Pistis 3

Luke 7:36-50

When I was a teen-ager there was a husband and wife who lived up the street. Everyone called the wife “Crazy Annie,” because she acted a bit odd, out of step with what most people did. One day I had to go deliver something to her, and while I was there she invited me in, gave me a glass of iced tea and a cookie, and then she went out in her garden and cut some flowers for me to take back to my mother.

Everyone had always avoided Crazy Annie, but my encounter with her was very nice. I began to wonder who was crazy; Annie, who was so nice, or everyone else, who acted so superior to others.

Today’s passage is rather lengthy but contains a wonderful story. How does the woman behave? What does she do with Jesus’ feet? What parable does Jesus tell Simon, the Pharisee? What comparison is being made? What does Jesus say to the woman in verse 48? In verse 50?

The sinful woman at Jesus’ feet reminds me of Crazy Annie because both were outcasts in society. No one wanted to associate with the sinful woman. The implication is that she was a prostitute, the many months, perhaps years of shameful behavior earning her the money to purchase the alabaster jar of perfume. That perfume embodied her sin, and she poured it all out before Jesus so that she could be forgiven.

Although an outcast she came to Jesus and persisted in her faith, seeking forgiveness through the sacrifice of the perfume, her tears, wiping the feet of the Master. Which of the two were forgiven, Simon the Pharisee or the woman? Both were forgiven through the grace of Jesus, but the woman was constant in her faithfulness – her attitude of pistis.

She was humble, waiting behind him, weeping onto his feet, wiping his feet dry, kissing his feet. It was her faithfulness – her attitude of pistis – which allowed her to be forgiven. And one lesson in this story is that we are all sinful and in need of forgiveness. The question is, how will we approach God with our repentance? Will we simply entertain the presence of Jesus, as Simon did, or will be persistent in seeking the forgiveness we need so badly, as the woman did?

And how do we treat others around us? Are we too good to be among sinners, or do we recognize that we are all in need of mercy? Is our own attitude of pistis strong enough to accept everyone as a brother and sister in Christ with all of us on a journey of faith seeking salvation?

DAILY CHALLENGE: Is your faithfulness as strong as the sinful woman, or is it more like Simon the Pharisee?