
as her great love has shown.
But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.
Luke 7:47
A note about “Mary’s Tears of Cleansing (Love received equals Love conceived)”: One of my favorite verses in the Bible, I call it the “jumbo verse” in reference to the 747 airliner and also because of its massive implication. Looking at the whole context of the four Gospels we tend to think that an immoral lifestyle was not nearly as bad as being a religious phony. Look how Jesus reprimanded the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:17-18) or the woman caught in adultery (John 8:11). He was so gentle in His rebuke. Compare that to how He spoke to the Pharisees! He referred to them as a brood of vipers! (Matthew 12:24, 23:33) Check out Luke 12:47-48. It seems that the greater sin would belong to Simon rather than Mary, but we must remember, forgiveness is a gift and is only in effect when one receives it. If you forgive someone a debt, but they repay you anyway, than they did not receive it. “For God so Loved the world;” unfortunately the world (for the most part) has rejected His awesome Love. I, myself, have been forgiven a multitude of sins and the more I understand with my mind and receive it into my heart this magnificent Love of God, the more my own love grows and flows to Him and others. By the way, what did Mary’s tears really cleanse?