Grace for the Grateful
TRANSLATION
(36) When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, he entered his house and reclined at table. (37) When a woman in that town who had lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating dinner at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster flask of perfumed ointment (38) and, standing at his feet weeping, began to wet his feet with her tears. She then wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfumed ointment over them. (39) Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known what kind of woman is touching him – that she is a sinner.”
(40 And Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he said, “Tell me, teacher.” (41) “Two people were in debt to a certain money lender. The one owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. (42) When neither could repay him, he cancelled the debts of both. Now which of the two will love him more?” (43) Simon responded, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged correctly.” (44) And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair. (45) You did not greet me with a kiss, but she, since I came in, has not stopped kissing my feet. (46) You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed ointment. (47) Therefore, I tell you, her many sins are forgiven, for she has loved much. But the one who has been forgiven little loves little.”
(48) Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (49) Then the other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” (50) And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
OBSERVATIONS
It was always a risk to invite Jesus to dinner and, in this case, the Pharisee who did the inviting as well as his guests were given a powerful lesson in forgiveness. Repetitions again point us to the emphases of this segment. We find three uses of “Pharisees,” two of them linked to “house” (vss. 36 & 37). “Woman” occurred four times (vss. 37, 39, and twice in 44). “Perfumed ointment” is found three times (vss. 37, 38, & 46). “Debt/debts” was used three times (vss. 41, 42, & 43). “Love him more/loved much/loves little” all are found in the second paragraph (vss. 42 & 47). Finally, “sins are forgiven” and “forgives sins” also was used three times (vss. 47, 48, & 49).
Jesus in this segment dealt with two individuals, both needing cleansing from sin. The first, a self-righteous Pharisee, blinded to his own need, found himself strongly admonished. The second, a sinful but repentant woman, in lavishing her love on the Savior received Jesus’ full forgiveness.
OUTLINE
I. A sinful woman anointed Jesus’ feet at a dinner in Simon’s house, embarrassing the host. (36-40)
II. Jesus gave the Pharisee and his guests an instructive parable and forgave the woman her sins. (41-50)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus always spoke to the needs of those who met him, humbling the proud and exalting the humble.
APPLICATION
Throughout the Gospel accounts we repeatedly encounter the stark contrast between pride and humility, those who acted with self-confident arrogance as opposed to those who displayed a quality that Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount called “poor in spirit.” Often it was the Pharisees, Israel’s religious leaders, who offended the Lord with their haughty words and actions. In this segment Simon, a wealthy Pharisee, was the one who received Jesus’ stinging rebuke. His critical spirit toward a sinful woman who dared to enter his house and anoint Jesus’ feet with costly ointment elicited a response from Jesus that Simon never saw coming. First, the Lord gave a parable using the language of finance, two loans of different size which were both unexpectedly cancelled. Then he pointedly rebuked Simon for having failed to show him the kind of courtesy which a host would have normally been expected to provide and which the woman had, in fact, lavished upon him, washing his feet with her tears, greeting him with many kisses, and anointing his head with oil. Finally, Jesus did the unthinkable. He pronounced the woman’s sins forgiven, stating that her faith had saved her, and that she could go in peace. Everyone at dinner, familiar with the Scriptures, knew that God alone had the power to do such things.
Luke gave us no indication of Simon’s response to this startling turn of events. Did he simply stand there speechless? Did he try to defend himself? Did he humble himself and repent of his shortcomings? Perhaps we can find a clue in Luke’s account of Simon’s thought process before Jesus told the parable: “He said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’” What if Simon had continued reasoning within himself, “Jesus knew exactly what sort of woman she was, what she really needed, and lovingly provided for her cleansing. He knows what sort of man I am, what I need, and that I too need his cleansing. Could this be the promised Messiah?” While we will never know what transpired in Simon’s heart that day, we can perhaps hope that this proud Pharisee eventually humbled himself and accepted the gift of life Jesus deeply desired to give him just as he had wonderfully done for the woman.