#65 A Mirror of True Repentance, An Example for Us
In addition, we have here a mirror of true repentance, that it changes the whole man and makes an entirely new man out of him. This woman was formerly insolent and proud; but now she has humbled herself to the point that she approaches Christ meekly and kisses His feet. She formerly lived in the lust of the flesh and in the sensuality of the wicked world; now she sheds humble tears from a contrite heart. She formerly misused her eyes for vanity, pursuing the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and a proud life (1 John 2:16). Now she turns these eyes of hers into wellsprings of tears. She formerly used her hair to make herself glamorous; now she uses it as a foot towel. She formerly ignored her own dignity for something trivial; now she pours out precious, costly perfume on Christ’s feet. She formerly permitted all sorts of foul and filthy prattle to come out of her mouth; now she kisses Christ’s feet.
Yes, this is a true mirror of repentance, presented as an example for us all. For repentance is incongruous with a laughing mouth; it is rather a rending of the heart (Joel 2:13), a breaking and a crushing of the heart (Psa. 51:19), a distress of the spirit (Psa. 143:4), as such descriptions are found all over the Psalms, that a man feels inner distress of the heart, humbles himself deeply before God and His judgment on account of his sins, and yet, there in the depths, he lays hold of Christ’s merit with true faith. Through such repentance, which is a “regret that is not to be regretted” (2 Cor. 7:10), a man is entirely changed and renewed, so that he now highly disapproves of that which formerly pleased him; and that which he formerly hated he now holds dear. Where this is not the case, there true repentance of the heart has not yet taken place.
(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 110-111)
