the faith of a foot washer

        In John 12, Mary of Bethany washed the  feet of Jesus and anointed his feet with expensive oil,  presumably in gratitude for having raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.   Jesus, the anointed one-- for that is what the designation "Christ" means--accepts this anointing from her  in anticipation of his death and burial.  In John 13, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples revealing the very intimate nature of God's grace.  He instructed them to do for each other what he had done for them. Those who would share the very life of God would need to incarnate the faith that God has in us,  knowing our sinfulness.    Again in Luke 7,  Jesus said to his host, a Pharisee, “Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair... So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The others at table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  But he said to the woman "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

        Jesus had earlier warned his followers that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees they could not enter the kingdom of heaven.  It was not for lack of prayer, or alms giving, or even following the commandments as they understood them, that the scribes and Pharisees could not enter the kingdom, they took great care to do all those things. They did not lack the abundant  love of God for them. He sent his only son to be their revelation, their teacher.  But they lacked the simple faith of this sinful woman  foot washer,  a faith like that faith which God himself has for us,  a faith in sinners-- that we will change our ways over time with his help. The scribes and Pharisees  firmly believed that prostitutes and tax collectors needed God's forgiveness in a way they did not.  They read the scriptures to fit their on prejudices and purposes, but were not open to hearing what the the scriptures really meant.    Jesus,  in the last chapter of Luke's gospel, shares with a couple disciples on their way to Emmaus what the scriptures meant.  

   Jesus demonstrated in this exchange with the woman  who Simon, his host and a Pharisee, knew to be a sinner (Luke 7); as well as in his exchange with the paralytic man in the previous chapter;  that he can forgive sins by simply declaring, "your sins are forgiven."  So why then go through a crucifixion?  Why  does Jesus say , "This is the cup of my blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be given up for you and for many that sins might be forgiven. Do this in memory of me?"  Is it not enough for our sins to be forgiven to enter the kingdom?  Is it not enough to be loved by this merciful God,  whom he taught us to call our father?
   The revelation of God in Jesus is that God loves us all -as we are,  even before we repent, even before we commit ourselves to acting  faithfully. It is not for lack of God's love for them  that Jesus tells his disciples that the scribes and Pharisees can't enter the kingdom of heaven, or that the foolish virgins are locked out of the wedding feast, or that a forgiven debtor has his debt reimposed. It is precisely  because he loves each and every one that he is constantly revealing who can not enter the kingdom.  The  revelation of God on Calvary is that sin really matters even beyond the forgiving love of God.   We need to and can "do this  in memory of me."  What  this? 
   Jesus, the anointed-- by God time and again reveals that we need to live a faith,  like the faith that God himself has in us, if we are to share in God's life and breath.   We can, with the help of his holy spirit,  live the faith of the foot washer, the hem touching woman, the paralyzed man, the repentant crucified thief,  and  come  to share his very  life and breath with us.  We can eventually live that  poverty of spirit, that chastity of the flesh and obedience of   will  that Jesus lived.  Then God's kingdom, not ours, will come, his will- will be done in us, on earth in same way  it is in heaven.