Luke 7:36-50 tells the story of two very different people interacting with Jesus. Both were seeking Jesus, both knew some things about Jesus, and on the same night around the same dinner table they both had very personal interactions with Jesus. These two people were different in almost every way – yet both were actively seeking Jesus. They had different understandings of who Jesus is. And the result is one left transformed and changed by Jesus; tragically the other left unchanged.
Simon was a Pharisee, one of a group who as a whole were violently opposed to Jesus. Simon invited Jesus to dinner, indicating that he wanted to know Jesus better. Inviting Jesus to dinner meant he was ready to brave the ridicule from his fellow Pharisees, family and friends. Simon was a serious spiritual seeker.
The woman was sinful, a prostitute. She came with her an alabaster jar of perfume and with a plan. She too was a serious seeker.
When the woman approached Jesus, she started to cry and weep, and her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. Then she knelt down, let her hair down, wiped her tears from Jesus’ feet with her hair, kissed his feet, and poured perfume on his feet. She did what she had prepared to do.
Both Simon and the woman wanted an encounter with Jesus, but they approached Him differently.
Simon’s approach to Jesus was intellectual and rational, detached and impersonal. Simon approached Jesus with his head and his thinking rather than his heart. Simon saw Jesus as a prophet and teacher and wanted to learn from Him, but Simon excluded the most important thing. Simon was not thinking about loving Jesus with the affections of his heart. Simon wasn’t interested in Jesus changing him. Simon didn’t want to change his goals, his position, his vocation or his ambitions.
In contrast to Simon, the woman approached Jesus personally and emotionally, holding nothing back. Knowing her sin, she came to Jesus anyway, with tears, with her emotions, with humility and generosity—with her whole life laid out in the open. She gave Jesus her most expensive possession, her alabaster jar. It wasn’t just an extravagant act of generosity. She laid the tool of her trade at His feet, saying in effect, “I come to you without conditions. I give you all I have. I will live a wholly different life, dedicated to you.”
This is the only true way to come to Jesus.
Jesus cared about Simon enough to confront him with his pride and self-righteousness by telling a parable. Jesus in effect said to Simon, “You and this woman are not so different. You both need forgiveness.”
Jesus took the conversation even further, showing Simon that this woman had something that Simon didn’t have. Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?” Simon had seen her – but only seen what was wrong with her, her sin. Three times Jesus compared Simon’s actions to the woman’s actions. Three times Jesus said, “Simon, you did not – but she did.” And three times Jesus pointed out the great love and devotion that she showed Jesus.
Simon showed none of the same love, generosity, and devotion. In the end Jesus rebuked Simon. The woman’s actions were evidence that she knew she needed a savior. In the end the woman received forgiveness of her sin, peace, and salvation. Simon got knowledge, teaching, a parable and a case study. Simon got what he wanted, but he could have had so much more if he had believed the truth about himself, and if he had approached Jesus as the woman did.