Jesus, Simon, and the Sinful Woman - Part III

Luke 7:44-50

Ever notice how much of the Gospel stories deal with Jesus at dinners and banquets and how many of those dinners and banquets involve sinners as either hosts or uninvited guests? Come to think of it, there may be more stories of Jesus at such parties than there are of him in the synagogue.

Even here at the house of Simon the Pharisee (not to be confused with Simon Peter, the Disciple), what is remembered is the encounter with a certain sinner woman. She washes, kisses and anoints Jesus' feet and then in response to Simon's obvious disapproval, Jesus tells a story about forgiveness. Next Jesus speaks directly to Simon while looking at this woman.

First, Jesus tells Simon that the woman did what a more proper host in that time and place would have done -- wash the guests' feet. Simon also did not give Jesus a kiss -- speaking perhaps of the customary greeting with a kiss on the cheek, like we modern Westerners shake hands. For some reason, Simon didn't give Jesus a proper greeting. In contrast, this woman has taken care of all these hosting priorities and done so effusively, going beyond the ordinary by anointing Jesus with oil.

What Jesus says next gets downright confusing when you try to sort it out. Jesus is explaining these things to his host in follow-up to the story about the two men who have been forgiven debts, concluding, "Therefore, her many sins have been forgiven." And then he adds, speaking directly to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."

The crowd reacts as would be expected, exclaiming surprise that Jesus goes even so far as to forgive sins. Other religious leaders have been known to teach, to heal, to do miracles, to cast out demons - but to forgive sins?! Elsewhere Jesus deals with why he can and does forgive sins, but at this time the focus remains on what happens to the woman -- that she is forgiven -- not on what Jesus does and why.

So, which is the cause and which is the effect? The woman's actions toward Jesus? Or, Jesus forgiving the woman? Has she been forgiven because of her actions toward Jesus or were her actions a response to having already been forgiven? Or was that forgiveness presupposed because she would respond in such a fashion?

In the end, Jesus never clarifies these questions, though he does tell her that it is her faith that has saved her. So her actions were simply an outward expression of an inner faith. But, again, which comes first, the forgiveness or the faith?

We tend to want to approach these kinds of issues systematically, drawing from all sorts of biblical sources and weaving a complete picture. We do this so that we don't have to deal with any holes in our reasoning. As people of faith, we do not like holes, perhaps fearful as we are that our faith might somehow seep out through those holes and leave us without faith. But faith is not a hole-less cloth, an ironclad guarantee that there are no holes, no doubts, no conflicts, no confusion. Faith is what we assert precisely because we do have holes and questions. That does not make faith unreasonable - it just means that faith is not the same as mathematic proofs.

So what is happening here? Jesus says her sins have been forgiven. What he does not clarify is when she was forgiven - the condition is more important than the timing.

He does make clear that she does these acts of love in response to being forgiven. And then afterward Jesus declares that her sins have been forgiven, meaning he forgives her. Finally he declares that it is her own faith, her own trust in Jesus, that has saved her. If Jesus had wanted Simon and the other guests to sort it all out, he would have been more straightforward.

Instead of answering all our questions, he simply affirms that it is our faith that saves us; that Jesus is the one who forgives sins; and that when we've been forgiven much, we love much in return. The more we respond in love to his love and forgiveness, the more we are forgiven. It starts with Jesus and snowballs from there. Anyone who cries "enough already", doesn't understand Jesus or his love and forgiveness. It never ends, overwhelming us to the last.

Jesus, Simon, and the Sinful Woman - Part II

Luke 7:40-43

Jesus was a story-teller, which is why people, even those who hated his teachings and methods, often invited him into their homes, especially for banquets. Story-telling and good food go hand in hand in just about every culture. And Jesus was a master at the former.

I remember as a kid sitting enthralled and frequently doubled over in laughter as larger-than-life Uncle Al Reid, seated at the head of the long Thanksgiving table in Grandma's house, regaled us with one story after another. A prize-fighter turned preacher, he had traveled the world and had a way with turning his memories into vivid forms of entertainment that confirmed what we used to read in the Reader's Digest, that laughter is indeed the best medicine.

I once heard a lengthy discourse on why Jesus was not humorous in his story-telling. I don't believe that for one moment. The Creator of humor was not beyond using it himself. Yet whether in humor or in all-seriousness, his stories were designed to inform as well as entertain, as all the best stories can do.

The setting and story on this occasion in Luke 7 were far from humorous. It was a very tense moment. A known local "sinner woman", a woman of questionable character, euphemistically meaning there was no question her character was bad, had entered the house of one Simon, a prominent local Pharisee, who was entertaining Jesus at dinner. If it wasn't bad enough for her to enter this "pure and clean" house, she then proceeded to touch Jesus, wash and even kiss his feet.

Washing the feet of guests was a fairly common custom. Kissing them was a bit more unusual. But none of that mattered more than that a holy man as Jesus was reputed to be had allowed himself to be defiled by being touched by this woman of all people.

Simon said nothing. His thoughts spoke loud enough, at least to Jesus. "What kind of a man is this that would allow a woman like that to touch him."

Jesus responded to Simon's reaction by doing as he often did, telling a story. We call them parables, meaning a story rich in meaning, or more precisely a meaningful story that invites the listener to draw the conclusion. As stories go, this one was quite short.

Two guys owe a third man, a professional moneylender, and it is payback time. Neither of them has what they owe. One of the two owes about a day's worth, the other about two year's worth, based on an average day's pay for an average worker. Surprise of all surprises, the moneylender just up and cancels their debts, both of them. Scot free. No questions asked. Not even a "just don't come back" or "Just you wait." End of story.

Then Jesus uses one of his favorite teaching techniques -- he asks a question. "Which of these two guys who was forgiven the debt will love the lender more because of having the debt cancelled?"

Simon assumed it was the man who had owed the larger debt. Jesus cried "bingo" or something more PC like "you have judged correctly."

Point of the story -- the more you owe, the more grateful you feel when your debts are canceled. That is something all of us can identify with.

Although Jesus isn't yet finished talking with Simon about this, I begin to sense that the more for which we have to be forgiven, the more love we will feel in response. Or, maybe if we don't love God in response to being forgiven, it is because we do not realize how much of a debt we really owed. Either way, it is interesting how strongly forgiveness breeds connectedness. Poor Simon, he hadn't sinned enough to get close to Jesus.