800 Words
Extravagant Love
One day a minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in Charlotte and attached the following message to his windshield: “I have circled the block 10 times. I have an appointment to keep. Forgive us our trespasses.”
When he returned to his car, he found this reply attached to his own note, along with a ticket: “I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I lose my job. Lead us not into temptation.”
Read Luke 7:36-50 (see below)
In Jesus’ day, footwashing and anointing were common practices: an act of Middle Eastern hospitality. The host would welcome his guests with a “kiss of peace”. At dinner, while reclining at the table, the host’s servants or his wife would wash the guests’ feet. Anointing with fragrant oils might follow as another sign of welcome and hospitality.
Here in this scene from Luke’s Gospel, we meet three interesting figures: Jesus, Simon the Pharisee and the penitent woman. It seems clear that Simon and the unnamed woman had encountered Jesus before of at least knew of his reputation. Why did Simon invite Jesus to supper? Was he trying to score points with his neighbors? Perhaps he was a critic of Jesus and hopeful to ruin the Master’s reputation? Why did Simon not offer water and oil for his guest? Why is Simon silently disgusted with the actions of the woman interpreting the events as proof that Jesus is no prophet?
And what do you make of the woman? The text notes that she is a “sinner”. How did she learn that Jesus was dining at Simon’s home that evening? How did she come by her alabaster jar of ointment? She stands behind Jesus which makes sense if he is reclining at supper. What were the emotions behind her tears? Did it matter? The woman does not speak a word. But her actions speak volumes.
In Jesus’ time, women rarely let their hair down in public, and doing so was a significant break of social norms. Hair was closely tied to modesty, honor, and social identity, and public exposure was reserved for private or intimate settings. This action would have been considered scandalous!
Shusaku Endo, in his book A Life of Jesus, comments on this scene: “The woman spoke nothing. In silence she looked intently on Jesus. Soon the tears that formed in her eyes began to overflow. The tears alone bespoke the sorrow she knew. The tears told Jesus everything. God rejoiced to welcome her.” (Paulist Press, 1973).
What was important for Jesus was not the past but the present and the future. I admire his pastoral care for both the woman and for Simon along with his friends at table. The parable is meant to lead Simon to a greater and deeper understanding of love and forgiveness. He answers Jesus correctly and is commended for it. The Rabbi then brings the parable into the present connecting it to the woman’s example. Does Simon understand and will it lead him to new life? The story ends before the readers are given an answer. What do you think happened to Simon the Pharisee from that experience at supper?
Jesus’ example of charity and compassion towards the woman is the very essence of the Gospel. Jesus does not dwell on the past or present faults of this “sinner”. Instead, he is aware and focused on the good which lies so close to the evil. Jesus sees the possibility of new life in this beloved child of God. In Jesus, she does not have to be discouraged by the past for love will blot it out. She does not need to be dismayed about the future for love will conquer it. As the Anglican priest and scholar John Mason Neale wrote in 1898: “Past and future, God accepts both: God pardons both: God crowns both.”
In the final two verses of the pericope, those gathered at table, who had witnessed all that had transpired, are aghast that Jesus has forgiven the woman’s sins. Only God could do that! But Jesus, the God incarnate, who, throughout the Gospel story, identified with the sinful, knew what the power of forgiveness really meant. God’s love is Christ’s love and Christ’s love is God’s love. In Jesus we are loved so that we can go forth and forgive. In Jesus we are forgiven so that we can go forth and love.
Hear and believe in the Good News! “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 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. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘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.’ 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ 41 ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ 43 Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ 44 Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 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.’ 48 Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ 50 And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’
