Reflecting
on 1 Cor 11:1-16, focus verses 14-16, and St. Paul's teaching about the wearing
of veils by women in worship, I struggled with this passage which I felt
archaic and patriarchal, by putting women down in a lowly position, until the Holy Spirit pointed to the deeper spiritual truths that Paul was pointing out
that a woman's unveiled hair could be point of pride in her heart as it could
attract unwanted suitors, and a passage from St. Luke's gospel was brought to
my mind, who as a doctor, could accurately narrate a scene that would have
shocked many 1st century Jewish readers, as modest Jewish women would
conventionally veil their hair as a sign of modesty in the presence of Jewish
men, all the more so if the men were Jewish religious leaders or a respected
rabbi, so picture the Jewish reader imagining a sultry woman brazenly walking
into a room with her hair untied, and carrying a bottle of expensive nard, you
can imagine the kinds of associations those readers would make in their minds,
"How could Jesus, a Holy Man of God allow such a kind of woman to approach
Him in such an immodest manner and even anoint His Feet with her expensive
alabaster jar of nard (equivalent to 3 years wages)!" However, Jesus used
this controversial scene to become a teaching point, with a parable about the 2
debtors by asking Simon, the dinner host, a pointed question about the endless
mercy of God, "Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave
the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?" Then he turned
toward the woman and said to 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. You did not give me a kiss, but this
woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not
put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell
you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever
has been forgiven little loves little." Then Jesus said to her, "Your
sins are forgiven."
We, too, live among people who are too caught up in sinful situations, unable to break
out of those painful situations, let us each in our own way go out and proclaim
boldly, "Jesus saves!", especially to the spiritually blind, the
lame, and the ones who have lost all hope in life. As St Luke has recorded,
Jesus began His Judaean ministry with a public proclamation from Isa 61.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he
has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
(Luke 4:18-19).
I'll close my short sharing with this beautiful hymn,
"People Need the Lord", by Steve Green.
Every
day they pass me by
I can
see it in their eyes
Empty
people filled with care
Headed
who knows where
On they
go through private pain
Living
fear to fear
Laughter
hides their silent cries
Only
Jesus hears.
Chorus
People
need the Lord
People
need the Lord
At the
end of broken dreams
He's the
open door
People
need the Lord
People
need the Lord
When
will we realize People need the Lord?
Verse 2
We are
called to take His light
To a
world where wrong seems right
What
could be too great a cost
For
sharing life with one who's lost?
Through
His love our hearts can feel
All the
grief they bear
They
must hear the words of life
Only we
can share.
Youtube:
https://youtu.be/1uZcGaixMhg?si=epKoopM64HPdEoSt
Title: People Need the LORD
Singer:
Steve Green
CCLI:
18084
Copyright:
Integrity Worship
Reflection by Chris Tan
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