In Luke 7–8, the Lord has encounters with various people. I noticed that many of these encounters share a recurring theme: The people find themselves at the feet of Christ.

In Luke 7:38, a “sinful” woman interrupts a dinner to wash the Lord’s feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. She anoints His feet with expensive perfume and kisses them. Even though the host of the dinner speaks ill of her, Jesus has nothing but praise for her actions.

In Luke 8:35, Jesus encounters a man possessed by a legion of demons. After Jesus casts them out, we see the man sitting at His feet. It is clear that he has talked with the Lord and become a believer. The Lord will send him out to tell the people of that region about Him.

A few verses later, in Luke 8:41, a man named Jairus falls at the feet of the Lord. He has a daughter who is at the point of death, and he wants the Lord to come heal her. When Scripture records Jesus’ healings, it rarely identifies by name the person or persons involved, but Luke’s Gospel identifies Jairus. It seems clear to me that Luke knew this man. Jairus was a believer.

A few verses later, another person falls at the feet of Christ. In Luke 8:43-47, a woman who has had an issue of blood for twelve years is miraculously healed of her affliction when she touches the border of His clothing. She was an outcast in that society and was content to secretly walk away. But Jesus seeks her out in order to tell her that her faith, not His clothing, is the reason she has been healed. She receives that instruction at His feet. She is a beautiful picture of discipleship.

I believe Luke is telling the reader something by describing all these people as being at the feet of the Lord. There are a number of lessons. The sinful woman, the demoniac, and the woman with the issue of blood were insignificant people, yet the King of the world to come wants them to come to Him. He is eager to teach them. He wants to be close to them. No matter who we are, the Lord wants us to come to Him. He wants us to be His disciples. He wants us to learn from Him. These blessings are not just for the rich and powerful.

The demoniac, Jairus, and the woman with the issue of blood had the privilege of being at the feet of the King because of trials they were going through. They didn’t realize it at first, but those trials compelled them to go to Him. Those trials would lead to wonderful blessings.

The same is true for us. As believers, our difficulties can cause us to seek Him out. We often go to Him when there is no other option. That was the case with these people.

I love seeing the Lord’s mercy toward all four of these people. He wanted them at His feet. If necessary, He sought them out. I am reminded of false teaching that would deny all of this. In the book of Colossians, Paul addresses a heresy. We do not know all the details of that heresy, but we do know that the false teachers were claiming to have secret knowledge. They knew about certain keys to being close to the Lord. These teachers would reveal their secrets if the people followed certain rigorous spiritual exercises. Their message was clear: The Lord is keeping all these secrets away from the normal folks. If you want to be close to Him, it will cost you.

Today, we find similar false teaching. People are told that in order to be His children, they must be part of a select group of people chosen by God. He doesn’t love everybody. If you think you’re a believer, you must continually examine yourself to see whether you actually are. Others say you must seek certain spiritual experiences in order to be close to Him. I think there are many in our churches who often feel that closeness to the Lord is reserved for only certain people

The men and women in Luke 7–8 show us that these things are not true. All who believe in Him are His children. As His children, He wants us at His feet. He wants us to learn from Him. He has given us His Word for that purpose. He has placed us in His body, together with other believers, for that purpose. Sometimes He even uses trials to get us to come to Him.

Let us be like these four people in Luke 7–8.