Luke 7:36-50; Smashing our World (I)

"One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ 41 ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ 43 Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ 44 Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ 48 Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ 50 And he said tothe woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’"

Themes from a Passage

This passage is arresting both because of the vivid picture it presents as well as the explosive nature of the parable told by Jesus. We can easily see in our mind's eye the way this scene unfolded. We can imagine the awkwardness, hurt feelings, sense of superiority, probing questions and unresolved tension that remained even after the incident was over. Irony trips over irony as the passage develops. The purpose of these two essays is to explore three themes that arise from the text, each of which is "worth the price of admission." Let's put these themes under the heads of: (1) Outrageous behavior; (2) Perception; (3) Canceling Debts. Irony pervades all the themes.

I. Outrageous Behavior

The passage is so powerful because it works not only on the level of what is actually said but also on the level of "subtexts" that flow like an electrical current between and among the participants in this drama. For every express word and thought articulated we have a like number of unexpressed or inner thoughts that are kept in the minds of the participants. We learn from this the complex nature of communication--the actual words may only be the tip of a huge iceberg of communication that is occurring.

The first text/subtext in the story is the outrageous behavior of all. Alert readers of the Gospel are "warned" that this might be an issue by the juxtaposition of 7:34 and 7:36. In the first passage Jesus is scored by his opponents for being a "friend of tax collectors and sinners." In the second passage Jesus eats at the house of a Pharisee. It is as if Luke is "winking" at the reader and letting us know that our categories might not be supple enough to understand or encompass Jesus. He eats with the wrong people--that is the message of 7:34; he is eating with the right person in 7:36. But, of course, we will discover that the right person will end up being the person who is the real object lesson of the parable.

From the perspective of the host, Jesus is exhibiting outrageous behavior. He has eaten with tax collectors and sinners, and now, in this story, he permits a woman of the city to bathe his feet with her hair. That is shocking. He "ought" to have cut her off, to have had nothing to do with her if for no other reason than to protect the honor of his host. It is as if a married man had brought his lover and not his wife to a diner where he was being honored. Poor taste all around.

The woman, too, exhibits outragous behavior. She is, as Joel Green points out in his commentary on Luke, acting like a common prostitute. Green suggests that her behavior, the unbinding of her hair and wiping of Jesus' feet with them, is like a woman showing up topless to a formal event. Her shockingly intimate behavior in this setting would certainly mean, to the host, that Jesus is condoning or encouraging this kind of thing. Finally, the host exhibits outragous behavior. As Jesus will later point out to him (vv. 44-46), he has not performed the customary duties of a host to a guest. Is this deliberate? We don't know, but we see that Luke points out "improper" behavior as the context for Jesus to tell an "improper" story.

II. Perception

Conversations consist of what is said and what is not said. We might be able to pick up body language from another person to supplement what is actually said, but often we would need to be a mind-reader to know what is flowing through others' brains. But we know that we are constantly exercising our "judgment" faculties. We size up people; we look at how they are dressed; how their body is shaped; how they come across; how they move. We construct naratives in our mind about the person based on shockingly inadequate information, information that is gleaned as much from our perceptions of them as from what is actually said. Luke has skillfully pointed out ways that perceptions inform (and cloud) judgments.

A. Simon, the Pharisee, Perceives Jesus. First, we see the Pharisee's perception of Jesus. He thinks that Jesus doesn't really know what is going on with the woman. 'If he (Jesus) really knew what was going on, he would have nothing to do with this woman.' Such is the reasoning of the Pharisee. By so thinking, the Pharisee is establishing his privileged position or mental superiority over Jesus. He (Simon) really knowns the lay of the land here. Jesus doesn't. Poor Jesus. That is what he thinks. Maybe he is also thinking that Jesus' claims to divinity or specialness are now specious because if Jesus can't even perceive what is directly before him, how can he possibly understand things of heavenly import? So, the Pharisee has, as it were, "written Jesus off" as he looks at the woman's conduct with Jesus. This is before we have any indication of words being said by anyone in the story. This is a powerful lesson indeed. People write each other off; they dismiss each other even before a word is said. External appearances matter so much for us, and many of us are so quick to rush to judgment, that we will cut off a person even before the person has uttered one word. That is what the Pharisee has done here.

B. The Woman Perceives Jesus. But there is another, or competing, perception of Jesus that comes out of the story, and that is how the woman perceives him. Her action, as we Luke lets us know, is not one driven by erotic stimulation or by the desire to get another "customer" (even though an irony of the story is that her action of gratitude towards Jesus is almost indistinguishable from the action that a prostitute might make towards her "customer"). She genuinely pours out her heart to Jesus, perceiving in him someone who can make her life whole. The lesson shouldn't be lost on us. Those who perceive Jesus' healing power in Luke are the outsiders, those who either are the little or despised people (like this woman) or those who are not from the Jewish community (like the centurion in 7:1-10). In portraying this as the reality of his day, Luke is suggesting a truth that also holds in our day. Those who think they are secure, those who already have interpreted the world in ways that lead to their comfort, are the ones least able to be open to a word of Jesus to them. Early Christianity's early success with the lower classes was no doubt related to the fact that "establishment religion" already had "God on its side." Why do you need a shocking reversal of expectations when all your earthly expectations are already filled? So, the woman perceived in Jesus a person worthy of her tears, her oil, her devoted attention.

The next essay completes these thoughts.

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