11. A Friend of Sinners

Jesus loved and accepted people just as they were, and as they experienced His love, their lives were changed.

This is outrageous! Why did He allow her in here? Doesn’t He know who she is? If He were a prophet, He would understand the type of woman she is and would have nothing to do with her!

Simon the Pharisee didn’t know what to do. He was trying to do the right thing. He had invited Jesus to his house for a meal. But during the proceedings, a woman entered and approached Jesus. She was well known in the district. She was a woman of the street. A prostitute! Now she was in his home, sitting at Jesus’ feet, weeping and drying His feet with her hair. Simon felt uncomfortable. He was a respected leader in the village and was embarrassed in front of his friends. How could Jesus allow someone of her reputation to touch Him in this manner? Why didn’t He tell her she did not belong here and was not welcome?

I love this about Jesus. He loved everyone who came to Him and turned no one away. So much so, this was one thing the religious leaders had against Him. Being a friend of sinners. They did not understand that He had come to bring life to those who were bound by sin. Jesus accepted them just as they were, and their lives were changed as they experienced His love.

We need to remind ourselves what we have discovered in this series. Everything Jesus did and said was a complete representation of the Father and His heart. He did nothing contrary to the Father’s will, and He daily lived in total obedience to His Father through ongoing communion with Him. Therefore, we know that if Jesus was comfortable being with this woman, we can conclude that the Father was also comfortable in her presence.

This is an amazing truth that challenges our view of the Father. The Father is holy. He is light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. Holiness is the essence of His being. This purity, however, makes us uncomfortable because of our sinfulness. We can feel separated from Him and can think that, in His holiness, He is distant and unapproachable. But we must remind ourselves that Jesus, too, was sinless and holy. He was no less holy than the Father. In becoming human, Jesus did not compromise His nature. Yet He lived among us and was a companion of sinners! We know Jesus never compromised His standards and never partook of the sins of those He associated with. Still, He was at ease in their presence, and maybe even more surprisingly, they were at ease around Him. If this is the reality about Jesus, we must conclude that the Father is a friend of sinners, too!

Just as Jesus was relaxed in their presence, so also was the Father.

Yes, the Father wants us to grow in purity. He understands the pain and damage that sin does, and He yearns for the day when we will experience total freedom from sin in eternity. But now, while we are on the journey, He too sits with us and is our friend.

This is a challenging thought. How can God, in all His holiness, still love and accept us with all our sinfulness? We will explore this beautiful truth in further detail in our next chapter.

Take a moment to realise that the Father knows all about you.

With all your weaknesses, sinfulness and limitations.

And yet, He still loves and accepts you.

Further reading: Lk 7:36-50

This is an extract from my free book Knowing God as Father, which is available for download at Knowing God as Father.