“You shall no more be termed Forsaken,and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her.”

Isaiah 62:4

Jesus was invited to one of the Pharisees’ houses. A Pharisee is someone involved in studying and interpreting the law given to Moses. These Pharisees were not big fans of Jesus, and most of them were against His teaching because they thought Jesus was blaspheming against the God of Abraham. The Bible even points out that they plotted against Him.

Someone from such an orthodox community inviting Jesus to dinner must have been a very secret act. If the other Pharisees knew about it, the one who invited Him would be in trouble or even cast out from the synagogue. He was risking his future to invite Jesus into his home.

As Jesus reclined at the table, a sinful woman—likely a prostitute—heard that Jesus was in the Pharisee’s house. She showed up with an alabaster jar of perfume. She knelt before Jesus and began to wet His feet with her tears, wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed His feet, and anointed them with the perfume.

The Pharisee who invited Jesus wondered to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would have known what kind of woman she is, and He would not have allowed her to touch Him.” But Jesus knew his thoughts and told Simon a story: the one whose larger debt is forgiven will love more than the one who had a smaller debt forgiven.

This woman showed deep love for Jesus. Out of compassion, Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Those who were at the table began to wonder, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

The story shows that Jesus came for sinners like you and me. The sinful woman’s heart was searching—maybe for true love, maybe for someone who could understand her, someone who truly knew her. When she saw Jesus, her search ended in repentance.

She surrendered everything she held as her identity. The expensive perfume, which was a statement of wealth and also used to lure men into immorality, she poured at His feet. Her hair, which was considered a woman’s glory, she let down to wipe His feet.

As she brought down everything she had, she found forgiveness at the feet of Jesus. Her tears were tokens of gratitude, her kisses on His feet showed that she had finally found the Lover of her soul. This woman traded all she had at the feet of Jesus.

Whatever you search for—love, forgiveness, hope, or a future—in the presence of Jesus you will find a remedy for your misery, healing for a broken soul, and peace in the middle of chaos.

But Jesus cannot fix what you still hold back. That alabaster jar—your pride, your glory, your desires, your identity—has to be broken as an expression of repentance. In that breaking begins the new chapter of your life.

This next chapter will be unlike anything you could have imagined, beyond what your heart could have received, because it is written by the sovereign hand of God.

God is close to the brokenhearted. If you are broken by people, by circumstances, or by situations, be encouraged—God will work all things out for your good.

Your name will no longer be labeled by your past, but will be renamed as Child of the Most High.

Your life will no longer remain desolate and forsaken, but will be fully restored and made new.

Prayer

I come before You with my brokenness, my failures, and my search for meaning. Help me to trade everything I hold onto for the life You have prepared for me. Thank You for calling me not forsaken, but Your delight, and for giving me a new name as Your child. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.