Has been thinking a lot about Jesus lately. The love God poured out through Jesus is so unfathomable. Some people shun others so quickly because of what others’ have done, but Jesus did the exact opposite of what the world did. Mary Magdalene knelt at Jesus’ feet, weeping spontaneous tears of gratitude—a seemingly endless fountain—and wiping them with her hair. Everyone in the room began to point and whisper. How disturbing! Simon, the host, felt disgusted. But Jesus turned to him and served up his hypocrisy on a platter.
Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. (Luke 7:44-47 ESV)
God turns ashes to beauty. And, to know that Jesus loved her so much, he appeared to her when she came looking to care for His body only to see His Resurrection. She was one of the women who accompanied and aided Jesus in Galilee (Luke 8:1–2), and all four canonical Gospels attest that she witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion and burial; John 19:25–26 further notes that she stood by the cross, near the Virgin Mary and the unidentified Apostle whom Jesus loved. Don’t you think Jesus called her the Apostle He so loved? I do.
