Luke 7:36-50 (The Message),
One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”
Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Oh? Tell me.”
“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”
“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”
That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”
He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
I have always loved this scripture. How can you not? Look at the scene: the beauty of a sinful woman who made herself low to bow before Jesus in a room full of glaring, judging men.
She was deemed foolish but she didn’t care. She had to show Jesus her understanding of who He was. She got it. She saw Him in faith. And she saw what that meant for her personally.
There have been a lot of debates between theologians as to who she was, but after much study, I have concluded that maybe we don’t need to know. Maybe the fact that she was referred to as a sinner and a harlot allows us to insert our names and our lives for hers in this story.
What I do think is important is this word that struck me for the first time ever as I was re-reading this passage this week.
She is “very, very grateful.”
We often use the words thankfulness and gratitude interchangeably. But I began to study them separately. And they aren’t the same. Here’s the difference:
Thankfulness is when we feel pleased and relieved.
Gratitude is a quality of being thankful; a readiness for us to show appreciation for and to return the kindness that has been given to us.
Henri Frederic Amiel said it perfectly:
Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness.
Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.
So gratitude is when our hearts respond to the thankfulness that we have experienced. And I love that the word relief is used in the definition of thankfulness. Because when we know Jesus as He is and we discover who we get to become because of Him, aren’t we relieved?
Relieved because He is our Savior and He loves us. Relieved that we don’t have to believe the lies anymore. Relieved that life is more than this temporary journey on earth. Relieved that Jesus in His perfection made it so we don’t have to be perfect.
I think the difference between these words is simply this: we need to breathe in our lives with thankfulness. But then we need to breathe out our lives with gratitude.
We breathe out our lives by giving up our whole hearts to Jesus and His purpose. Hearts that are so empowered and excited by what He has done, that we must return His loving kindness. We must praise him like we need our next breath. We must obey Him in order to breathe fully. We must serve His heart and love His people to live with spiritual lungs of full capacity.
Scripture says it is “His kindness that leads us to repentance.” (Romans 2:4) So the sinful woman in the story of Luke responded to Jesus and His kindness, and then she repented of her sins with her actions.
Because she was so very grateful.
Gratitude really is a call to action from thankfulness. I think we have become thankful Christians but not always grateful ones. I think complacency sets in because we are so incredibly blessed that we take for granted what we have, both in the material and the spiritual. We forget what we are thankful for.
All around me, people need relief both materially and spiritually. And I can provide them with the truth of the Gospel and share how Jesus can provide for both of these needs because of what I have seen Him do for me. I can give of my time, talents and treasures to bless others and this can be used by God to direct their attention to His perfect kindness and lead them to repentance. This is our purpose as believers. To point to Him.
To show appreciation. Return kindness. This is the grateful response to a heart that is thankful for what God has done.
In this story, the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her precious perfume, did so because she was overwhelmed with gratitude. She couldn’t just look Him in the eyes, shake His hand and say, “thanks for what you have done for me today, my Lord,” and walk away.
She had to show Him how she felt about His presence. She had to show Him what He meant to her. She had to reveal how relieved her heart was to know Her Savior and see Him face to face. Because those who have been forgiven much, love much. Their thankfulness is contagious in action.
I want to be like this woman, don’t you? The kind of woman who makes people stop in their tracks and say, “why is ‘this kind of woman falling all over Jesus?’”
We can do this when we embrace her story as our own. We place our names in this Scripture for hers. The harlot. The sinner. The one granted forgiveness from the Savior Himself. And we respond to Him with our hands wide open, our lives fully available, and our lips pressed against His feet, breaking open what is most precious to us and pouring it all over His throne.
“Brianna was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful.”