Here is the Gospel lesson from Luke...
36One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 37And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him — that she is a sinner." 40Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "speak." 41A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" 43Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 44Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." 48Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
1Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
I love how this woman is merely identified as "she was a sinner". Of course, we all know that this can (and does!) apply to all of us, but the people in the story saw her as "something else". I think that an important task for the preacher of this text is to make the connection between the sins of the woman and our own sins, and to highlight that we have indeed "sinned greatly" and therefore should love our redeemer even more greatly.
ReplyDeleteI go back and forth on whether or not people need to be "convinced" of their sin these days. If this is your home congregation, perhaps you have a better feel for whether the congregation needs to be convinced of its sin and its need for forgiveness or not. If they do, I've been reflecting lately on the fact that this world is simply not as it ought to be. If we are people who believe God is active in the world, and that God has promised us better, it should be pretty easy to see that the world is full of sin, and that the effects of sin affect everyone, and are caused by everyone (some more than others, of course). Just my beginning thoughts. Where do you think you'll go with the text?
The courage of the woman amazes me. She is a known sinner in the city and entering the Pharises house to meet Jesus who is able to forgive her sins! She clearly understood who Jesus is and when we read the story, there are many things which hinders this woman to enter the Pharisees house, but for her (personally), her main focus was meeting with Jesus and get forgiveness for her sins.
ReplyDeleteWho is this woman and what purpose do you think she was trying to serve by her action? Was she simply serving her Lord? How do you see this text being played out if it were a movie? How would you frame this scene? How would you describe what is going on here to children? Where do we fit into this picture? There's a lot of rich material here, Cassandra, and I look forward to seeing how you work it all out in your sermon.
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