October 11, 2005
Much
It must have made quite a scene when a “woman of the city” crashed one of the rare seated dinners we ever hear of Jesus attending (Lk 7.36-50). It didn’t help any when she stood “behind him at his feet” kissed them and anointed them, then washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair. Furthermore, her obvious skill as a contortionist, is only implied in this story, but it should not be overlooked.
Simon, the host, complained, obviously recognizing her, but surely rarely, if ever, having had her or any of her sisters over for dinner. In response, Jesus treated him not only to a parable with a test to see if he got it right, but to a lagniappe about his lack of hospitality.
All that aside, this story’s about two of life’s major turns — forgiving and loving — and how neither works all that well without the other. Simon has already pronounced the woman a sinner, so with another “in your face,” Jesus forgives her on the spot for whatever and without going into lurid detail, thus triggering the dinner guests into the usual background murmurs expected in situations like this.
Then Jesus pulled one of his famous conundrums out the hat and said she loved a lot as she had just demonstrated because she’d been forgiven a lot, that if you haven’t been forgiven much, you can’t love all that readily. He wasn’t talking about quantitative forgiving so much as qualitative forgiving. There is a difference and it has a lot do with whether you’re willing or humble or open to the Holy Spirit (God’s forgiving agent) enough to admit it, hurdle it, and get a life.
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