Sharing
a meal has always meant more than simply eating together. In many cultures, it
expresses welcome, friendship, and acceptance. This was especially true in the
world of Jesus. Guests normally reclined at table, with their feet extending
away from the food. Offering water for dusty feet, greeting a guest with a
kiss, or providing oil were familiar signs of hospitality and respect.
It is within this setting that
Luke tells us that a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to eat with him.
Then
an unexpected person enters the scene: “a woman in the city, who was a sinner.”
Luke does not tell us the nature of her sin. What matters is that her
reputation was well known. Simon knows it, and the woman herself seems deeply
conscious of the life she has lived.
She
comes carrying an alabaster flask of ointment. Standing behind Jesus at his
feet, she begins to weep. Her tears fall upon his feet. She wipes them with her
hair, kisses them repeatedly, and anoints them with the ointment.
To us, these gestures may seem
excessive. But Jesus himself explains their meaning.
He turns to Simon and asks: “Do
you see this woman?”
That
question is important. Simon has already looked at her, but perhaps he has not
truly seen her. He
sees her reputation. He sees her past. He sees someone whom, in his judgment, a
holy man should avoid. In his mind, she has already been judged and condemned.
But Jesus sees something else: a heart that has encountered mercy.
His
question also reaches us today: Do you see this woman? The way we look
at others, especially those whose lives or pasts we disapprove of, often
reveals something about what is happening within our own hearts. Do we see only
their failures, or can we still see the person before us?
Jesus
then contrasts Simon’s reception with the woman’s actions: “You did not
give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears.” “You did
not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet.” “You did not
anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.”
Jesus is not simply comparing
good and bad manners, nor is he merely condemning Simon. He is revealing what
is happening inside two hearts.
The woman’s tears express repentance and
gratitude. Her kisses express affection and reverence. The costly ointment
expresses generosity.
Even wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair suggests that she is no longer concerned
about protecting her dignity before those watching her. She comes before Jesus
without disguise, without excuses, just as she is.
And Jesus calls all of this love.
But
we must understand the order carefully. The woman is not buying forgiveness
with her tears, kisses, or perfume. Jesus’ short parable of the two debtors
makes this clear. Neither debtor could repay what he owed, and the creditor
freely forgave them both.
Then Jesus asks: “Which of
them will love him more?”
The answer is simple: the one
who has been forgiven more.
The woman’s love, therefore, is the fruit of mercy
received. Her
gestures reveal that something has already happened within her. She has
recognized both the depth of her need and the greatness of the mercy offered to
her. When God’s grace enters a life, the past no longer has the final word.
Simon’s
difficulty is more subtle. He is certainly a religious man, respectable and
morally serious. Yet he seems unable to recognize his own need for mercy. And
because he does not see his own debt, he cannot understand the woman’s
gratitude.
This may be the deeper
challenge for us.
Sometimes
the greatest obstacle to experiencing God’s mercy is not simply our sin, but
the conviction that we need very little mercy at all.
Jesus says of the woman: “Her
many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.”
The Gospel therefore invites us
to ask a more personal question:
How
conscious am I of the mercy God has shown me?
When
we truly recognize how patiently and mercifully God has dealt with us,
conversion becomes a grateful response to his love. We judge others less
quickly. Gratitude begins to replace complaint. Our love becomes less
calculated, because we know that we ourselves live by mercy.
Like the woman, we discover
that God’s mercy does not imprison us in our past. It restores us, gives us a
new beginning, and sends us forward with the words Jesus speaks at the end:
“Your
faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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