Jesus honours the dishonoured

 JESUS HONOURS THE DISHONOURED

 

“Do you see this woman? … her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown.”

LUKE 7:44, 47

 

Love … does not dishonour others.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:5

 

Based on LUKE 7:36–50

 

Jesus was constantly upsetting the teachers of the law, hanging out with the wrong crowds and showing little regard for their additional regulations added to Moses’s law. But one night, Jesus was dining in a Pharisee’s house. Things seem to be going well.

Until a “sinful woman” walks in and lavishes her love and worship on Jesus, weeping over His feet (how emotional!), wiping the smudgy dust with her own hair (how immodest!), kissing His feet (how preposterous!), and pouring her expensive perfume on them (how wasteful!). The whole scene disrupts Simon’s dinner party. Not only is this woman sinful, she’s uninvited, and her actions are distracting. Everyone around the low tables sees her, hears her, smells her.

And Simon grows resentful, mentally criticising Jesus. If He’s truly a prophet, He knows what kind of a woman she is and would rebuke her shameful behaviour, dismissing her with scorn.

But Jesus displays His prophetic powers differently, discerning Simon’s thoughts and telling him a story that reveals the depths of His love. Two people owed money — one ten times more than the other — and both were forgiven their debts. Who would love their forgiver more?

Through this parable, Jesus extends forgiveness to both characters at the table. Both Simon and the sinful woman have equal access to the cascade of love flowing from Jesus.

The parched one drinks deeply and exudes loving gratitude. The content one takes a sip and turns away. Jesus offered His love and forgiveness to both that night, but only one received and was transformed.

In ancient times, all good hosts would have greeted their guests with a kiss and supplied water for their guests to wash their feet (or asked a servant to do the task for them). For honoured guests, like Jesus, the host would also provide olive oil to anoint their heads out of extreme respect. But whether out of negligence or intentional rudeness, Simon did not offer Jesus these basic courtesies. And Jesus, ignoring normal protocols in an honour-shame culture, openly exposes Simon’s inhospitality, contrasting his stinginess with the woman’s lavishness.

Why did Simon invite Jesus in the first place, if not out of love?

Perhaps it was to save face. Inviting a travelling teacher into one’s home, and even throwing a banquet in his honour, would have been considered the virtuous thing to do. His neighbours would have commended Simon for a job well done, but Jesus sees through the veneer and cuts to the heart, showing Simon that it comes down to love.

Jesus freely pours out His love on all, but only those aware of their sins receive His gift and cling to Him for life.

In ordinary conditions, Simon would have not feared comparison with the sinful woman. He outperformed her in every letter of the law. Except one, Jesus points out. The most important one. Love. Because “whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” But love encapsulates the entirety of the law.

Jesus didn’t debate the woman’s condition with Simon, they all knew she was a sinner. But He transformed her identity from atrocious sinner to acceptable worshiper. Turning to speak to her, Jesus offers her the greatest gift, a new relationship with the almighty God through the forgiveness of all her sins.

Don’t miss Jesus’ dramatic statement here — the dinner guests didn’t. Only priests could pronounce God’s forgiveness — and only after appropriate sacrifices had been offered and accepted in the temple courts. But only God Himself could forgive sins. And here, Jesus was stepping into that role, declaring, in effect, God’s presence in that very room, extending forgiveness, reconciliation, and a fresh start to the most unlikely recipient.

 

Prayer 

 

Precious Jesus, You created me in my mother’s womb, and you know my secret thoughts. How wonderful is Your love for me! Forgive me for those times when I go through the motions of a relationship without love. Stir in me a sincere love for You that consumes all other thoughts and motives. Forgive me also for judging others by my own standards; help me see others through Your eyes. You have loved me much, and You forgive me much. Help me love You more.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.

 

If you want to read more 

 

1Sam 16.7, Psa 139, Mt 22.36–40, Lk 5.30–32, 7.36–50, 1Cor 8.3, 13.12