When someone carries a debt they can no longer manage, their options narrow. Ultimately, they may try to get out from under that debt by declaring bankruptcy or fleeing it entirely. However, many can never escape crushing debt and feel stuck. This is where we find ourselves when we are all summoned to the Holy Court of the Almighty God. On the cross, Jesus Christ saw both the economic and spiritual reality that our debt of sin far exceeds anything we could ever pay off. In Luke 7, Jesus presents us with a story about two debtors, where one has a debt that is ten times the debt of the other, and asks us to consider how we respond to debt. If we receive a small cancellation, then theoretically our thankfulness will be small, but if the debt forgiven is great, then our thankfulness will be great. However, Jesus treats all sin the same, whether it looks polite (like Simon the Pharisee) or public (like the weeping woman); the circumstance and result are the same. The cross cancels them, which is Gospel because our only hope is complete amnesty granted by Christ. When we realize the magnitude of this cancellation, our only logical response is the extravagant, outpouring devotion modeled by the sinful woman.
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and when he went into the Pharisee’s house he reclined to dine. 37 And 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. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now 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.” 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then 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. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition (Friendship Press, 2021), Lk 7:36–50.
For those who have been in the church, it’s natural to want to get close to a movement that seems to be gathering followers, so we can understand what makes it so attractive. Similarly, Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus into his home and treats Him as an equal to be evaluated. However, he misses that Jesus is not an object to test and evaluate; rather, Jesus is the Lord and should be worshipped. The religious leader and supposed scholarly Simon fails to recognize salvation when it enters his home and views his own shortcomings as minor. As a result, he fails to offer even basic hospitality to his guest. By contrast, the woman who was renowned as a sinner recognizes her failure, and if it were possible, she would declare spiritual bankruptcy for her unworthiness to be in Jesus’ presence. Thus, she takes the position of a truly penitent woman. Recognizing her profound need, she brings ointment, her tears, and her hair. She holds nothing back because she knows she has nothing left to lose except her burden. Because of these contrasting responses, Jesus highlights three specific breaches of cultural etiquette by Simon: failing to provide water for dusty feet, failing to give a greeting kiss, and failing to anoint the head with olive oil. By withholding these basic social norms, with which he would be well acquainted, Simon shows that he invited Jesus as a curiosity to be scrutinized, not an honored guest. Instead, the sinner provides water, a towel, a kiss, and oil. Even though it was considered culturally shameful for a woman to unbind her hair in public, she abandoned all concern for societal judgment to completely focus on Jesus. This shows us that those who know they are unworthy often show the religious how to respond to Jesus.
Instead of focusing on Jesus, the world, as represented by Simon here, wants to judge others’ worthiness. The judgment falls upon both Jesus and the woman. There are claims of sinfulness and sinfulness by association, calling into question the nature of Jesus purely based on proximity to a sinner. The world will spend endless energy trying to use our failures and sin, whether in the far past or near past, to disqualify us from grace. Or attempt to punish us for being in the presence of one who has committed a grave sin and seek to attribute that to the church. However, we see that Jesus, the true Judge, does not deny her sin, He doesn’t hide behind something that seeks to obfuscate. Instead, Jesus dismisses the world’s entire purpose for bringing the woman’s past before the court. The woman’s debt was with God and her redemption rests solely on her Creditor’s decree of forgiveness, which absorbs the cost. Christ declares the debt paid in full. As such, Jesus overrides Simon’s judgment with a declaration of amnesty: “Your sins are forgiven.” Simon, through his position, thought that he was in a better standing than the sinful woman, but Jesus corrects and points out that God is the Righteous Judge, and that sin creates debt and it doesn’t matter the scope of that sin. Therefore, if we stand on our own merits, we are condemned. Thus Jesus, the presiding Judge, issues a pardon that Simon has no jurisdiction to overturn. The world loves to label and categorize, but grace shatters these categories.
Ultimately, grace cancels debt. As we recognize the depth of grace, it is not about whether one sin is greater than another, but about recognizing our inherent unworthiness because of our sin. Because of this, Jesus points out a fundamental truth of the Kingdom, that the greater the realization of the debt canceled, the deeper the faithfulness and love. In this scene, because this woman has received amnesty, she prays, praises, and pours out everything. If we do not recognize our need, we could easily dismiss the act of debt cancellation. Simon saw himself as greater than the woman based on his standing within the community of faith and through the recognition he received as a Pharisee; however, grace deconstructs this established hierarchy and Jesus points out that the magnitude of the recognition of debt directly correlates to the magnitude of worship. She washes His feet with tears, kisses them continually, and anoints them. This is the essence of the Christian life: Recognition of Guilt, Realization of Grace, and Practice of Gratitude. The woman’s actions did not earn her salvation. But rather, her love was the evidence of her forgiveness. Her love was the fruit of faith. Her actions do not buy her forgiveness, but they are the explosive result of it.
To truly understand grace, we should understand the alabaster flask for what it truly represents. In this scene, the sealed alabaster vial of ointment represents a most prized possession, not unlike a car, fancy new phone, or even one’s bank account. Simon, like many of us, kept his flask tightly sealed on the shelf, protecting it from intruders. He looked at his spiritual heritage, weighed his moral life against those around him, and thought he could overcome his shortcomings through his standing in the community, so he withheld even his cheap olive oil because he convinced himself he owed no great debt. By contrast, the woman, however, brought her flask, knowing its contents were utterly meaningless compared to the mercy before her. The understood the weight of her sin, and thus did not need to measure out an exact drop, so she broke the seal and poured every last drop onto the feet of Jesus, abandoning her dignity, her reputation, and her safety net. When we finally deal with the weight of our own spiritual bankruptcy, we stop clutching our carefully preserved jars. We stop sitting across the table evaluating Christ as an interesting concept and instead fall to His feet as redeemed debtors. The Christian life does not consist of keeping our ledgers tidy and our alabaster intact; it is found in breaking the seal of our pride wide open, holding nothing back, and letting extravagant gratitude fill the room in response to a debt that grace has canceled in full.
