Do you SEE this woman?

While on vacation I was given an opportunity to share at a Christian Crisis Center for women and children. It was kind of last minute, so I didn't have anything prepared. As I prayed about what to share God strongly impressed Luke 7:36-50, The Sinful Woman. I absolutely LOVE this account! As a new believer,  I had a pastor identify me with the woman in this story, a Sinful woman with a sordid past. He couldn't identify with me, because he didn't see his sin as bad as mine. He had lived an "upright" life.

I was truly taken aback. I thought we had ALL fallen short of the glory of God.That was my understanding of the GOSPEL. That was my first run in with a modern day Pharisee. I reminded him that we are ALL that sinful woman in light of a Holy God. When we see our sin properly in light of who Jesus is, we are broken, we see our need for forgiveness, and our inadequacy.

My heart for the precious women in that center was to point them to El Roi, the God that SEES them. The God that sees past all their walls and pain. The God that sees past their sordid reputations. The God that was broken hearted when they were used and abused. The God that shed his blood for their every sin, however little or great it was.

I love when Jesus asks Simon the Pharisee, "Do you SEE this woman?"
Because all Simon could see was the scarlet of her sin, a prostitute, a label...
He couldn't see her humanity. He saw a lower class woman who sold her body for money. He saw no value in her whatsoever.

It was so neat to see the women come Alive as I shared this with them. It was beautiful to see tears well up in their eyes as they processed how Jesus dealt with this woman. HE SAW HER! HE FREED HER! HE DEFENDED HER! He empowered her. He gave her hope. He loved HER!

I wonder if these women have EVER been SEEN? It was a beautiful sight to watch the Holy Spirit minister God's truth to their hearts and to point them to the ONE who SEES them.

So friends, I gladly identify with The Sinful woman. The true worshipper of Jesus. The broken woman washing Jesus's feet with her tears, kissing the beautiful feet that had brought her freedom. The woman that  poured out expensive oil on Jesus's  feet, unveiling her glory (her hair) and wiping his feet with it, demonstrating that HE ALONE deserves GLORY!!!!