This scene is early in Jesus’ ministry. He’s eating with a Pharisee and we don’t know where the Pharisee stands in regard to Jesus. We don’t know if he likes what Jesus is doing or doesn’t like it. We don’t know why he invited Jesus…was it to trap him or just to get to know him and see what this guy was really all about?
The Pharisee, named Simon, invites Jesus to dinner and the scripture tells us they were reclining…that tells us this was a formal dinner—maybe a sabbath meal—so Simon would have or should have prepared the very best for his guests. Now, as part of this formal meal it would have been customary to wash his guests’ feet—well, not him, but a servant, and the host would have greeted his guests with a kiss and would have anointed their foreheads with oil. It showed hospitality and respect.
Imagine it in the modern day—you invite over someone of prestige, not a friend or a colleague, but an uppity up—say, the mayor, and when he gets there, he knocks and instead of opening the door you just show, “it’s open.” He comes in, you say a quick hello and then you leave him to himself. You don’t offer to take his coat, or show him a place to sit, or offer to get him anything to drink.
Now, is that the end of the world? No. But is it really bad manners? Yes. Maybe not with friends or family, but with a prestigious stranger? Yes. Simon missed the mark here. Nevertheless, Jesus was very gracious—he just let it go—he sat on the cushion to eat with his dirty feet and dirty hands. Maybe he gave Simon the benefit of the doubt and just assumed he was distracted. I mean, everyone in the room knows it’s weird, but they just played along.
That is, until this woman comes in—this sinful woman. We don’t know what she did, only that she’s a sinner. Some people assume she’s a prostitute but the scripture never says that. She isn’t named. So she could be any woman who has committed any number of sins. She comes in and goes straight to Jesus and begins washing his feet—not with a bucket of water, but with her tears. And not using a towel, but instead using her hair. She’s washing his dirty, dusty, unwashed feet with her tears and her hair. Now that may take us back a little, but in the first century it would have taken everyone back a lot. You see—women wore their hair covered—all the time. and the only ones to see their hair were their husbands. To uncover your hair was a sensuous thing and there she did it in front of Jesus and everybody. and then she caressed Jesus’ feet as she wiped away her tears. The scene has just gone from awkward to a bit scandalous.
Let’s go back to our modern scene—our mayor is sitting awkwardly holding his coat in his lap, with nothing to drink and this woman comes in and pours him her finest wine, takes his coat, and then begins massaging his shoulders. To say it simply, things are getting a little weird. Taking his coat would have been one thing but massaging his shoulders pushes the boundaries of decorum.
So the host intervenes, “Wait a minute! Just what do you think you’re doing?! How dare you?!”
So Jesus shifts the conversation. He tries a back door approach to help Simon understand what is happening. He asks this question: There are two debtors—one who owes 50 denarii and one who owes 500. (a denarii was worth about a day’s wages…so one owes 2 months wages and one owes a year and a half…say, one owes about $4500 and one owes about $60,000)—both are forgiven their debts….who do you think is more grateful?
Simon answers easily…the one who owed more. Of course. But Jesus’ question wasn’t really who was more grateful….the question was actually who showed more agape—who showed more selfless, abundant love? The one who had the greater debt. Who showed greater, more abundant, selfless love? The one who had the greater debt.
Ok, now, look at this woman….she has washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair, and anointed my feet with oil. You’re scandalized and insulted, but look at what she did…what did she do?
Do you know? What did she do? She showed great agape love. Simon, you’re so consumed with what you know she did in the past that you can’t see who she is now. You know she broke the law and you have that marked in stone above her name. Her sin seems to trump her person for you. But you know what? You’ve missed what has happened…along the way, when you weren’t watching, she repented and has been forgiven…it’s already happened, her sins are in the past, washed away by the forgiveness she received. Today, she’s not earning my blessing. She’s not making the sins of the past right, she's saying thank you….wholly and fully with a sign of God’s love.
How many of us have been a bit like Simon? We know the sins of the past and for some people that’s all we see…their record of wrongs. So when they claim their faith or sing praise to the Lord, we look on with disdain thinking, “mmm…hmmmm, how dare you? I know what you did. You’re a sinner.”
And Jesus comes in gently and encourages us to look….not just with our eyes but with our hearts. Do you see? Do you know? Their faith and their praises…that’s because of gratitude. They aren’t pleading for forgiveness, they’ve already received it and are saying thank you. You’re hung up on what once was and what they did back when, but they aren’t who they were. Today they’re redeemed. They’re forgiven. They’re saved. Don’t stand with scorn. Stand with praise. And know that if you’re burdened by your own sins. If your heart is heavy with shame, there is forgiveness for you too. You don’t have to earn it. You just have to claim you want it and I’ll forgive you.
After explaining things to Simon, Jesus turns to the woman and says, “You’re forgiven. You’ve been saved—you’ve been redeemed and made whole. Now, go in peace.” In essence, he’s confirming, you really are forgiven, don’t worry about what this guy says, or the next, or the next. People may try and hold the sins of the past against you. they may not want to see who you’ve become. But don’t look to them, look to me and trust, you are truly forgiven. You are redeemed and made whole. Now, go in peace.”
And the same is true for us, once we’ve been forgiven, we find our new identity in Christ. It doesn’t matter what other people think. It doesn’t matter if they’re still keeping tally of the past. Jesus tells us we are forgiven. We can go in peace. Thanks be to God.
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