Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much

 

 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 then 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 freely 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 this 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 this 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 

 

On Saturday we read that the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things being done in Jesus' ministry.  And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'"  And that very hour He 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."  When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "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?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  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."  And 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.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They 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 then 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 freely 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 this 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 this 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."    My study bible comments on today's passage that this Pharisee was intrigued by Christ, as is evidenced by his invitation, but He clearly does not believe in Him, as is shown in his reaction to Christ's mercy, and also in his lack of what would have been common hospitality ("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 this 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.").  Moreover, my study bible cites St. Ambrose of Milan, who calls this encounter with the sinful woman an icon of the grace which is found only in the Church.  Through her, writes St. Ambrose, "the Church is justified as being greater than the Law, for the Law does not know the forgiveness of sins, nor the mystery in which secret sins are cleansed; therefore, what is lacking in the Law is perfected in the Gospel."  

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."   As far as the Pharisees understood it, my study bible tells us, that a man could forgive sins was beyond the bounds of the Law (see 5:21).   But we are to understand Christ as not a mere man, but the very Lawgiver Himself.  St. Cyril of Alexandria writes, "Who could declare things that were above the Law, except the One who ordained the Law?"

There are two things that are striking in today's reading.  Christ says that those who are forgiven much, love much.  At the same time, we observe the great love expressed by this woman, for whom much was forgiven by Christ.  He says, "Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much."  What we can understand about this extravagant expression of the woman is that it is a great outpouring of love.  Jesus seems to say, in both the English and the Greek, that her sins are forgiven "for she loved much."  And there we also come to a kind of conundrum:  Did she love much because she was forgiven much, or was she forgiven much because she loved much?  I think that on some level we are meant to understand that these things form a circle.  Because those who cannot feel or appreciate forgiveness have little capacity for love to begin with.  The tremendous outpouring of love and gratitude on the part of this woman is linked not only to the forgiveness of Christ, but to the power of love which also links them.  Christ, as God, is love -- but that love is also reciprocated and called out in the creature.  She is responding out of faith.  This woman expresses a deeply extravagant and "expensive" love for Christ, for she has found through faith in her Creator a well of love, which can only be expressed through the power of grace at work.  The extravagance of her response to Christ is the only thing that can express the tremendous love we receive from God, the power of grace that knows no bounds and flows without measure.  What we find in this capacity for love and its outpouring symbolized in the flow of the expensive oil is the power of Christ's healing through love.  The forgiveness He gives from God's boundless love taps into the power of a soul healed to the depths of this outpouring, and her gift is a measure of her love.  We don't know what she did, nor what she was like, nor what gave her a rather notorious reputation.  But we can see her real character expressed through this love for Christ, and that is what we are meant to know.  Christ's love challenges us on levels which we can't know fully and can't see, and like this woman, we never know what depths of love might be brought out in us through Christ's forgiveness.  An unconditional power in God's love can bring out strengths and potentials for which we have no inkling, but nevertheless He calls from us through this great love and grace at work.  On the other hand, those for whom a coldness remains, despite salvation and love on offer perhaps express no such thing themselves, as they trust only in themselves to start with.  Jesus tells her that it is her faith that saved her.  Let us remember that in her expression she reveals that she is healed:  something has transformed her life to one of preoccupation with what is selfish to one of this overflowing love she expresses this night.  How are we open to that kind of healing?  What can give us this grace, in which we see how much the love of Christ is worthy of our love and trust, and a dedicated life?  Let us consider the power in God's love, for it is there we go to become "like Him." 

Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her

Ancient glass alabastron (perfume bottle), likely Phoenician ca. 625-600 BC.  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

- Matthew 26:1-16

In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us what is called the Judgment of the Nations, or the parable of the Sheep and Goats, an illustration of judgment at His Second Coming:   "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on His left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'  Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

  Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that He said to His disciples, "You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified."  Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."  My study bible comments that while Jesus is delivered up to His Passion by His accusers, He goes willingly.  Unless He had willed to go, His accusers could never have taken Him.  After His Resurrection, a note reads, many saints imitated Christ by willingly going to martyrdom.  Let us note also the fear of the religious leadership regarding the people, who believe Christ to be a holy man.

And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.  But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste?  For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor."  But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman?  For she has done a good work for Me.  For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always.  For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial.  Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."   Simon the leper was likely a man healed earlier by Christ, as lepers were forbidden to live in towns.  My study bible comments that Jesus accepts this honor from the woman in her newly found faith.  Specifically, as He says, He accepts it as a sign of His coming burial.  In this sense, it is an anointing for His death, in preparation for His Passion.  According to St. John Chrysostom, the disciples weren't wrong in principle:  mercy shown to the poor, he says, is more fitting than outward signs shown even to God (25:40; James 1:27).  But they did not understand that once the gift had been given, it was a greater mercy to accept it with love.  My study bible quotes St. Chrysostom:  "If anyone had asked Christ before the woman did this, He would not have approved it.  But after she had done it, He looks only to the gift itself.  For after the fragrant oil had been poured, what good was a rebuke?  Likewise, if you should see anyone providing a sacred vessel or ornament for the walls of the church, do not spoil his zeal.  But if beforehand he asks about it, command him to give instead to the poor."  Nevertheless, Jesus explicitly behaves with compassion to the woman -- an understanding of the heart in the deepest place of the personal.  He recognizes her profound gift to Him in His own hour of approaching darkness.  My study bible comments that because of her fervent faith, Jesus promises perpetual public memory of this woman.  It adds that there is no consensus among patristic writers as to her identity in relation to similar accounts found in Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-38, and John 12:1-8.  Some say that there were three different women in these four accounts, others state that there were only two.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?"  And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.  So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.   A note in my study bible states that Judas on his own initiative seeks to betray Jesus.  His motives have always been debated historically, but patristic writers and liturgical hymns state that greed was his primary motive.  We can read this in John 12:4-6, where Judas was upset about the "waste" of myrrh (by the woman who anointed Christ) because he was a thief (see also 1 Titus 6:10).  The phrase one of the twelve is used specifically in order to emphasize the depth of betrayal involved (for the earliest hearers of the Gospel already knew who Judas was) -- as His betrayer was one of Christ's closest followers.

In these different stories which focus on various characters all playing roles in Christ's Passion, we are given a glimpse of the competing narratives or motivations that can underlie an event, even one so well-known as this which took place 2,000 years ago.  This chapter begins with Jesus' flat statement to the disciples that He will be delivered to be crucified -- a blunt expression of His foreknowledge.  He knows what is going to happen.  What must the disciples make of such frightening news?  After that is given to us in today's reading the perspective of the Jewish religious leadership in the temple.  They wish to be rid of Jesus.  They have not managed to out-debate Him in front of the crowds at the temple during this Passover festival, at which pilgrims from all over the Jewish world of Israel and the Jewish diaspora are in attendance.  Among the people, Jesus is highly regarded, but also a subject of intense debate.  Clearly, the leaders are afraid to openly seize Him for fear of the crowds, as the text says.  They gather to plot at the home of the high priest.  Then there is the gathering at the home of Simon the leper, in Bethany.  Some suggest that this woman who anoints Christ with the oil is Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, who is named in John's Gospel (see John 12:1-6).  But, as my study bible notes, patristic understanding through the centuries has never determined the specific people involved in each incident as reported in all the Gospels:  whether they are all separate or not.  But one thing is clear:  there is a depth of bond of compassion between Christ and this woman whom He proclaims anoints Him for His burial, and that she has done a good work for Him.  We must not forget the personal in all of these stories, for ultimately faith in Christ is a matter of heart-to-heart understanding.  Ours is a saving, personal faith, and not simply an abstract set of rules to follow, nor pure intellectual theory or philosophy.  Our God became incarnate and one of us in order to proclaim the depth of love for us, God's deep desire to be with us, and compassion expressed in sharing our lives.  God's passion for us becomes a matter of the heart, for as Christ proclaimed, Father, Son, and Spirit make their dwelling with us after His Resurrection (John 14:15-24).  And finally we come to Judas, possibly incensed at the presumed expense of luxury through the woman's action, and Christ's acceptance of it.  He is possibly also motivated by greed, as John's Gospel teaches he was a thief who stole from the monies of Christ's ministry (John 12:4-6).  Perhaps Judas was incensed when Christ responded to his criticism of Mary with a rebuke to himself.  All sorts of motivations have been attributed to Judas.  But one thing is clear, and it is the depth of betrayal involved, as Christ emphasizes more than once (see also John 6:70).  We might also contrast the expressive love of the woman who anoints Christ with the behavior of Judas:  the woman expresses gratitude and love, while Judas -- in one way or another -- seems to express a sense of disappointed expectation, an agenda of his own, and an unwillingness to truly follow the Master to the end.  In each of these cases, we're given profiles of character and of motivations, all centering around Jesus Himself.   And here is the true issue of the personal:  so much depends upon our relationship, or lack of it, to Christ.  The Gospels to not hesitate to show the world in its varied aspects of faith or lack of it:  from outright hatred and enmity to love and to betrayal.  We can imagine the states of each of the twelve disciples may vary according to what they understand or what will terrify and confuse them.  But each will make his own choice according to the state of the heart and the personal depth of communion with Christ.  The same can be said of the women who traveled with Christ and aided in His ministry, ministering themselves to the disciples.  This Gospel gives us a picture of ourselves, for each of us also is understood within a perspective of the state of the heart, and of the personal depth of encounter with Christ, and indeed, the Trinity.  This is a fluid state, subject to change, through experience, repentance, and especially prayer and that deepening personal communion and understanding that is open and possible for us, and also within the context of the entire Church, including the grand communion of the saints and the mystical reality that embraces as well as our brothers and sisters we encounter in our lifetimes.  Let us understand the picture the Gospel gives us:  Christ is set to face His accusers and to endure His Passion.  He knows where He goes.  But how do the rest of us respond?  How do we know our own lives in this light, and especially in our internal connection of the heart with Christ?  Can we also embrace and receive and understand the kind of love expressed by the woman who anoints Him?  Do we understand Judas and his castigation of this woman?  Where does the personal -- and the expression of love and compassion -- come into it for us?