Have you ever felt broken over sin? Have you ever been so broken you wept aloud? Have you ever been so broken you cried out to the Lord for his forgiveness? Our sin should break us. We should hurt over our sin. Why? Because we worship a holy, sinless God who is grieved over sin. God is grieved over sin so much so that he sent Christ to take away sin. The psalmist writes in Psalm 130, “Out of the depths I cry to you. . . . Let your ear be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy” (Psalm 130:1–2). He goes on to say, “my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:6). In the ancient world, watchmen would sit on the city gate and protect the city. They longed for the morning because only then was their work complete. Why should we wait for the Lord with such enthusiasm as a city watchman? Because we know that God is merciful and gracious to forgive us.

A hallmark of Lent is confession. In fact, a hallmark of Christianity is confession. Throughout the Old and New Testaments and throughout church history, Christians have confessed their sin. Confession can hurt. Confession can be painful. Yet confession is freeing. Confession is liberating. The psalmist writes, “I acknowledged my sins to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.” Regardless of who you are or what you’ve done, our natural reaction is most often to hide our sin. Sin makes us feel guilty, shameful, and fearful. If we hide it, people won’t know about it. But we fail to recognize that our Father in Heaven sees all things. Nothing is hidden from God. And God doesn’t desire our confession to prove himself right. Rather, he longs that our relationship with him might be whole. Despite our belief that we know best, God knows that when we confess our sin to him, our relationship is made whole.

Sometimes when we read stories in Scripture, they come to life. This story is one of those stories. Just picture the scene. Jesus is eating with some of the most respected religious leaders of his day. Remember, Jesus has been invited to this person’s house. In the ancient world, they ate reclining rather than sitting. So, here they are amongst distinguished company, and a woman enters the room. Luke says this woman was “a woman of the city, who was a sinner” (Luke 7:37). Chances are she was a prostitute. You typically shouldn’t see prostitutes with religious leaders. But she doesn’t just come into the room and sit quietly. She comes up to Jesus’s feet, begins to weep, and then washes his feet with her tears and the anointment she brought. What seems to not concern Jesus, immediately alarms and angers the religious leaders. How could Jesus allow a woman like this to touch him.

Lent is a season of returning. During this 40-day season, we are supposed to return to the Lord. For some of us, this means that for too long, we’ve been running away from the Lord. For others, it means we intentionally pause to look to the Lord. Rather than remain focused on everything that is happening around us, we slow down, reflect on our sin and our Savior. But how can we reflect on our sin and Savior without returning to the Lord. The Christian life is a life of continual repentance. During this season, we should be broken over our sin and overjoyed to be found in a loving savior.