Your faith has saved you. Go in peace

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it." 

"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he free forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more."  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see the woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but the woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

- Luke 7:36-50

In yesterday's reading, two disciples of John the Baptist were sent to Jesus, asking, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  John is in prison.  Just at that time, Jesus cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." Then He began to defend John to the crowd.  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?"  Jesus said John was a prophet and more than a prophet.  "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." Luke tells us that when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. Jesus compared them to children playing an ancient game, in which one group either played or mourned, and the other was to respond by either dancing or weeping.  He said the "men of this generation" are "like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Here's an interesting scene:  Jesus is dining in the home of a Pharisee, an individual who is open to Jesus' ministry although as a group the Pharisees oppose Him.  And then a woman, who is known as a sinner, came to the home, and with this great act of love and apparent contrition, came to Christ.  Perhaps we can read into her anointing of His feet her recognition that He is the Christ, the Anointed One.  We note that she also "anoints" with her tears.  Her actions in some way resemble baptism -- what she seeks, to be reborn:  washing with water, anointing with oil.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors.  One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing with which to repay, he free forgave them both.  Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more."  Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."  And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see the woman?  I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.  You gave Me no kiss, but the woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."   My study bible notes, "This is a great encouragement to all who feel so much of their lives has been given over to sin.  In the mercy of God, a sinful past is not a hopeless liability.  Forgiveness comes to those who truly love Christ."  It adds, "The Scriptures speak of many things that contribute to our salvation:  a believing spouse (1 Cor. 7:14-16), prayer (James 5:15) and baptism (1 Pet. 3:21).  Here Jesus names a basic one:  personal faith." 

With Jesus, love, faith, and forgiveness all go hand in hand.  We have to remember our basic relationship with Him and what is characterized in it.  I find that when I go to God with whatever problem I have, whatever shortcoming I find or think I'm guilty of, there's always a serene sort of acceptance with the resolution that I simply try and start over and try to do better.  Christ is like the parent who simply wants His child to truly love Him, to learn and to grow.  It seems that God's love extends to us in ways in which it is clear that what is desired is always what is best for us.  Here, there's no doubt from the story that she truly is a sinner, whatever that may mean has happened in her life.  She accepts it as well.  But her love and faith is great; her total confidence given over to Christ in tears and the beautiful fragrant oil so powerfully and vividly described by Luke.   But there is a real exchange of love here.  This is not a formulaic answer to problems, a kind of exchange of payments or penance.  There is something more, greater and deeper.  An exchange of love like this is true koinonia, communion in the Greek.  In communion with Him, we exchange our sinfulness in love, we start over in faith.  There's an assumption here, with her tears, that she wishes to change her life, as she wipes her own past clean with the tears that bathe Christ's feet.  What she does for Him in her act of love is also what she wishes for herself, and this she receives and so much more:  His blessing, His peace, His forgiveness.  In the relationship of love and faith in Christ, a depth of communion, we make an exchange that is quite above and beyond any legalistic framework that we understand on our worldly terms of daily life, and instead receive an abundance in a kind of sacramental love.  We give up our pasts, our understanding, our lives, in exchange for what He offers to us instead, walking with Him in His Way.  And that's what we have to remember that God's love is all about.  It's a relationship of the depth of communion.  Christ takes everything we can offer Him to His heart, and in exchange gives us new life.  This happens through love and faith.  Our brokenness, our imperfection is what He asks us to offer; our tears, our prayers, our faith and trust, and our love.