C, Pent 3 Proper 6 - Luke 7:36-50 & Galatians 2:20 "Simon, the Seductress, & our Saviour"
The work of redemption, the grace of God, climaxes in Jesus’ death at the cross and resurrection from the grave, for you and for me.
Jesus’ ministry and mission was to come to earth and find his Father’s lost children — the vulnerable, the weak, the ugly, the proud, the arrogant — those who were lost, choking in the depths of humanity’s sin.
Jesus finds himself at the house of Simon the Pharisee, reclining at the table with the other guests; he had been accepted by the community of Pharisees as a prophet. Only invited guest were welcome at the table of the Pharisees, because eating with the wrong people would have invited desecration of their cleanliness before God at the
While reclining at the table a woman of ill repute, who knows of Jesus’ presence, comes and wipes his feet with perfume and her tears, and with her hair. How and why that woman knew Jesus was there, we are not told. But she was a prostitute, her hair was long and let down in public, and she paraded offensively in the Pharisee’s house, wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair.
Was she seducing the Pharisee’s guest with her trade practices to pamper him into parting with his wealth, as she had done with so many other men? No! On this occasion she wipes his feet with tears — tears of sadness and tears of great joy! The prostitute knew she was getting so much more from this man than she had ever enticed from any other man, and she knew he was the only man who could give this gift to her.
This woman was a sinner, she was weak she was vulnerable, she was a seductress and she was seduced by sin, and yet she is just like you and me! We too were once lost, carried along by the crowd of popular belief. And even now we’re enticed into prostituting ourselves to gods other than the One True God. However, after the shallow short-lived periods of excitement give way to a deeper reality, that we too need much more than the joys of flesh, the joys of materialism, the joys of popularity, and the hollowness left in the wake of any short-lived experience.
So the prostitute anoints Jesus’ feet at the table of Simon the Pharisee. She forces herself on Jesus; and the Pharisees look on in judgement. They believed and accepted him as someone clean; perhaps even a prophet! Yet he let this woman touch him, this sinful unclean woman, and he didn’t do anything about it. He should have known better, if he was a true prophet!
But Jesus knew more about what was going on in that house than the Pharisees understood. In fact the prostitute knew more than the Pharisees too. She knew she was a sinner, she knew the depths of her sin, she knew the righteous company Jesus reclined amongst, yet she went in before them all, believing one thing: Jesus will forgive me. Her faith in Jesus led her to judge herself and love Jesus in a way far different than she had loved any man. And the wealth Jesus gave her was more precious than all the money bags ever emptied for her sexual services.
On the other hand, the Pharisees don’t seek Jesus’ approval. Rather they believed he needed to seek their forgiveness, now he had desecrated their faith in him, by associating with the woman. As far as they were concerned Jesus had become as unclean as the wayward woman. One who had so much potential to be like them now seemed like a leper, worth nothing to them, and even worse, he acted as if he had the authority to forgive her sin. Therefore, as we know, they sought to kill him!
What is Jesus worth to us? Why do we worship in God’s house? Do we come into God’s house, into his presence, inviting him as guest to justify what we do as did the Pharisees? Or, like the prostitute, do we boldly come into his presence, trusting his faithful promise of forgiveness and power over our sin?
Jesus doesn’t give up seeking to reach us with his word and the Holy Spirit. And we know we’re not alone. We like the prostitute need to hear the gospel and in it see Jesus Christ, the sole gift of salvation. In the community of believers our focus can only be drawn to Christ being with us, the only one who can forgive us our sin, and free us from the hold of our old sinful prostitution masters. We never have to fend for ourselves, giving ourselves to other gods, now that Christ calls us to be with him, hearing and receiving forgiveness, here in church.
We can take to heart the words of
But Paul a former Pharisee, says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:20-21)
Having heard these words from Galatians chapter two, a few questions must be asked, “How are we crucified with Christ? After all, Jesus died two-thousand years ago! How do we live by faith in the Son of God? How do we remain in God’s good grace? How are we made righteous apart from the law, and connected with the cross, now that Jesus is risen and hidden in glory at the right hand of the Father in heaven?”
It’s tempting to conclude — if I too make a sacrifice like Jesus, if I love, then I will be crucified with Christ and therefore forgiven. But it’s not my love that crucifies me with Christ, that’s just doing the same as the Pharisees did! In fact, works of faith, and acts of love, comes as a result of Christ’s crucifixion working in us. Paul tells us in Galatians that it is not circumcision or anything else we do that saves us but rather, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-27)
One can look at the shrewdness of the prostitute in plying her trade to seeing how Jesus’ forgiveness at the cross is given to us in baptism and our deeds of repentance and worship follow as a result. A prostitute gives her services only after the price is paid. Similarly the prostitute, who wiped Jesus’ feet with love and tears of hope, joy, and humility, did so only after receiving from Jesus, what was to be the full cost of his life on the cross — forgiveness and faith in his grace and mercy, in exchange for her sinful life.
The Pharisees ultimately went on to set aside the grace of God in favour of righteousness through the law, killing Jesus for nothing. But the prostitute received forgiveness and righteousness, from he who could save her, which depended fully on his death on the cross. And she responded in faith, with worship and devoted love, anointing him as the one who would die to pay the full price for her sin.
Jesus comes to us too — extending the hand of grace to us to daily trust our baptism into his death. He sends the Holy Spirit in his word, to give faith, to convict us, to bring us to repentance. The Spirit comes to lead us in common worship in the presence of the Triune God with devotion and humility, with boldness trusting in the power of the cross over our sin so we might be recipients of his forgiveness, and to faithfully love him in deeds of service amongst one another in fellowship.
His death was costly, it was not for nothing! His death was for every part of my being, your being, and the being of the community of all who believe, hearing and trusting Jesus’ word: Your sins are forgiven. Your faith in me has saved you; go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.
