BEN F. VICK, JR.
Jesus was invited by a Pharisee to eat in his home with him (Luke 7:36). He had dined with publicans as well (Matt. 9:9-10), demonstrating that the Son of God desires to save all men, regardless of their station in life. His eating on these occasions did not indicate his approval of their lives. He came to seek and save the lost wherever they were (Luke 5:32; 19:10). He did not turn down the invitation to eat with this Simon.
Christ entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined to eat. Reclining was the practice at that time. People reclined on pillows on their left sides with their feet stretched away from the low table. There was quite a gathering of people, including many Pharisees. It seems others were able to gather around the room to observe the guest of honor. It seems those who gathered came into the room on their own accord. They were not eating but observing.
One of those who came into the room was a woman of the city known to be a sinner. There were perhaps so many coming and going that she could slip in unnoticed. The text does not say she was a woman of ill repute, but the implication is there. Regardless, her reputation had preceded her. She had learned that Jesus was in the house of this Pharisee. She brought an alabaster box (a vessel with a rather long neck that was broken when the contents were used) of ointment or perfume. Standing at Jesus’ feet behind him, she was overwhelmed with emotions that could not be contained. As she wept, her tears fell upon our Lord’s feet, and she began to wipe them with the hairs of her head, even though it was not proper for a woman to let her hair down in public as she did. As she wiped his feet, she kissed them. She opened the flask and anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment. Nothing is said about the cost of the ointment. The room must have fallen silent as she showed her love for Jesus.
Luke, the physician, is the only one of the four writers of the gospel records to relate this account. The others – Matthew, Mark, and John, mention a later occasion when Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, anointed Jesus before his burial (Matt. 26:2-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-9). On that occasion, Jesus was in the home of Simon the Leper in Bethany of Judea; here, Jesus was in the house of a Pharisee in Galilee. On the latter occasion, the woman is named – Mary; on this occasion, she is not named, only that she was a sinner.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the sinful woman, Mary Magdala, and Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, are the same. It teaches the woman anointed Jesus’ feet twice, once when she had repented and again in grateful devotion to him before his burial. The Catholic Missal reads under the heading of “July 22. St. Mary Magdalen, Penitent (white): She is identified in Latin tradition with the sister of Lazarus and the sinner who anointed the feet of Jesus. She stood at the foot of the cross and became an apostle to the apostles by announcing the Resurrection” (p. 908). However, note this is according to “Latin tradition.” The tradition began in the time of Gregory the Great (A.D. 590-A.D.604) and has been passed down to the present. The tradition is not old enough. It is of men, not God (Matt. 15:3-9; 2 Thess. 2:15).
Simon, the Pharisee, observed the woman and thought within himself: “This man [Jesus] if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner.” Jesus, being a prophet, could read Simon’s mind, as he had done with others. He told this parable to Simon: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” (Luke 7:41-42). A “pence” was equal to a day’s wages (Matt. 20:2). So one debt was equal to about two years of work if one only worked five days a week; the other debt might be paid off after working a month and a half. Jesus asked Simon, “Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” Simon answered: “I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.” Jesus said, “Thou hast rightly judged.” Then, Jesus gave the application:
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little (Luke 7:44-47).
Jesus turned to the woman and said, “Thy sins are forgiven.” What thankfulness, love, and devotion she paid to our Lord. Those who sat around in shock at what the woman did and what Jesus said began to think: “Who is this that forgiveth sins also?” Jesus told the woman, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”
The Lord blessed her for her faith but not until she had demonstrated it by her loving kindness and devotion. Our love for the Lord who forgives our sins should motivate us. It should cause us to be thankful and praise him in our worship. This woman was not concerned about what others thought as she let down her hair, wiped her tears from his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
We all sin (Rom. 3:23). John wrote, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10). Thus, all of us need forgiveness. For those outside of Christ, they must believe the gospel (Mark 16:15-16), repent of sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ (Rom. 10:10), and be baptized (Acts 2:38). As children of God, we are to walk in the light of God’s word, and when we sin, we are to repent, confess our sins and pray (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9).