1 Kings 21:1-21
The story of how King Ahab acquired the vineyard belonging to Naboth is one of
those unpleasant stories we don’t particularly like to think about. But it is also a
story about how God, speaking through prophets, both ancient and modern, calls
us to account for our actions.
Psalm 5
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Psalm 5 is a plea that God might hear and answer prayer, but it warns that God
takes no pleasure in wickedness, treachery or lies. It ends with a promise that God
will bless and shield the righteous who put their trust in God.
Galatians 2:15-21
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul picks up on one of his favorite themes, that no
one can be put right with God by acts or good deeds or by obeying a set of laws or
rules. Rather, only through faith and grace can we truly be at peace with God.
Luke 7:36-50
Luke tells the story of an unnamed woman who bows before Jesus and anoints his
feet with costly perfume. Because of this woman’s history she is rejected by
everyone except Jesus.
Alabaster and Perfume
The story of the anointing of Jesus feet is one of those bible stories that has
always caught my imagination. It is one of those rare stories that appears in all
four gospels, but there are distinct differences in how the story is told and in the
lesson that is seems to be intended to teach.
In the Gospel According to John, as well as the versions found in Matthew
and Mark, this story takes place within the last week of Jesus life. In John, it takes
place not in the house of Simon, but in the house of Lazarus and it is not an
unnamed woman living a sinful life who anoints Jesus feet, but his sister Mary.
She pours expensive perfume over Jesus feet and dries them with her hair.
In both Matthew and Mark the story takes place in the house of Simon the
Leper and although the woman in unnamed, there is no mention of her as being a
“sinful” woman. The one striking difference between the story found in Matthew
and Mark and the other two stories is that it is not Jesus feet that are anointed, but
rather his head. Although anointing the feet is a sign of worship anointing the
head is a sign of recognition of royalty or kingship.
In all three of these stories one or more of the disciples become angry that the
expensive perfume is “wasted” on Jesus when it could be used to purchase food to
feed the hungry. Jesus answer to this is not a comforting and reassuring one. He
responds that there will always be poor people in the world, but that what has been
done for him has been a symbolic preparation of his body for death and burial.
Luke’s story is different … and to be honest it is by far my favorite of all the
version. In Luke this story does not take place near the end of Jesus life, but early
on in his ministry. Jesus is invited to dine at the home of Simon the Pharisee.
There is no mention of Simon as having been a leper but it is his standing as a
Pharisee that immediately adds a new dimension to the story.
In the passage directly before the one we read this morning Jesus refers to
accusations made by the Pharisees that he is “a glutton and a drunkard”. It seems
odd that immediately follow a passage where the Pharisees accuse Jesus of
immorality, he should then be invited to dine with one of them, but in fact this
points out something that we often forget. Not all of the Pharisees were against
Jesus. Not all the scribes or temple authorities were against Jesus either but we
tend to lump them all together into one category as those who opposed Jesus.
Some were in fact curious. Some even became devoted followers.
All that Luke tells us about Simon is that he was a Pharisee and that he
invited Jesus to dine with him. As the passage develops, however, we learn more.
We learn that Simon has not welcomed Jesus in the manner that he would have
been expected for an important or honored guest. An important guest would have
been met at the door with a kiss on the cheek, symbolizing both welcome and
respect and offering the guest the assurance that the host was offering a safe and
welcoming environment. Once these formalities of greeting were completed, the
honored guest would then be provided with water to wash the dirt of the road from
his feet. Simon did not offer Jesus either of these signs of respect. We are told
that Jesus simply went into Simon’s house and sat down to eat.
And it is then that a woman enters the room. She carries with her a jar made
of alabaster. Most jars of the time would have been made of clay and used to hold
water or olive oil. An alabaster jar would likely have been much smaller and
would have been used to hold costly perfume. The monetary value of such a jar
would have been around 500 denari, the equivalent of an entire year’s wages.
Such an expensive jar of perfume could not be easily replaced and so it
would have been saved for a very special occasion. For most people of the time,
the perfume would have been saved for one of two purposed. It may well have
been intended to be used as a burial perfume, to anoint the body after death.
Matthew, Mark and John all pick up on this imagery when Jesus specifically says
that the oil is being used to prepare him for his death.
But it is the other potential use of this expensive perfume that I believe fits
better with Luke’s story and give it a completely different meaning. An alabaster
jar of expensive perfume might also be kept as a dowry, meant to be saved until
the wedding night and then poured over the groom’s feet by the bride as a symbol
that all that she has and all that she is, is now being poured out for the exclusive
use of her new husband. Once poured out, the woman would retain nothing that is
hers but rather everything, including her very life, would now belong to him.
If this was the purpose for which this particular jar of perfume was intended,
then without this dowry, the woman in question would have little chance of ever
making a good marriage or finding a husband who would care for her. For Luke,
the actions of this woman had nothing to do with preparing Jesus for his death.
For Luke, it is an act of complete and total surrender of herself to Jesus.
Simon, watching this drama unfold, sees only a woman of sinful reputation
whom Jesus, as an honorable Jewish male should reject. Jesus sees something
very different. Jesus sees a woman whose life has been so radically changed by
hearing and accepting the good news which he came to bring, that her past sinful
life is behind her. She no longer carries the weight of shame and humiliation that
has kept her from knowing love and acceptance. She is now free. She is forgiven.
That is why Jesus says, “I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that
her many sins have been forgiven.”
Jesus is not saying that because of her great love for him, he has forgiven her
sins. Rather he is saying that because she knows in her heart that she has already
been forgiven, the only possible response she can have, is love. For Luke, what
matters in this story is not the cost of the perfume or the extravagance of the act.
What matters is the certainty that regardless of how bad the sins of this woman
may have been, regardless of how many sins she may have committed, forgiveness
is always possible. Her great love for and devotion to Jesus is not the cause of her
forgiveness but the visible evidence that forgiveness had already taken place.
But according to Luke, Jesus adds one more lesson for those who are
gathered in Simon’s house that day. Those who have been forgiven great sins will
show great love, but those who have been forgiven little, shows only a little love.
The thing is that the greatness or the smallness of the sin is not judged by the
person observing, but rather by God.
God’s forgiveness is not limited. No matter what has happened in our lives
or in the lives of those around us, there is always the possibility of forgiveness.
But in order to receive forgiveness we must first face the things we have done that
need to be forgiven and then we need to seek forgiveness for them.
The woman with the alabaster jar had hidden nothing for God or from
herself. She had faced the reality of who she was and all that she had done. She
had no illusions that she could ever earn a place among God’s beloved or that she
deserved such a place. Yet what she had come to realize was that despite
everything she was already loved and forgiven by God and so her response was a
demonstration of great love and gratitude.
It would appear from our story that Simon is not so loving. He did not even
show Jesus the courtesy and respect that an honored or much loved guest would
have received. He did not show love and compassion for the woman who
demonstrated great love and devotion for Jesus but rather treated her with scorn
and contempt. He even scoffed at Jesus willingness to accept her love. “If this
man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is”.
Simon does not see his lack of consideration and courtesy as a sin. He does
not see his contempt and prejudice as a sin. He does not see his condemning of the
kindness of another as sin. Simon, it would appear, has experienced little
forgiveness because he does not see the sins that he unknowingly commits. He
feels no need of forgiveness and so does not experience the wonder of the
complete love and devotion that we see in the woman with the alabaster jar.
God’s love and forgiveness are not limited, but sometimes our ability to ask
for it and to accept it when offered is. The truth is that many of us gathered here
today have more in common with the Pharisee than we do with the woman. Many
of us have lived our entire lives trying to uphold the principles of our faith, but in
doing so we sometime miss the reality that was so obvious to this woman.
God loves us not because we deserve it or have earned it. God loves us
simply because we are beloved of God. How can our reaction to such wondrous
knowledge be anything but “great love” in return?