START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Luke 7:36-8:3
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM
OBSERVE:
Socially, one might have thought the dinner party in our Scripture was an awkward moment for everyone. Simon the Pharisee had “graciously” invited Jesus to his home for dinner. And the social occasion is crashed by a lady with loose morals. Of course it is impossible to gauge the motives of another person unless they disclose themselves, but Simon reveals his critical attitude toward Jesus pretty quickly.
Did Simon invite Jesus to his home in order to test him, and perhaps flush him out? Or was he genuinely interested in getting to know this prophet? In any event we must remember that as a Pharisee, Simon is among the Jewish elite — a member of a very exclusive religious sect, and very devoted to the law.
And then this woman enters uninvited. We again are reminded that the status of women in Jesus’ time was very low. Pharisees were known to pray I thank you, Lord, that you have not made me a Gentile, a slave or a woman.
Not only that, Simon recognizes this woman as a sinner in town. The Scriptures don’t detail the nature of her sin. Commentators have drawn the conclusion that she was a prostitute, but we can’t know that.
Her actions are really quite personal. She brings with her an alabaster jar of ointment and Luke says:
She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment.
The Pharisee finds this disgusting because she is a woman and a sinner. We might ask how he knows that she is a sinner, but that might be inappropriate speculation. But he even questions Jesus’ character:
“If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.”
Ironically, Jesus demonstrates that he is indeed a prophet, and more than a prophet. He reads Simon’s mind. Given the Pharisee’s haughty, judgmental attitude, this might not have been quite so supernatural a feat. Jesus was no doubt a good judge of character, and could detect Simon’s thoughts. So, as Jesus was inclined to do, he tells a story.
Jesus frequently uses stories and parables in especially tense situations. His skillful storytelling draws the listener in before he or she realizes that the very pointed object of the story may concern the listener directly. This is often so much more effective than direct confrontation.
Jesus draws a direct parallel between his story and his host.
“A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon gives the obvious answer, that the one whose canceled debt was greater. And Jesus points out that the actions of the woman revealed her deep gratitude for forgiveness:
Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.
Jesus then turns his attention away from Simon, who no doubt is inwardly stewing by this time, and toward this woman. His mercy is simple and direct:
Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
If Simon was offended prior to this, he and his Pharisaical friends are now beside themselves:
But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
What is not said, but is no doubt implied, is that only God has the authority to forgive sins. This subject had already been broached when Jesus earlier healed the paralyzed man at the home of Peter in Capernaum. His first words to the paralytic were:
“Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”
Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Luke 5:20-21).
At that time, Jesus demonstrates that he is indeed God by following his act of pardon with healing:
“Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—“I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.” (Luke 5:22-24).
So, this latest assertion of his power to forgive sins merely confirms his identity with those who believe in him, and deepens the hostility of those who oppose him.
Jesus doesn’t appease those who oppose him by what he says next. He doesn’t intend to. His focus is only on the woman who has been washing his feet with her tears:
And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Interestingly, Luke’s Gospel follows his description of this socially awkward dinner engagement with a description of Jesus’ movements through the cities and villages of Galilee proclaiming the good news. But along with the twelve who were following him, Luke includes a list of women:
who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
Like the woman who came to the house of Simon the Pharisee, who had been written off by Simon as a sinner, these women express their gratitude to Jesus by supporting his ministry financially.
There are several pertinent details here that merit mention:
- Mary Magdalene, who is mentioned thirteen times throughout the four Gospels, is introduced for the first time. This is the “back story” of the woman who was present at the crucifixion and burial of Jesus, and who was among the very first to ever encounter the risen Jesus and to bear witness to his resurrection. To be clear, Luke does not say that Mary Magdalene is the same “sinner” who had anointed his feet with oil and tears. This association was made by Pope Gregory in 591 A.D., who declared that Mary Magdalene was the prostitute who had washed his feet. However, all that Luke, and Mark 16:9, tell us is that Jesus cast seven devils out of Mary Magdalene, and that she followed and supported him.
- There is also Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza. Joanna is a fascinating and elusive character because of her proximity to the royal court of Herod the ruler of Galilee. (This would be Herod Antipas, the son of the famous Herod the Great who not only rebuilt the temple, but also attempted to have the newborn Jesus sought out and destroyed in Bethlehem some thirty years earlier.) Now Herod Antipas had become the ruler of Galilee and Pereaea in a Palestine divided between himself, his brother Philip (Gaulantis), and Roman jurisdiction (Samaria and Judea) . That Joanna was a Jew is clear from her name, which means “the Lord is gracious” in Aramaic. But by virtue of her marriage to Chuza, she was very close to the elite Jewish and Idumean aristocracy and royalty of Galilee. Chuza would likely have been charged with the oversight of Herod Antipas’ royal household. We are reminded that Herod Antipas had not exactly been kind to prophets — he had commanded the beheading of John the Baptist at his niece’s request — and though he was curious about Jesus, he did not seem terribly sympathetic to his teachings about the kingdom of God. Joanna followed Jesus presumably because she had been healed of some unspecified affliction. A Joanna is also mentioned by Luke as one of the women who went with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and other women who went to the tomb of Jesus and saw the two angels who declared that Jesus had risen (Luke 24:1-10).
- Finally, Susanna, and many others are mentioned, without further detail except that they supported Jesus with their resources.
Luke reminds us that women were also followers of Jesus, in addition to those men designated as the twelve. In a male-dominated, patriarchal culture, this was quite inclusive on Jesus’ part. He has been rightly called the “first feminist” because he lifts up the role of women in his ministry.
APPLY:
There are so many aspects of this passage that apply to our lives as Christians today.
First, the encounter of Jesus with Simon the Pharisee and the presumed prostitute who lavishes her love on Jesus demonstrates the stark contrast of self-righteousness and true penitence.
The trouble with self-righteous legalists is that they tend to think of sinners as “other.” Sinners are those, in the mind of the self-righteous, who commit the obvious sins of the flesh. What he fails to grasp is that the sins of the heart and the mind also separate us from God — lust, covetousness, inhospitality, judgment of others, and many more.
So none of us are exempt when Paul writes in Romans 3:22-23:
For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (emphasis mine).
Second, Jesus provides a foreshadowing of some of the great doctrines of the Christian faith in his encounter with this woman. It is important to note that here we see these doctrines embodied in the life and the love of Jesus. He tells this woman who has expressed her grateful love so lavishly:
“Your sins are forgiven.”
When we consider the weight of our sins and the price of our forgiveness, shouldn’t our grateful love be as lavish and as deeply affected as this woman?
The great doctrine that Jesus foreshadows is the great Pauline doctrine of justification by faith:
And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Jesus recognizes that the love expressed by this woman is a confirmation of her faith in him. She knows, even before he has said a word, that he has forgiven her. Her faith in Jesus has saved her, not her own righteousness.
Third, we are reminded that the gospel of Jesus Christ breaks down the social and gender barriers that human beings have built up. As we see throughout the four Gospels, Jesus invariably reaches out to women, to Gentiles, and to the poor and the outcast.
The contemporary world of Jesus and Paul was profoundly patriarchal, a world in which women were chattel property of their fathers and husbands. However, the gospel of Jesus Christ began to act as an acorn under the pavement that eventually would split the concrete and grow into a mighty tree. The social and moral changes that Christianity brings would take two thousand years and more to come, but it would eventually bring liberty to slaves, equality to women, and fidelity and chastity to families. Obviously, the world is still far from the kingdom of God, but the effects of the gospel have nonetheless been radical.
As Paul puts it so succinctly in Galatians 3:27-28:
As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
RESPOND:
How do we respond when the town whore comes to church? Harsh as that may sound to sensitive ears, that’s how Simon the Pharisee sees the woman who comes into his house.
But where else should she be? Jesus not only welcomes her tears, he forgives her sins and declares that her faith has saved her. In fact, I wish every sinner in town came to church and joined the sinners who are already there! If any of us come to Jesus with the thought that we have already been made clean and we are fellowshipping with an equal, we have badly misjudged ourselves.
Having said that, we must also remember that Jesus never sanctions or approves of sin. He forgives the woman; he doesn’t say “your lifestyle is ok with me.” As I have learned to say regarding a very famous cliche: God loves the sinner but hates the sin because of what it does to the sinner (the last little bit is my own).
We are reminded of the famous story from the Gospel of John when the woman entrapped in the act of adultery is dragged before Jesus. Jesus confronts the men threatening her by saying:
“Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7)
Every man dropped his stone and walked away. Then Jesus has this brief dialogue with the woman:
“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” (John 8:10-11).
Jesus forgives us in order to set us free from sin, and to give us power over sin.
Lord, I am so inclined to judge others whose sins are “worse” than mine, like Simon. Forgive me. As I have received grace from you, may I extend grace to others; and as you empower me to overcome sin in my life, help me to help others to do the same. Amen.
PHOTOS:
"a hypocrite" by romana klee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
START WITH SCRIPTURE:
SOAR Lectionary Bible Study 