Luke 7:36–50
Jesus had been healing many sick people, curing many
of evil spirits and even restored the life of a widow’s son from the dead. The religious
leaders, however, were troubled by Jesus’ eating with tax-collectors and those they
considered ‘sinners’. When Jesus told a paralyzed man that his sins were
forgiven then enabling him to walk they were further aggravated. Jesus also healed a man with a withered hand
on the Sabbath day and he allowed his disciples to pick and eat grain on the
Sabbath. Moreover, Jesus referred to himself as the ‘Son of Man’ and claimed to
be the Lord of the Sabbath. So the religious leaders are becoming increasingly
concerned about Jesus who they called ‘a glutton and a drunkard’.
A Pharisee, named Simon, invites Jesus to his house
for dinner. So Jesus goes and reclines at Simon’s table. Curiously, Simon fails
to welcome Jesus with the customary greetings. He didn’t give Jesus any water
to wash his feet, didn’t greet Jesus with a kiss and gave him no oil for his head.
Why would Simon invite Jesus, and then fail to show him the customary hospitality?
So Jesus seats himself at Simon’s table. Normally, the eldest and most
respected ‘Rabbis were seated first. Jesus, not formally trained as a ‘Rabbi’, seems
to have broken protocol by seating himself first at the table. What is happening
here?
Then we learn that even before Jesus arrived at Simon’s
house there were people there other than those who were to eat at Simon’s
dinner table. Commentators tell us that people moved in and out of a house like
Simons so we shouldn’t impose our sense of privacy on this scene. Yet, there is
something else odd going on here that’s difficult for me (anyway) to understand.
Even before Jesus arrives at Simon’s house a woman known to have lived sinful
life in that town was there (7:45). This woman, to those like Simon, was a ‘sinner’
who was excluded from the Jewish community because her lifestyle wasn’t consistent
with the Mosaic Law. We’re not told how
she got in there or why she wasn’t discovered and escorted out of the house. We
do know that in the stories traditional interpretation the woman is a ‘prostitute’.
When this woman learned that Jesus
was eating at Simon’s house she went there with her alabaster jar of perfume to
see Jesus (7:37-38). She stood behind Jesus and being
there since Jesus came in the room, she would have observed that Jesus hadn’t
been properly treated by his host. She knows that Jesus had been ignored and she
sees his dirty feet and her heart goes out to Jesus. She must have experienced
something grace and forgiveness of God through the ministry of Jesus. She had
her jar of perfume and she went to Simon’s house to see Jesus, who had extended
God’s forgiveness and restorative love to her. But she hadn’t planned on seeing
Jesus, who had extended God’s grace to her, being ignored and disrespected by his
host. She knew the pain of being ridiculed and rejected when she sees it
happening to Jesus she sees it happening to Jesus and her heart goes out to
him.
As she stood behind Jesus and witnessed the shameful treatment
he received her heart goes out to Jesus and she bursts into tears. She is
crying profusely, sobbing, and sniffling. Others would have noticed and wondered
why was she there and why was she crying? She decides to make up for the poor
treatment Jesus received from his host. In her own extravagant way she bestows upon
Jesus the warmest possible welcome she can come up with. Seeing his feet and
decides to wet them with her tears. Then what is even more surprising she loosens
her hair and lets it down in public. For
a woman to fully expose her hair in public would have been considered too provocative
and socially unacceptable. She washes
his dirty feet with her hair and then actually starts kissing Jesus’ feet. Those
present would have been appalled and then they hear break the seal on her jar
of perfume and she pours her fragrant perfume on Jesus’ feet. Now on top on the
aroma of the spicy middle-eastern food the room is filled with the sweet-smelling
perfume.
When Simon, the other Pharisees and credentialed
Rabbis there, are scandalized when they see this. With a look of disgust, Simon
thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of
woman was touching him—he would know that she was “a sinner” (7:39). In Simon’s view she
was ‘unclean’ and ‘unacceptable to God’ and someone to be shunned and avoided.
She was ‘sinful pagan’ whose inappropriate behavior made her an ‘outcast’ and for
Simon no morally upright Jew would allow such a thing. So how will Jesus
respond to this deliberate corrective of Simon’s inhospitality? What will Jesus do to save face before
Simon and Simon’s colleagues?
To Simon Jesus these actions confirm that Jesus is no genuine
prophet. Jesus doesn’t apologize for the
woman’s behaviour, rather he responds by telling Simon a brief parable. Simon agrees
to hear Jesus saying, “Tell me, Rabbi… teacher.” Jesus tells Simon of two people
who owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed five hundred denarii, the
other owed fifty. Neither debtor
could repay, so the moneylender forgave both their debts. Then Jesus asks Simon
which one of the two would love the moneylender more? Simon thought the one with the bigger debt forgiven would love more and
Jesus affirmed the Simon had judged correctly. Then
Jesus turns towards the woman and says, “Do you see this woman?” Then Jesus reminds
Simon that he hadn’t given any water to Jesus for Jesus to clean his feet. Yet,
the woman had wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Simon hadn’t greeted Jesus with a customary kiss, but the woman hadn’t stopped
kissing Jesus feet. Simon failed to give Jesus some
olive oil for his head, but the woman had poured perfume on Jesus’ feet. Jesus concluded from the great love she showed Jesus that her many sins had
been forgiven. By contrast, Jesus said that whoever had been forgiven little
loves little (7:40-47).
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