A woman who had lived a sinful life found Jesus at the house of a Pharisee. (Yes, Jesus ate with Pharisee’s too!) When she saw him, she began to weep. Her tears fell on Jesus feet. Likely embarrassed, she began wiping them off with her hair. She noticed that his feet were still dusty from his walk there and set out to wipe them clean. He did not pull back from her or ask her to leave. She kissed his feet and poured perfume on them. I wonder what Jesus expression was during all of this. Who doesn’t like a good foot message? Surely, she could feel Jesus’ acceptance of her gift.
Simon, the Pharisee, must have been looking down his nose at this because Jesus read his thoughts and responded to him by telling him a story. “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii [one denarii was worth a day’s wages] and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which one of them will love him more?” Luke 7:41-42 Simon got the answer right – the one who owed more. And Jesus went on to tell him then how he, Simon, who was a good man who kept the laws did not even offer to wash his feet when he got there or pour oil on his head or greet him with a kiss. But the sinful woman had not stopped kissing his feet and had washed them with her tears and poured perfume on them. “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Luke 7:47
“Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” Luke 7:48 Suddenly, this is changed from a conversation about hospitality to who has the right to forgive sins! This discussion wasn’t about washing feet and greeting with a kiss, but rather, “Who does he think he is? What gives him the right to forgive her sins?” Jesus excused the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:50. I’m guessing he didn’t want her embarrassed by what was coming next as the others likely tried to set him straight on how bad this woman was.
I wonder if there wasn’t a great deal of confusion in the room at that time. It seems that the sinful woman may have been the only one in the room who knew that Jesus was the Christ. Simon was not the only one in the room wondering what kind of prophet lets a sinful woman touch him.
And Jesus didn’t say to the woman, “Because you washed my feet and poured perfume on them, you are now saved. Now go behave yourself.” But rather, he told her that her faith was what saved her. Her faith in what or who? The very fact that she sought out Jesus and cried tears of remorse would indicate that her faith was in Jesus. She believed that he could make a difference in her life. His act of forgiveness freed her from her past and allowed her a new future. She needed that badly.
But what about the Pharisee and his guests? The sinful woman has left and they are now in ‘good company’ again. But a heavy question hangs in the air. What right does this man have to forgive sins? Because they do not recognize that he is the Christ, they do not understand his right to forgive or their need for forgiveness. If a person doesn’t recognize the need and ask for forgiveness, they will not experience the joy of being forgiven and will not be able to love others. Love is the fruit of forgiveness.
I believe there is a great difference in doing something for someone because I am following rules or feel obligated and doing something for someone because I love them and want to please them. The first takes way more energy and can be stressful. The second comes from the heart and brings energy into the relationship rather than draining it.
Even if I am generally a good person, any goodness that comes from myself is more of a bondage and is very draining. But the goodness that comes from knowing God and experiencing the forgiveness he has given me through Christ is very freeing. As I understand who Christ is and understand his awesome love for me, I am energized to do good – I want to please the one I love in return. And it pleases him when I love others well – when I give to the poor and when I forgive others who have done things to hurt me, when I care for those who cannot care for themselves. He frees me from focusing on myself and what I can do. Now I can focus on him and what he can do. And he welcomes me to help him.
The problem with being ‘good’ is that we can miss Christ and what he has done for us. When we are good, we try to convince ourselves that we don’t need forgiveness because we are good. Until we can say as Isaiah, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away,” Isaiah 64:6 we cannot experience what Christ as done for us and if we cannot experience what Christ has done for us, we cannot understand how awesome the love of God is. How sad to miss that!
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