A meal of Jesus
The Woman Who Wept at the Table
Dinner at Simon the Pharisee's · Luke 7:36-50
At a Pharisee's dinner, a woman known in the city as a sinner wept over Jesus' feet, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them. The host was appalled; Jesus received her worship and forgave her, saying, 'her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much' (Luke 7:47).
The scene
What the table means
Simon the Pharisee had invited Jesus to dinner, correctly, respectably, at arm's length. And then the scene was ruined. A woman 'which was a sinner,' known in the town for it, slipped in uninvited, stood behind Jesus weeping, and let her tears fall on his feet, wiping them with her hair, kissing them, pouring out perfume. It was raw, undignified, unbearable to the host, who thought to himself that if Jesus were really a prophet he would know what kind of woman was touching him, and would recoil.
But Jesus knew exactly what kind of woman she was, and did not recoil. He turned the whole table around. He pointed out that Simon, the proper host, had offered him no water for his feet, no kiss, no oil, the ordinary courtesies, while this woman had not stopped washing his feet with her tears. 'Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much,' he said, 'but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.' The one everyone despised understood grace better than the host, because she knew how much she had been forgiven. And to her, at the table, Jesus said the words she had never dared hope for: 'Thy sins are forgiven... go in peace.'
The host kept Jesus at arm's length. The sinner washed his feet with her tears. Only one of them left forgiven.
The table is still set
Jesus is still the friend of sinners, still the host who welcomes the ones everyone else would seat at the back. You do not have to become presentable first; the whole point of every one of these meals is that he sat down with people before they had cleaned themselves up. The Living Bread is a quiet place to pull up a chair, read the Gospels, and pray, and discover that a place was set for you all along.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- Who was the woman who washed Jesus' feet?
- Luke 7:37-38 describes her only as 'a woman in the city, which was a sinner.' She wept over Jesus' feet at a Pharisee's dinner, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them. Jesus forgave her sins and commended her love, saying 'thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.'
- What does the story teach about forgiveness?
- That those who know how much they have been forgiven love God the most. Jesus said, 'to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little' (Luke 7:47). The despised woman understood grace better than the respectable host, because she came aware of her deep need.