A Reflection on Luke 7:36-40
What a scene Luke paints for us! Jesus is reclining at dinner in the home of Simon the Pharisee, probably enjoying good food and conversation, when suddenly everything changes. A woman, one the Gospel simply calls "a sinner", enters uninvited with an alabaster jar of precious ointment. She doesn't just approach Jesus; she falls at His feet, weeping so deeply that her tears wash His dusty feet, and then she does something absolutely scandalous by the standards of that day: she lets down her hair to dry them. In their culture, a woman's hair was deeply private, meant only for her husband. Yet here she is, pouring out both her tears and her dignity, kissing Jesus' feet and anointing them with expensive perfume. Can you imagine the shocked silence in that room?
Simon the Pharisee watches all this and thinks he's got Jesus figured out. "If this man were really a prophet," Simon muses to himself, "he would know what kind of woman this is." But isn't it beautiful how Jesus always surprises us? He knows exactly who this woman is, and more importantly, He knows who Simon is too. The Pharisee sees a sinner to be avoided; Jesus sees a beloved daughter who has found her way home. Simon sees scandal; Jesus sees love overflowing from a heart that has experienced the magnificent weight of forgiveness. The woman couldn't help but express her gratitude in the most extravagant way she knew how, because when you've been truly forgiven, love just pours out of you like water from a broken dam.
Here's where Jesus shows us something profound about the nature of grace. He doesn't wait for the woman to clean up her act before accepting her worship. He doesn't lecture her about propriety or send her away to "get right with God" first. Instead, He receives her love exactly as it is, messy, desperate, and beautiful. This is the scandal of the Gospel: Jesus loves us not because we're good, but because He is good. The woman's extravagant display isn't what earns Jesus' love; it's the overflow of her heart because she's already experienced it. She loved much because she had been forgiven much. This challenges us to ask ourselves: how do we respond to the immensity of God's mercy in our own lives?
As Catholics, we see ourselves in both characters at this dinner table. Sometimes we're like Simon, religious, well-meaning, but keeping Jesus at arm's length, thinking we can evaluate Him and His ways from our comfortable position of supposed righteousness. Other times, thank God, we're like the woman, broken, desperate, but finally awake to our need for mercy and overwhelmed with gratitude for receiving it. The beautiful truth is that Jesus welcomes both to His table. But oh, how much richer the feast becomes when we come with hearts broken open, ready to pour out our love without shame or reservation. When we truly grasp how much we've been forgiven, not just our big sins, but our daily failings, our lukewarm hearts, our tendency to judge others like Simon did, our response can't help but be one of extravagant love. That's the invitation in today's gospel: to come to Jesus just as we are, and to love Him with the same reckless abandon as this brave woman who refused to let dignity stand in the way of devotion.
©2025 James Dacey Jr.
