Simon was busier than he should have been. He had an important dinner coming up and was running short of time as he made the preparations. Sitting arrangements, making sure there was enough food, servants and the like all taxed him to the nth degree. He was going to have this preacher/miracle worker/prophet, Jesus coming to dinner. Not only that but some of his synagogue leaders and others from the town would be there too. Simon wanted everything to be perfect.
He had invited Jesus because he’d heard him preaching outside of town and was intrigued with what he’d heard. He’d also heard the stories running around the crowd as well, but it was the clear, human and refreshingly authoritative way that Jesus preached that had made Simon curious. In that one hearing Simon found his view of the world being challenged and even his view of God whom he’d worshipped since he was born. Simon needed to know more about this Jesus and so dinner seemed the way to do this. He just had no idea it would be so much work.
As expected Jesus showed up with a crush of others following along. His disciples were there of course and others who were regular groupies of Jesus. And of course there were those who had come into town in hopes of hearing Jesus again. With this crowd it was all Simon could do to keep his house from turning into a riot. In the crush of people and expectations the slaves missed washing Jesus’ feet and anointing him. Simon hadn’t noticed though he was too busy.
Then she came in. Have you ever noticed how with most big parties, weddings and the like something has to go wrong at just the wrong time? Well as dinner moves along Simon looks up and there she was. She was crying as she moved around the crowd and knelt behind Jesus who was eating and visiting with those next to him. Simon tried to catch the eye of one of his servants so she could be tossed out but it was too late. The smell of expensive perfume exploded throughout the house as she poured it on Jesus’ feet. Her tears now became a deluge as they fell. The strange mixture of tears and perfume made tracks in Christ’s feet. She continued to wipe the dirt and dust away and dried the perfumed feet with her hair.
Discussions died as all watched her. Everyone from town knew who she was, what she was like and what she’d done. Now they wondered what Jesus would do.
She wasn’t the type to go out of her way to seek out traveling preachers. If she happened near one she usually became the object of their sermon as someone pointed out who she was and her “crimes”. She’d heard Jesus was different and so she had sat on the edge of the crowd and listened not drawing attention to herself. As she listened she heard. And his words went to her heart and touched her in ways that she’d never felt before.
He wasn’t teaching about the evil Roman armies. There didn’t seem to be a personal axe to grind. She was so amazed because he didn’t even ask for any money. Instead he spoke about a loving God. Hearing Jesus she found she’d become reacquainted with the God of her youth. The God who called people into a relationship of trust and protection. His simple words and his manner reminded her that she too was a daughter of Abraham. But as she wandered away from the crowd she wondered if it was too late for her to reclaim that title. After all her life was over…could there ever be a way out for someone who had done the things she’d done and lived the life she had lived?
Her questions grew in her soul. She needed to find an answer and so she asked around and discovered the dinner invitation at Simon’s house. She spent some money and purchased an alabaster jar with ointment and made her way towards Simon’s. She hadn’t thought of it till she got near and saw the crowd but how was she going to get in and then how would she get close to Jesus?
As she got closer she realized that most people were trying to get a peek inside so she carefully edged through the crowd till she was in the house. With a quick breath she entered the room and saw him lying at the table with the others. Tears suddenly came to her eyes. She’d have like to blame the odor of the spice in the room but she new better. Others now took notice of her but she didn’t care any longer. She had discovered in Jesus a source of hope, which she’d long ago given up on. She had discovered in this one with the dirty feet the freedom from her past. A freedom from her grime and filth. She moved behind him, poured the ointment and the tears flooded out. As she kissed his now clean feet she heard his voice speak to Simon. Then he turned to her and spoke.
Here are two very different human perspectives on the same event, two different ways of experiencing the same thing. Simon saw things in rather simple terms. Right, wrong, black, white. He not only knew who the woman was but he knew “about” her too. She was a known commodity. She wasn’t horrible but she was part of that group that those in the synagogue labeled as “sinners”.
If you look at this passage in Luke 7 you’ll see that Jesus never denies Simon’s estimation of the woman. He doesn’t explain away her sin as the result of a bad up brining, a characteristic of her DNA or a different lifestyle. She is a sinner. But then again so was Simon. That title or label has the power to cut people off and stigmatize them—to make them seem like non-persons but the truth is it’s the label God uses of us. Romans 5:8 says, “that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” The woman, Jesus host, and us all share this title of sinners.
Secondly, Jesus understands that both Simon and this woman were demonstrating love for him. The dinner and anointing were both loving acts by which these two wanted to demonstrate their acceptance of Him. Loving Jesus demands an act of love from us and there are as many ways to demonstrate that love, as there are people. There may be no “wrong” way to love Jesus but in this passage Jesus makes the point that there are various degrees to our love.
Our response to Jesus, our love for him varies, in direct relationship to how much we trust Him and how thankful we are for what God has done for us. Both Simon and this woman love Jesus but there something has driven this woman to take an unexpected step of faith. To make his point Jesus brings up a hypothetical situation in which two people are forgiven their debts. Who is the most loyal? It’s obvious. The person who had received the most forgiveness. Simon had responded to Jesus by inviting Jesus to dinner. Nowhere does Jesus say this isn’t adequate, or falls short. But the woman’s response to what she heard and saw in Christ was anointing, tears and kisses.
Why such a disparity in response? Simon just didn’t understand how much God had forgiven him. For some the sins are easier to see, the forgiveness is much more obvious. Others fail to see how much grace God has given to them. My guess is that Simon, like some of us, was just too busy with things when it came to God. It’s not that he wasn’t excited about what Jesus said and did. It’s not even a question of whether he believed or not. He showed a willingness to be identified with Jesus by inviting him to his house for dinner. His failure to anoint a guest and wash their feet was unthinkable in his place. And I think it is just further proof of his preoccupation. Don’t we do the same sort of things?
Comments from the Simons in our lives go like “God will understand…” God will understand if I don’t make it to worship. God will understand if I don’t tithe. God will understand if I can’t my prayer life, my bible study, or my moral life together. God will understand that I have so much to do. God will understand. But what do you think that understanding will be? Will he understand that our love is dependent on the mood we are in on Sunday morning, who is in the pulpit while the pastor is on vacation, or how late I stayed up Saturday night? Will God’s understanding be that our love depends on how much God gives us? Will God understand that we love all people—as long as they are nice to us, dress like us, talk the same language, or don’t do things we don’t like?
Jesus’ challenge to Simon (and to the Simon in us) is for him to take a hard look at that title “sinner” and to realize just how that title applied to him as well. It was a call to look at the mercies and grace that he had received without ever realizing it.
How does this woman experience and understand Jesus’ love. She allows the enormity of it to freely move her and rule in her life. No one had to call her a sinner—she knew it. Her self-condemnation was greater shame than any gossip or shunning could ever be. There was no need for a scarlet letter because her sin had branded her heart and soul deeper than any could know. But Jesus changed that. God’s love burst into her life and rearranged it. Radical, fundamental, foundational differences occurred within her mind, soul and heart because of Jesus. Most of those at the table that day knew who she was but only Jesus knew her heart.
No matter who is pointing the finger at you about whatever only Jesus knows your heart of heart. No matter how much we hate ourselves or seek to destroy our lives only God can rightly judge us. I have a problem with God’s ability to simply forgive people who realize they were wrong and want to change. It bugs me that God can just as freely forgive the person whose life has ruined the lives of others because of their sin as those who live “good lives”. I’ve dealt with this by realizing a great truth that I think many of us need to take to heart. God doesn’t care what we think is or is not fair. The King of the universe, my creator, the ruler of heaven and earth seldom consults with me on how things should be done or who He should save or curse.
Which of these two recipients of God’s grace and forgiveness do you relate too. Is it the Simon who can invite Jesus to dinner but fails to realize the full cost of God’s love for you? Or are you more like the woman for whom a temple thank offering or a little white “thank you” card isn’t enough when it comes to telling God thanks? Our love for God can be based on an intellectual belief, the fact that Jesus makes us “feel better” or even because other people who know Jesus are nice to us. We can worship him because he’s answered a prayer or two. And although none of those reasons are wrong a love for Christ that remains vibrant, alive and vivacious is love based on a continual realization of the grace Christ has given to us—it’s love founded on forgiveness.
