He Can Handle My Tears

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.  And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that [Jesus] sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,  And stood at his feet behind [him] weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe [them] with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed [them] with the ointment. - Luke 7:36-38 KJV

She came that day with every intention of anointing Jesus. She was prepared. The ointment she carried was probably one of her most precious possessions. Alabaster was used to store expensive perfume, some costing a year's living expenses. Alabaster kept the ointment pure from contamination. Many times the vessels were even sealed with wax.  But something happened when she walked into that room behind Jesus.

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 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. - John 4:23 KJV

She came to worship Jesus, but when she came into His presence she had to lose her pretense.  She wanted to come to Him with her expensive offering, but reality hit her. She stood behind Him and started weeping. She was a sinner. She had no place in the house of a Pharisee. But Jesus did not reject her. He was not bothered by her tears. He accepted them as part of her worship and sacrifice.

We want to give Jesus a pretty offering. The side we show the world. So many times in our lives we have to sugar coat things with those around us. When someone asks how you are doing they rarely want to know the truth. They don’t want to hear about the trials or the pain. If we talk about that we feel like we are complaining, when we might just be speaking the truth of our situation. We forget that we don’t have to come to Jesus that way. He isn’t afraid of my tears, my hurt or my questions. I don’t have to put myself in a pretty package to come to Him. He actually wants me to be honest, because how can He fix what I won’t admit is broken.  This is part of my offering, to be open and vulnerable with Him. 

She sat at His feet so overcome that her tears washed His feet.  This wasn’t a little hurt or a little pain; this was a burden. She had been holding onto these tears for years. Not only did her tears clear her heart but they cleaned His feet. Scripture tells us the Pharisee didn’t see to the washing of Jesus’s feet when He arrived. They were still dusty from His travels. Once she laid that burden at His feet, then she was able to give her original offering. She was still able to anoint Him with the precious ointment from her alabaster box. Her tears cleared the path for the anointing.

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. - Isaiah 61:3 KJV

The precious ointment covered where the tear had washed. What she was doing to Jesus's feet, He was doing to her heart. He didn’t ignore what she was doing. He acknowledged it to those He ate with. He pointed out to Simon that though it was his house, this woman saw to his care instead of His host. Jesus told her, in front of this judgmental group of men, that her sins were forgiven. 

What would happen if we gave Jesus our tears? What if we laid it all out at His feet? What if we gave Him our sorrow and our joy? I love that Jesus didn’t reject either offering. He acknowledged her for both. He also didn’t leave her broken and empty. Instead, she left forgiven and with peace. He will do the same for us. If we lay it all before Him, the sorrow and the joy, He will restore what was broken and bring peace.

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