Recognising Him in the stranger

He stood outside the house of a Pharisee — invited, but not honoured. No water for His feet, no kiss of greeting, no oil for His head. He was a guest, but treated like a stranger.

Then she entered, holding an alabaster jar. She wept at His feet, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them with perfume.

Simon the host was scandalised.

But Jesus said, “Do you see this woman?” (Luke 7:44)

A question that still confronts us today.

Too often, we notice the label — sinner, outcast, uninvited — but fail to see the person. Yet Jesus, the supposed outsider in Simon’s home, was the true host. He received her offering, restored her dignity, and forgave what others would not.

How often does Christ come to us in the unfamiliar, the inconvenient, the overlooked?

He once said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35)

But just as often, we turn away — because He doesn’t arrive as expected.

In this story, Jesus was the unrecognised presence in a respectable house — the quiet guest who saw clearly when others did not. Treated as less, yet the one who gave more.

The invitation is to stay attentive.
To honour the silent visitor.
To notice the unnamed stranger.
To recognise the divine in the unassuming.

Because the next time He comes, He may not look like the one we were waiting for.