Jesus is invited to eat at a Pharisee's house. He goes there and a "sinful woman" (I..e, possibly a prostitute) hears of this and approaches Jesus. She weeps and cleans Jesus' feet with her tears. She also pours perfume on his feet.
The Pharisee sees this and says that if Jesus is a true prophet, he would know that what kind of woman she is.
This prompts Jesus to ask him a question about love. Who would be filled with greater love, one who has been forgiven of a small debt or one forgiven of a large debt. The Pharisee answers the one forgiven of a large debt. Jesus says that is correct, then turns to the woman and says "your sins are forgiven".
Others eating with the Pharisee are surprised and ask "who is this man that forgive debts?".
This story in Luke comes immediately after the visit by the John the Baptist's disciples. So, perhaps that interaction reminded the Pharisees that Jesus was in fact anointed by John so they want to give Jesus a fair appraisal out of respect for John. That said, we know that the Pharisees are looking for ways to kill Jesus. So, we have some sort of conflicting attitudes by the Pharisee and we do not know why they invited Jesus to eat. Regardless, Jesus does not feel physically threatened and at other times when the pressure got hot, Jesus took a lower profile.
The initial statement by the Pharisee ("if this man is a true prophet") conveys skepticism and surprise that Jesus is allowing a "sinful woman" to touch him, but it is not necessarily a malicious reaction. To the Pharisee, if Jesus is the prophet after John, then Jesus might be expected to do what John did, which was tell people specifically how they should change their lives.
Here, Jesus does not do that. Rather, he lets the woman take control and Jesus sits passively. This woman is in the very process of repenting (I.e., changing her life) or at least recognizes the need for it. Her reaction is to come to Jesus with gratitude, which Jesus focuses on with the story he asks the Pharisee.
The last question by the others ("who is this man that can forgive debts") also conveys surprise, but not necessarily skepticism or a malicious intent. Rather, I think it goes to their surprise that Jesus' message is completely new. Prophets of old, including John the Baptist, called people to repentance and told them to change their lives. To be forgiven required going to the priests and making animal sacrifices.
Here, Jesus does not follow the prior model of prophets. Rather, he makes a bold, brand new statement - your sins are forgiven.
No comments:
Post a Comment