Awakenings

by Father Thomas Keating

Events in Jesus' Ministry

Chapter 12

The Penitent Woman

A Pharisee invited him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. Now there was a sinful woman in the city who learned that he was at table in the house of the Pharisee. Bringing an alabaster flask of ointment, she stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner." Jesus said to him in reply, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Tell me, teacher, " he said. "Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred days' wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?" Simon said in reply, "The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven." He said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment. So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." The others at table said to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 
(Luke 7:36-50)

    This impressive story is one of the most important along with the parables of the prodigal son, the woman taken in adultery, the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the good thief. Let us try to understand the precise point that Jesus is making in this episode.

    It seems that he accepted an invitation to a formal dinner at the Pharisee's house. While everybody was reclining, as was the custom then, and ingesting the delicious meal, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared. A woman who had a shady reputation entered and stood behind Jesus as he was reclining. She started sobbing. Surrendering to an impulse, she rained her tears on his feet and dried them with her hair. Next she produced a bottle of perfume and poured its odoriferous contents over his feet.

    It is important to recall that a distinguished guest in those days always received water to wash his feet, a kiss of welcome on the cheek and ointment for his head. The Pharisee had performed none of these customary services. Thus, in actual fact, he had insulted Jesus. Apparently, the woman was not aware of this lack of even the ordinary courtesies and was simply following an impulse of the Spirit.

    In any case, the woman was acting in a way that was, by any standard, mind-blowing. The embarrassment she caused the Pharisee must have been considerable. Suppose during a eucharistic celebration, as we were preparing for the offertory at the sacred liturgy, a well-known male stripper appeared clad in swimming trunks. Suppose he then burst into loud sobbing, charged down the center aisle, and prostrated himself in front of the altar with his nose to the ground. Everybody would feel that the offertory was not an appropriate time for such behavior.

    This text has a similar scenario. The Pharisee considered the woman's behavior inappropriate conduct at a banquet and so it was not surprising that he had negative thoughts. Jesus, reading his mind and perhaps recalling that he had not provided any of the ordinary courtesies, was moved by the Spirit to reach out to this man. Jesus usually has a hidden agenda. He is not quick to judge the external conduct of others. At the same time, he reaches out in a subtle way to those who are oppressive or self righteous and invites them to enter into themselves and perceive their own sinfulness. Motivation is Jesus' chief concern--why something is done rather than what is being done.

    In this scene, Jesus compares the conduct of the Pharisee with the conduct of the woman. The basis for the comparison is the ordinary courtesies expected of a host. He points out that the Pharisee did not provide the courtesy of washing his feet, whereas the woman is bathing them with her tears. Jesus continues, "You did not anoint my head with oil and she is anointing my feet with perfume; you did not give me a kiss of welcome and she is kissing my feet." And he concludes, "Because of her great love, her sins have been forgiven." To paraphrase, "Based on the evidence of her love, her sins must have been forgiven. Based on the evidence of your conduct, which was to show no love at all, you must still be in your sins."

    The Pharisee is not even aware that he needs forgiveness. Since he does not entrust himself to the divine mercy, he does not have the experience of being forgiven. That is the only experience that enables one to show great gratitude and love. Thus, to the astonishment of all, the person everybody spontaneously rejects, emerges as the hero, while the respectable Pharisee, manifesting attitudes proper to the social customs of the time, is implicitly accused of being a sinner.

    The first part of the parable, then, warns us not to judge anyone by appearances alone. Perhaps it also raises a subtle question for the congregations who hear this text proclaimed, "And what are you doing, my dear Christians, to show love?" Those who have been forgiven much manifest it by the kind of love that they show.

    Finally Jesus turns to the woman and, "Your sins are forgiven." This statement distresses the people at table and they whisper to each other, "Who does he think he is, forgiving sins?"

    Their commentary is obviously a form of denial, a way of avoiding entering into themselves and evaluating where they are coming from. Jesus says to the woman, "Your faith has saved you." Her heart has been changed. It takes time for appropriate conduct to catch up with her new motivation. Appropriate conduct without the right motivation is Pharisaism, the occupational hazard of religious persons. Jesus constantly warns against it. He frequently highlights the pretensions of religious persons who are acting out of self centered intentions. He does not care who we are or where we are coming from. Good will is all that he is interested in.

    "Your faith has saved you," Jesus said. Faith in what? Faith in the divine goodness that is ready to forgive everything and everyone. Faith in the infinite mercy of God which is not concerned with numbers, since it is infinite, but with gratitude and self surrender. By entrusting herself to divine love she received complete forgiveness and was empowered to prove her gratitude by the extent of her courtesy. Of course it was exaggerated. It had to be. Convention cannot provide the symbols to express gratitude which is that profound or extensive. Such love has to make a fool of itself. She does not seem to have been the least bit self conscious about being in the wrong place or that it was inappropriate to provide such extraordinary courtesies. This is what impressed Jesus so much.

    The bottom line of the second part of the story is an exhortation to entrust ourselves to the infinite mercy of God whether the number of our sins is many or few. The Pharisee's problem was that he was unaware that he needed to be forgiven. He was leading a respectable life and carrying out the Law. But because he was unaware of his need of forgiveness, he could not entrust himself to the mercy of God and be forgiven. Hence, he could not show the degree of love and gratitude that the penitent woman displayed. Jesus invites him to enter into his conscience and ask himself where he is really coming from. Those who are not aware of their need for forgiveness are in tough shape. It does not mean one has to be a great sinner because, as Jesus points out in the parable, neither of the debtors had the money to pay Even if our sins are few, we do not have any way of paying our debt. Hence, the numbers are not important. What makes the difference is the degree to which we entrust ourselves to the mercy of God.

Actually, personal sin is not the problem in the first place. It is the false self with its orientation to prefer ourselves to others, including God. Out of that diseased root comes all the rotten fruit that the false self produces. Whether a bad tree produces a lot of apples or only a few, all the fruit is inedible. So we have to entrust the whole tree, root and branches, to the mercy of God who alone can heal the radical distortion of the human condition. This is what conversion is. It is not a Band-Aid approach to life. It is the radical letting go of our programs for self centered happiness in the form of personal or collective security, power and control over others, and unlimited pleasure, affection and esteem. That is the sickness. That is the root of the diseased tree. To heal the disease requires a conversion as deep as that manifested by the penitent woman. Penitence is the disposition that is ready to give up the orientation of the false self and the pursuit of happiness based on the self centered programs that trample on the rights and needs of others when they get in our way.

"Your faith has saved you." Faith means trust in the infinite mercy of God manifested in the redemptive work of Jesus. This is what saved the penitent woman; it can save each of us.

This chapter is taken from the book Awakenings by Fr. Thomas Keating. You can obtain a copy from the Bookstore.  See Awakenings