Seeing Ourselves in Simon and the Sinful Woman

 Have you ever had those people that are negative about absolutely everything? They may complain about the littlest things and hate everything they see. How about those people that are incredibly grateful and positive about everything? Those people that love and admire everything they see.

 My question to you is which person are you? The grateful person or the person that is incredibly negative and nothing is ever good enough? 

We see in the life of Jesus how he reacted when given the littlest things. When someone does the smallest act of service, he is all the more grateful. When someone does something out of the ordinary, he doesn’t point it out; but welcomes it. We also see many people around Jesus and how they are towards things and even other people. 

Take a minute to read this passage found in Luke 7:36-50 “One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.””

We see 3 different people here. One is Jesus, the second is a pharisee named Simon, and the other, a woman who is unnamed. Each person has their own way of acting in this passage. 

Starting with Jesus and Simon: we see Jesus going to Simon’s (the pharisee) house to have dinner. As he is there, a woman comes in, doesn’t say anything that we know of, and starts washing his feet. As she does this, Simon goes bonkers. I could imagine Simon calling Jesus crazy for allowing a sinner to do such a thing. And Jesus being Jesus goes straight into a parable about two men who owed different debts. They were both forgiven by their loaner. He then brought Simon into this story and asked him who probably loved the loaner more and Simon said the one who owed more. Jesus then related the situation they were in at that time to the parable. 

We see Jesus teaching at this moment. He isn’t hating on Simon, but correcting him for his words. We also see Simon, who immediately began hating on the woman, be taught love and the power of forgiveness through someone else. One thing that I think blinded Simon is his pride. His pride got in the way of him seeing that he himself is also a sinner and that he has no right to judge. We don’t quite know how he reacted to the parable and Jesus forgiving the woman’s sin, but my hope is that he had a change of heart. 

I want us to now look at the woman and Jesus. I love that this woman had the bravery and courage to walk into a pharisee’s house and begin washing Jesus’ feet. If that were me, I’d be shaking in my boots haha! But she had that bravery that she needed. She knew what she needed to do, and she did it. We also see her posture towards Jesus. She came in, got on her knees, anointed his feet with her own rare perfume, and used her own hair to wash his feet. 

Take a minute to think about that. She came into someone’s house that she knew would probably judge her. She got down on her knees, and washed Jesus’ feet with her own hair and her own rare perfume. She used her own tears as water. 

Why would she be crying? Why would she go through so much for Jesus? 

She knew the impact of her sins. She knew the life she had lived and she wanted to seek forgiveness from Jesus. So she knew what she wanted to do to show that. She grabbed her things, and headed out the door towards Simon’s house because that’s where she heard that Jesus would be at. She then honored Jesus and served him. 

I think of this story and I think of all the times I have knelt on my knees before Jesus and cried to him about all the things. The way his love and grace fall over me in those moments is the sweetest feeling. 

I wonder if that is what this woman felt when she heard Jesus speaking over her and to her. If she felt the same way I feel when I am in His presence. I could imagine her soaking in every second of her time with Him while washing his feet. 

I also wonder if in her mind she had stopped for a moment when Simon started saying negative things. Maybe she second guessed her decision to come into his house and wash Jesus’ feet. I could imagine the shame that was added onto her when Simon started talking and calling her a sinner. It’s like when you are about to tell your parents you did something wrong, but your sibling beats you to it and then more shame just gets put on you because you weren’t the one to tell them first. It’s a terrible feeling to have, and I could imagine she felt that. 

But Jesus then steps in and talks to Simon. Like I’ve already stated, Jesus corrects Simon and his words with a parable and then relates to it with Simon. How wonderful it is that Jesus sticks up for his children and corrects those he is with! It truly shows Jesus’ love for us. 

I say all of this to ask you this: which person are you? Are you Simon, the one that instantly judges and ridicules? Or are you the woman that falls down at Jesus’ feet in thankfulness and gratitude? Do you see your sin or just everyone else’s? Are you quick to judge or complain or are you quick to be thankful and grateful? 

I find myself going between both of these people. Whether it be I complain about the smallest thing or even judge someone else when I have my own sins, sometimes the same one that I may be judging. Other times I find myself being incredibly thankful for the littlest things. I pray and all that comes out is gratitude towards the Lord. I think that we can all go back and forth between being Simon and being the woman. But we should always strive to be the woman that lays everything at Jesus’ feet and serves him with the only things she has left to give; herself. 

I encourage you to spend some time reading and studying that story again and really meditate on what it means to you. Let the Word of God speak to you intimately and hear the Lord’s voice.