After Thoughts: Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Luke 7:36-8:3

We can read this passage and think – oh, that sinful woman is so happy because she has been forgiven so much.  But Simon is such a good guy, he doesn’t need that much forgiveness. We might even be so bold as to think – that’s like those of us here at church on any given Sunday.  We’re pretty good so God must be pleased with us, our confessions aren’t that egregious, but let’s not forget to say thanks. Then we check that box, take the bread and wine, and we’re all set for another week.

But what if we read this story all wrong?  What if Simon is the one who has been forgiven five hundred denarii?  And yet he doesn’t even realize it.  What if it’s a challenge from Jesus for less judgement of others and greater awareness of self?  Simon doesn’t appear to be one who does much self-reflection.  He hasn’t welcomed his guest properly, and now here he sits observing this woman’s outpouring of love and thinking to himself – “if Jesus were a prophet, he would know this woman is a sinner.”  Can we extrapolate from this that Simon must have thought Jesus saw snow-white purity inside Simon?  How could he remain so unaware of his own sinfulness even when Jesus says “But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little?”  This doesn’t mean Simon had ‘little’ to be forgiven for.  He just didn’t even realize how great his debt was.

This woman may have been a prostitute, we don’t know for certain.  But whatever she did, it was outside the norm of society. She was forced to live a lifestyle that made her an outcast.  Not uncommon in a time when women’s identity and financial security were tied to a male relative, a husband in the best case, or a son, brother, or other man willing to take on the responsibility.  In the absence of such protection, a woman was left to fend for herself.  As this woman has done.  It is a necessary choice which seems to have brought her great pain and a heightened awareness of her need for love, forgiveness, and mercy.

Simon, on the other hand, is part of the establishment.  He prospers from the existing system.  He can afford to conform and obey the norms of the society because he has helped to create and continues to sustain them.  So much for justice, kindness, and walking humbly.  Simon is large and in charge and sitting on the judgement seat.  And such a debtor unaware.

To be forgiven much, we must first be aware of how great the debt we owe.  Five hundred denarii?  Well, if we read this story and identify with the fifty denarii debtor, we might want to take a closer look.  We’re all in the 500+ plus club.  And, thanks be to God, that is not a bad thing – that is a point of departure, a path to the Light.  Because the awareness of the depth of our sin, the immensity of our need for forgiveness, drives us to the cross where we find Jesus.  And the one to whom much is forgiven, loves so much more.