1. Why did the pharisee view the woman with distaste? Was it because:
- she was ceremonially unclean
- she was riff-raff
- she was guilty of sin
- there was social pressure on him to exclude her
- she was behaving inappropriately and he was embarrassed.
- how did the Pharisee know she was a prostitute?
- She mustn't have looked obviously like a prostitute - the pharisee thought a prophet would know her to be one, but not a non-prophet...
- was this in any way a normal first century response?
- tears and hair don't seem the most effective foot washing materials. Perfume is good - but get the feet clean first! Why didn't she find a bucket of water?
- Was the hair and tears bit premeditated or spur of the moment?
- The perfume bit was premeditated. Had the jar always been in her family? Had she gone out and bought it with her earnings? What does perfume symbolise at this early stage of Luke's gospel (I'm thinking it's probably not burial annointing.)
- are their sexual overtones?
- does it matter if there are?
When we cry out to God, we do so from the mess of our sin. We can't help it - so entwined we are. Our manner of confessing and our motives will be mixed. But cry out we must or we'll be out in the cold with the hypocritical pharisee who stayed respectfully silent (and little forgiven.)
Great post, Simone. I love the way you've thought about this story that for me has been dulled through over-familiarity. Your q's restored my wonder at the story, and at Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have answers to the questions you posed, but I love your point about Jesus meeting us where we are, unembarressed. What an awesome man, and awesome Saviour.
Yes, really thoughtful questions and insights, Simone - I found this moving! Did you use this somewhere? What do you make of the appearance of the very similar story about Mary (of Mary and Martha) in John? We were reading that the other night & I find it interesting because she is not similarly labeled as 'that' kind of woman...
ReplyDeleteI find Mary and Martha fascinating. There's the Luke 10 story (where Martha is fussing and Mary is listening to Jesus), then the raising of Lazarus in John 11, then the perfume annointing in John 12.
ReplyDeleteI think there are a few difference between the perfume incidents of Jn 12 and Lk 7.
Jn 12 doesn't have the note of social inappropriateness. It's in Mary's home. She has a relationship already with Jesus. She has seen him raise her brother from the dead. The only one embarrassed by what she does is Judas Iscariot (and he doesn't really count.) Like the woman in Luke, it's over-the-top devotion - and Jesus approves of it. I get the feeling that Mary is one of the few people who really get Jesus. Maybe she even understood that this was her last chance with him on earth...
Do you have any thoughts, Jo?
Ben - yes. Awesome saviour.