Jesus has been hanging out and dining with notorious sinners. You name the sinner, if he was invited, he would go because these are the kinds of people Jesus loved, and he wanted to spend time with them.
As you can imagine, this didn’t sit well with the religious leaders because Jesus was a Rabbi and as a rabbi you need to stay clear of sinners because you are holy and people are watching you so you need to set a good example.
So they openly condemned him.
This is why this story is so intriguing to me because Jesus has been invited to dine with a Pharisee; one of those religious leaders who were openly condemning him.
I don’t know why he got the invitation but Jesus accepts the offer.
When he arrives, there’s already tension because Jesus isn’t offered the customary foot washing that guests would receive when they entered your home.
At the very least, the host would provide a basin of water so you could cleanse your feet, and some olive oil so you could freshen up because you’ve been walking along dirtied, muddied paths and you’re wearing open toed sandals so it’s between your toes, and under your toenails and your feet are gross.
But that doesn’t happen.
So they’re reclining around this table, having a lively conversation and Jesus’ are nasty . . . a little bit embarrassing and very insulting.
When suddenly, without any explanation, into this men’s world where women appear and disappear only as servants to keep the wine glasses full, or as the evening entertainment, a woman appears.
We first see her from the Pharisee’s perspective. We don’t know her name; she’s not even really a person . . . just a category . . . sinner. Her reputation is damaged and destroyed because she’s considered dirty and defiled. And everybody knew it and they always made sure that she knew it.
But when she heard that Jesus is at this man’s home, she does the unthinkable. She walks in the door; I’m assuming nervous, ashamed, not wanting to make eye contact, wondering what will be said or done to her. She may even be shaking because she’s nervous.
And she goes into this room filled with “holy, devout, religious men” who all know her reputation. And you don’t do this. You don’t walk into someone’s home, as an uninvited guest, and the only woman, particularly when you are considered “unholy”
And when she sees Jesus, she immediately notices that his feet are dirty. So she takes out an alabaster jar of ointment that she has brought with her and back where Jesus’ feet are and she starts bathing his feet in this ointment.
And at this moment, something happens that she was not anticipating . . . she is overcome with awareness of her own brokenness. And she begins to weep bitterly . . . this is a cleansing of her soul.
And she just begins balling. Tears streaming down her cheeks, make up coming down over her dress. There’s so much water flowing out of her eyes that it wets Jesus’ feet sufficiently to clean them and then she lets down her hair and wipes his feet with her hair!
"Yes, I know I'm broken and I have deep regret for my life but I know that being present in this moment, with you, I can become the person God designed me to be."
That’s a broken, humble, repentant, devastated, grieved sinner. That’s an act of repentance. That’s an act of worship.
But for the Pharisee and his friends, this is completely embarrassing and shameful. Letting a sinner crash their party.
But perhaps, the Pharisee can put this shame on Jesus. I mean, “How could Jesus be a prophet if he is so blind that he doesn’t know this ladies reputation?”
Well, not only does Jesus know this woman’s reputation but he also knows the Pharisee’s thoughts.
How’s that for prophet? And he answers him with a parable.
But we before we get into the parable, I want you to notice something. Up to this point, this is been a party hosted by a Pharisee but here Jesus addresses the Pharisee by name . . . Simon.
You see, Jesus doesn’t put people into categories . . .even religious people who disrespect him . . . so Jesus will address him, respectfully and personally, by name.
The Parable. There are two guys:
• One of them owes almost two years worth of income,
• the other nearly two months worth
• Neither are small sums of money, but one is much larger than the other.
The loan-shark knows that they cannot pay so – so what does he do? Does he have them thrown into debtor’s prison? No, he just forgives both of them.
Jesus’ question is which debtor loves the forgiving loan-shark more?
Well, Simon is thinking to himself, “That’s a really dumb story” Forgiveness of debts is not how the world works. I mean, if you go around cancelling debts what would become of the world.
No one gets forgiven. You work it off – even if it takes your whole life – or else, yes, you go to prison. It’s the way the world works and it’s the way God works, right?
However, the answer Simon gives is . . . “I guess the person with the extra zero would be more loving”
Good, you got it right, Simon.
But Jesus knows the logic of the Pharisee’s and he’s going to use it to make his point. And the point he is making is that Simon thinks he’s only a little bit in debt to God, where this woman is very much in debt to God. And what Jesus says is, “If both your debts are cancelled, wouldn’t she be more grateful than you?”
And then Jesus does something odd and unexpected. Jesus turned to the woman as he was speaking to Simon. And he looks at her, smiling. There’s love in his eyes, compassion and affection and he says, “Simon, Do you see this woman? . . . Do you even see her?
You see, when you look at people through religious eyes; you don’t see them at all.
You don’t see anyone made in the image of God. You don’t see someone whose life can be transformed.
Jesus is saying, “Simon, do you even see her?”
And Simon is thinking, “Of course I do, I see an evil, notorious sinner”
Jesus is saying, “Obviously she knows that, look at her. She’s devastated. She doesn’t need yet another lecture on sin. She doesn't need another sermon giving her the 10 things she needs to do to make her life better. This woman needs someone to love her, to give her respect and dignity and the questions is what are we gonna do about that.”
And then Jesus contrasts Simon’s shameful inhospitable treatment of him to this woman’s shameless outpouring of love. He says . . .
• She’s a worshiper and you’re not
• She serves, you won’t
• She gives generously and you don’t give at all.
Simon, just because you’re a “holy man”, does not mean that you have anything to teach her.
In fact, this woman should teach you a few things about being humble, and repentant, and broken, and honest, and generous, and serving, and caring, and being considerate, and loving, and thankful.
Simon, you are further from God than this repentant sinner because the distance between us and God is repentance, not good works, or morality, or spirituality, or good deeds – Just repentance!
The reason this woman is responding so passionately is because she recognized her brokenness and brought it before Jesus and found out that Jesus still loved her.
And then he looks at her and he says, “You’re forgiven.” That’s amazing. That’s absolutely amazing.
He didn’t tell her to do anything because he’s going to go to the cross and do it all. “You’re forgiven”, that’s it.
Well, the religious people start debating because that’s what religious people do. “Who can forgive sin but god alone? Yes, let’s talk about that. Let’s not celebrate the fact this notorious sinner has gotten her sins forgiven and is worshipping God, and is gonna go live a new life.
Let’s not do that, instead let’s criticize the way it happened.
And so they’re asking, how in the world can Jesus forgive sin? Only God can forgive sin. We’ll they’re on the right track but they miss the answer.
The answer is Jesus is God.
Jesus says, “I’m God, you’re forgiven. Go and live a new life of extravagant love and worship.” That’s it.
This woman comes to Jesus. She pours herself out passionately to Jesus, and she hears from Jesus, “Your faith has saved you. I forgive you. You can leave now. These religious guys will be of no help from this point forward. Go make some new friends. Find a good community of faith to worship in.”
And the story ends with these words . . . go in peace.
Go in the peace that comes from knowing you are forgiven.
Go in the peace that comes from knowing you don’t have any debts with God to pay off.
Go in peace because there is no such thing as a balance scale, weighing good deeds and bad.
Go in the peace that comes from knowing that God has forgiven you.
Go in peace to love God extravagantly, shamelessly, publicly.
Go in peace to love other sinners too.
Go in peace to talk with sinners, welcome sinners, share meals with sinners and proclaim God’s love and forgiveness to fellow sinners.
Go in peace to love God’s world, God’s creation, God’s planet.
Go in peace to love God, grow in faith, and share Christ’s love with everyone.
May it be so for us!
Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace. But let's be honest, it's so easy to get caught up in our check list of stuff we have to do during the holiday season . . . decorating, shopping, planning parties, shopping some more . . . that we completely miss the peace God offers through his Son.
Even church can become something to check off our to do list
That's why Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas, is so important to us here at Logos Dei Church. It's a time to slow down, to set aside our to do lists and make "being" a priority as we prepare for the coming of the Christ child.
Throughout the advent season, we are going to intentionally pause and give ourselves time to reflect, to be, and to spend time with Jesus.