Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, February 25, 2025
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Let’s talk about guilt and shame. These are destructive emotions. They keep us stuck in the past. But, like physical pain, they serve a purpose. Physical pain tells us that something is wrong with our body and we need to take action to change something in order for us to heal. Emotional pain also tells us something needs to change in order for us to heal. The woman in this story knew that. Whatever the nature of her “sins,” they were weighing heavily on her, and she knew that Jesus could and would forgive them. So she took her guilt and shame to him and literally poured them at his feet. She never says a word, never confesses anything, never asks for anything. She only recognizes her emotional need and takes action to have it addressed.
We, too, can lay our guilt and our shame at Jesus’ feet and know without a doubt that we are forgiven. We are enough. We are loved. We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. We don’t have to keep beating ourselves up. We may have to take specific action (therapy, for example) to learn to release ourselves from these hurts, but we can know that wherever we might be in this process, in God’s eyes, we are already whole.
What guilt or shame do I need to lay at Jesus’ feet?
