“She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment… Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one whom little is forgiven loves little.” Luke 7:38, 44-47 NRSVUE
We take our first breath on this side with essential human needs. To need is to be human. Some of us have been discouraged from needing. There is confusion between needing and neediness. They are not the same. If Jesus had needs, it is not the Spirit of God that talks us out of our own. An individualistic society that exclusively determines “worthiness” based on test scores, credit scores, a church member’s giving record, or an applicant’s resume is a society that can lead one to believe it is all about them or all upon their lone shoulders to be well. Such delusions are dangerously isolating.
We live by the blessing of connections with others. There are countless ways to connect with people, but none can compare to the power of touch. Scores of studies have shown a healthy touch improves mood, cognitive function, blood pressure and immunity. Still, it is not considered respectable when we talk openly about what the body both needs and offers. Womanist scholar and Baptist minister, Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, writes in A Troubling In My Soul, “Straight talk about the loves and troubles of our bodies is almost impossible because there is so much pain.” The truth remains, to touch and be touched is essential to human thriving. They are holy activities. We see this in the Luke passage.
Too often, the teaching of this passage centers a hollow “sinner” characterization of the woman who approaches Jesus or centers the oil she rubs on his feet. In focusing on the opinions of imperfect men around her and the material value of oil, we can miss the power of her touch—that which Jesus called “great love.” How is it when Jesus calls something great, it gets no airplay? To add “love” behind the label of “great,” surely, we have encountered in this text a notable lesson and practice for living.
The scripture says she came from behind Jesus and proceeded to touch his feet with her hair, kiss his feet, and apply oil to them. This woman’s touch was bold and intimate. The record reflects Jesus let her do it and keep on doing it. Jesus did not resist or problematize her touch. I cannot help but wonder how much time passed from when he first came in and later had to check the fellas. According to Jesus, her touch was sustained and unbothered by respectability. His words to Simon tell us he appreciated her human connection. The brave woman reached him in a way false piety had not.
I rejoice that before nails ravaged his feet, those same feet had been kissed with love, great love. Dare I say some of us are overdue for a reasonable portion of “great love.” Let not the opinions of imperfect people keep us from it.
Contact Reverend Monique Crain Spells, Director of Christian Education and Faith Formation of Disciples Home Missions, at mcrainspells@dhm.disciples.org. For more community voices from the Indianapolis Recorder, click here.
