How blessed to have found in Christ a friend who loves with a love that will not let us go, according to that Word which tells us "Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end."
Such love—the everlasting love of Christ that never gives us up—cannot be satisfied until it has drawn out our love in response to His love. The answer to His love will only be realized in its fullness when at last we have reached love's eternal home. Nevertheless, on the way to the home, the love that appreciates Christ in the place of His rejection and the day of His rejection, is very sweet to His heart. This we may surely learn from the value that is set by the Lord on the love of Mary that led her to anoint His feet with the very precious ointment.
Very encouraging it is, and good for our souls, to learn the gracious ways of the Lord with His people in order to awaken love, maintain love, and deepen love, in our hearts. It is these gracious ways of the Lord that we would briefly trace in the New Testament stories of two devoted women.
1) The awakening of love (Luke 7:47, 36-3947Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. (Luke 7:47)
36And 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. 37And, 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, 38And 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. 39Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. (Luke 7:36‑39)). In the great scene that takes place in the house of Simon the Pharisee, we see the awakening of love for the Savior in the heart of a sinner. The Lord, in the perfection of His way, had stooped to grace with His presence the feast which the Pharisee had spread. While sitting at the table, an unbidden guest enters, of whom the Lord can say, "She loved much." How, we may ask, was this love awakened in her soul?
There is no question as to the character of the woman. The Spirit of God has described her as "a woman in the city, which was a sinner." Moreover, her bad reputation was well known, for Simon is also aware that "she is a sinner." She was a sinner and knew it, and Simon knew it, and everyone knew it. Further, she was a burdened sinner, and possibly had heard those wonderful words of the Lord's, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Be this as it may, it is beyond question that she saw in Christ the grace that could bless the undeserving. Thus driven by her need, and drawn by His grace, with the boldness of faith, she enters the Pharisee's house and takes her stand at the feet of Jesus.
The Spirit of God calls attention to the fine scene that follows with a "Behold." He would arrest our attention and have us turn aside and see this great sight—the meeting between the devil's hell-bound sinner and God's heaven-sent Savior. Doubtless, the onlookers were struck dumb with amazement as they watched the scene unfolding itself before their eyes. They might well question what would happen. Would the Lord expose her character, condemn her sins, and dismiss her from His holy presence? Ah! no; the proud Pharisee may condemn the sinner, to find himself exposed by the Savior; but the Lord will not condemn a confessed sinner.
The wisdom of His way is as perfect as the grace of His heart. At first no word is spoken. The guests are silent in wonder; the Lord is silent in grace; the woman is silent in sorrow. No sound breaks the silence but the sobs of a weeping sinner. If, however, nothing is said, much takes place, for the sinner's heart was broken and the sinner's heart was won. She "stood at His feet behind Him weeping" and she "kissed" His feet. The tears tell of a heart that is broken, and the kisses, of a heart that is won.
What was it that had broken her heart and won her heart? Was it not that she saw something of the grace and holiness of the Savior, and in the light of His glory she realized, as never before, the sinfulness of her life and her heart, and this broke her heart? But more, she realized that though she was a sinner full of sin, yet He was a Savior full of grace for one who was full of sin. She found herself in the presence of One who knew her vile life through and through, and yet loved her; and this won her heart.
Good for each one, if we too have been in His presence, burdened and wretched by reason of our sins, there to discover that in Him we have found One who knows the worst about us and yet loves us. Thus to have love for Christ awakened in our souls, as we sing