God’s response to the violated woman

 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes! Mathew 18:6-7

(Amplified Bible)

 

Jesus doesn’t throw out many other WOE’S in the bible, but someone got Him on the topic of destroying the innocence of a child and abusing the innocent and Jesus was like, WOE!  God does not tolerate the abuse of His children very lightly. You wouldn’t as a parent either. Why would God be any less angry and grieved by the rape, or molestation of His daughters and sons, than you would be as a parent?

Today’s devotional, I wanted to talk about the violated woman or in some circumstances (men), whether it was rape, sexual assault, harassment, labels, bad choices or other, that has lead you to a painful place of shame, regret and trauma, I want to share with you God’s heart toward you. This is an odd topic for a devotional, but to those that have fallen because of sexual sin or abuse, need to know where to turn. 1-4 women in Canada will be sexually abused in some way by the age of 21. Every 17 minutes in Canada a woman is raped. This is not okay, and chances are, if 200 people read this post, 50 of them will know exactly what I am talking about.


 

But if it was out in the country that the man found the engaged girl and grabbed and raped her, only the man is to die, the man who raped her. Don’t do anything to the girl; she did nothing wrong. This is similar to the case of a man who comes across his neighbor out in the country and murders him; when the engaged girl yelled out for help, there was no one around to hear or help her. Deuteronomy 25-27 (The Message)

 

Many victims of sexual abuse remain silent, somehow these types of offences are blurry and we have twisted our culture into laying blame on the woman, for who she is, where she was, who she was with, or what she was wearing. With this type of twisted blame in our culture, many women would rather bury their pain, than expose it. The shame they carry is enough, they do not want to expose it. Many women are date raped, because they were in the wrong field, with the wrong boy, and they blame themselves, saying, they should have known better than to go alone with him, or accept a drink from a stranger, or even make out with him.

However, God sees the truth. He sees in this scripture, the young innocent girl, raped and traumatized.  God says, that only the man is to die, for she has done nothing wrong. To the victim, God says, you have done nothing wrong. God does not hold you accountable for what happened to you, no matter what you think you should have done or not have done.


 

 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them.  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.  Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:2-11 (NIV)

 

Even for those women, who had ownership in their sexual immorality, Jesus defended them and forgave. 


 

 One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.”

 Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Oh? Tell me.”

“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”

 Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”

 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”

 He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Luke 7:36 (MSG)

 

This story is so dear to my heart, because if you were to leave only one scripture to explain the reason God sending His son, this would be it. , This  woman was labeled  a ‘sinner’, which in our day we would call a tramp, or a slut, or a whore. She was the town harlot.  In her day, there was no lower position for a woman than to be a prostitute.

 She walks into the room and the men’s disgust rises, they look away, for you do not make eye contact or even acknowledge a woman like this. Jesus says to Simon, “Simon, Do you see this woman?” 

Why would Jesus ask Simon that? Because he thought maybe he couldn’t visibly see her?

We know that is not true because if Simon was close enough to talk to Jesus, he was close enough to see a prostitute crying over Jesus’s feet and making a ruckus with the other men in the room. 

So why would Jesus ask Simon, “Do you see this woman” 

ASIDE: If you are reading this and you feel invisible, like no one will ever love you, or truly know you. You feel God doesn’t see you, or that your shame, your labels, your past has made you ‘untouchable’, I want you to put yourself in this woman’s shoes and feel Jesus’s heart towards her.

“Simon, do you SEE this woman?”

Wow, He was putting Simon on the spot. Forcing Him to look up at her, infant of the other men. Talk about an awkward moment.

Simon would have nodded, but probably did everything he could to not actually look at her or acknowledged her.

“Simon…” Jesus said “do you see this woman?” 

” I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.” (MSG)

 

Jesus, lifted her up. He knew her intentions, her heart, her shame, her abuse.  He lifted her up above the holy men who felt entitled to heaven, and in front of them he turned their pride to shame, and her shame to honour. 

Then he spoke to her: “I forgive your sins.”

 That set the dinner guests talking behind his back: “Who does he think he is, forgiving sins!”

 He ignored them and said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Luke 7:36 (MSG)

 

Then he spoke to her. Completely unacceptable in this culture to speak to such a woman. To acknowledge her as human, not just a sex object. He looked at her, a woman, who had multiple sex partners, probably visible scars to prove it, a reputation that not only preceded her, but defined her.  Jesus looked at her, reallllllyyyy looked at her.  He looked at her past, her pain, her shame, her violations, and her great sins, and he forgave her. With His eyes he ultimately conveyed to her – “You are accepted now,  you belong now, you are whole”

His dinner guests hurried behind his back, shocked, mortified confused. This wasn’t the order of the world. She was the least and they were the highest. This was completely out-of-place!!

Then it says that Jesus ignored them. He ignored the words of men, the judgments of men, the tables of men, and the shame they were trying to throw on her, and he blessed her, and sent her off in peace.

Wow 


 

There is no sin too great for God to forgive. There is nothing you can do, or anything that can be done to you, that can separate yourself from the Love and Purity of God. This woman did not have a chance to run and join a church and serve cookies and take on Sunday School, she didn’t own a bible, or was ever allowed in a temple. She didn’t know the prayers, she probably couldn’t even read. She had no possible chance between her encounter with Christ and her forgiveness to ‘earn it’. It was her faith that this glorious strange man, could make her feel human again, make her feel whole, if only for a second.

She cried, cried years of pain, of childhood abuse, of rape as a young girl, (she was probably a harlot at a very young age), she cried tears of relief that there was good in the world, and for the 1st time, she met a man who would not abuse her, or want anything from her, a man who truly knew how to love.

Jesus, you are beautiful. 

You are so faithful.

 

You can check out other devotionals here , that will hopefully inspire you to Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

 

 

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