A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” 40 Jesus said to him in reply, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. 41 “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty. 42 Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon said in reply, “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.” He said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. 47 So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” 48 He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The others at table said to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’
Jesus was most likely invited to dinner by the Pharisee as part of a plot to trap him in a violation of the Law. Soon after dinner began an uninvited “sinful woman” came. She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with ointment (v. 38). Simon, the Pharisee, knew the woman and assumed that Jesus did not know that she was a sinner (v. 39). Jesus then told a parable and then asked Simon, “Do you see this woman (v. 44)? Jesus was asking Simon if he understood the true meaning of what she had done. Simon had missed three important gestures of hospitality that hosts at that time were expected to make when welcoming a guest: Greeting the guest with a kiss, washing his feet (usually done by women or servants), and anointing the guest’s head with oil. Simon was not guilty of any sin, so he had little for which to be forgiven, and little gratitude and love in his heart.
The woman was an outsider who the Pharisee thought should not even be in his house, far less be touching Jesus. There is no way Jesus could be a prophet and not know the woman was a sinner. Jesus forgave her sins because of her faith which was demonstrated by her repentance, gratitude and love. Only God has the power to forgive sins so when Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your sins are forgiven (v. 48),’ the guests immediately assumed he was making himself equal to God (Lk. 5:21).
The three elements of this story are God’s love and mercy for sinners, the gratitude and love of the forgiven sinner, and the self-righteousness of the Pharisee and his other guests. Luke in writing to the early Christian community used the Pharisee to represent the Jewish Christians who wanted to impose rigorous criteria for acceptance into the new community of followers.
Heavenly Father, mold our hearts so that we may love you as you want to be loved and love others as you want us to love them. Have mercy on us and in your abundant compassion blot out our offences. Make us secure in your peace and lead us to everlasting life with you. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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