FOR SIMON, it was just another dinner party. The food was prepared, the guests settled, the conversation right; all was in order. But that was about to change.
As a Pharisee, Simon was part of a well-established reform sect that had succeeded in bringing its worship and purification laws, which had previously been confined to the temple, out into the daily religious practice of the Jewish people. These laws included traditions concerning Sabbath observance, festivals, food preparation, and whom one ate with. In the interests of keeping Israel spiritually intact in an aggressively pagan Roman world, the Pharisees, or "separated ones," felt called to "be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy." Lev. 19:2. This meant that Simon worked very hard at keeping himself apart from that which was designated unclean, profane, or unrighteous. The more perfectly aligned he was to this "holiness code," the more he mirrored Israel's God.
Within the conventions of his day, it was beneficial and honorable for Simon to invite a prophet such as Jesus into his home to dine. But he expected nothing like what happened. As they reclined eating, a "woman in the city," who knew she could find Jesus at Simon's house, interrupted their party. She bathed Jesus' feet with her tears, spontaneously let down her hair to wipe them, and then continued by kissing his feet and anointing them with costly perfume. It must have been an embarrassingly excessive public display. But in the eyes of the Pharisee, his guest's response to the woman was equally disturbing, if not scandalous. Jesus allowed this "sinner," as the Bible calls her, to touch him, and then publicly contrasted Simon's own meager hospitality to the open affection of the woman. What lesson was this great teacher trying to make plain to Simon?
