"Do you see her?"

A month or so ago my pastor back home told the story of Jesus going to have dinner at Simon's house, one of the Pharisees. Having dinner with someone in that time meant you respected the person hosting the dinner enough to join them and sit at their table. During his time there, a woman who had "led a sinful life" came to Jesus, poured perfume on his feet as an anointing and wet his feet with her tears. When Simon saw this he was disgusted and wondered to himself how Jesus could bear to let this "sinner" touch him. Jesus gets that vibe from Simon that he disapproves of this woman and tells him a story about grace overcoming debt and how love can come from that. Check it out in Luke 7:36-50.

What Jesus says next has stuck with me. Depending on the translation, Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon,

"Do you see this woman?"
"Look at this woman kneeling here."
"Have you noticed this woman?"

I added the emphasis. Now obviously, Simon had seen and noticed this woman who knelt by Jesus. But he had already made up his mind about her. Without even thinking about what she was doing or what her actions may signify, Simon jumped to his conclusion of "she is trash and Jesus should know better than to let her near him."

But Jesus calls him out on it. He says "Simon, you aren't really seeing her. You haven't even looked at her." It amazes me, firstly, that Christ always sides with the underdogs, the ones our society and sometimes our churches reject and look down upon. That shows a lot about God's character. Secondly, Jesus always calls us to look deeper, past the superficial prejudices we hold. Simon was busy seeing her failures, while Christ saw her sacred humanity, her love for him, and her place in his Kingdom.

So what about us? Do we see a homeless bum on the street, or do we stop and listen to his story? Are we ready to condemn a woman who made a wrong choice, or will we move into her life with a love that passes understanding and work to heal her wounds? Do we jump to who and what we think a man is, or do we take the time to walk with him and learn about him? Simon was shortsighted, he couldn't see who she really was or what she could become. Let's not fall into that trap. We need to strive to look at people and see who they are through the eyes of Christ - forgiven, beloved, broken, beautiful images of God himself. Because that can change everything.