"Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
As we saw yesterday, a woman of ill repute entered the house of Simon the Pharisee and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and anointed them with expensive perfume. When Simon condemned Jesus in his heart for allowing this, Jesus rebuked him because he had failed to offer even the most elementary of courtesies to Jesus when the Lord came into his house. He had provided no water for Jesus to wash the dust off of His feet, as was customary, nor had he given Jesus the normal kiss of welcome. By way of contrast, this repentant woman had washed His feet with her own tears and had also kissed them.
Jesus told her that her sins were forgiven, which caused a stir among the other guests, since only God can forgive sins. Then He told her that her faith had saved her. This does not mean that she was saved by means of her good works or act of faith, but that she had received God’s gift of salvation because she had thrown herself upon His mercy. Finally, Jesus said, “Go in peace” (vv. 48–50).
This woman had evidently made quite a bit of money, as we see from the expensive perfume she was able to use. She may well have had a certain amount of respect among her class of people. But one thing she did not have was peace. All the money in the world cannot buy peace.
When I was in seminary, my wife and I struggled to make ends meet, living one paycheck to the next with little left over and many meals of cheap food to dine on to make things work. Later on, after I was called as a minister and came into the ministry our situation improved considerably, I reflected on the fact that even though things were better in many ways, still I had had about the same amount of peace when we were poor.
Let me ask you: Do you know peace? Is there peace in your life, or are you experiencing warfare inside yourself and with God? When you surrender to Christ, the war is over. The first fruit of salvation is peace with God.
Too often we let our relationship with God grow cold, and we lose our sense of peace. If you are not experiencing much peace, you need to renew your relationship with God. Spend time reading His Word, talking with Him, pouring out your needs and imploring His salvation.
