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In an effort to keep some continuity to our study, lets review what we have studied so far. Christ called His 12 Disciples and took them up on a mountain and there He explained to them, many things in what we have come to know as the Sermon on the Mount. At the end of the sermon, he came down from the mountain and was quite disturbed by the unbelief that He found in the area of Galilee where He had spent most of His ministry. He condemned them for having received so much and believed so little. Then we looked at some of the opinions that were beginning to be formed about Jesus. We looked at the opinion of a Roman Centurion who believed that He was a "Man of God" and could heal simply by His word. Then we looked at the opinion of the multitudes. They believed that He was a great Prophet and that through Him, God was visiting His people. Then we attempted to determine what John the Baptist believed about Jesus, and we said that John knew, even before he was born, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Now lets look at the opinion of a sinful woman and a Pharisee.
We are not sure where this even occurred, we simply believe that it occurred at approximately this time in His ministry. He had been invited to dine in the home of a Pharisee and He had accepted. Obviously, from the story, the Pharisee was not a believer. But he does have an opinion about Jesus. He believes that Jesus is a Teacher. While He is there, a woman, a harlot, came and taking a bottle of ointment, she bathed the feet of Jesus, washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair. She believed that He was her Savior, and of a truth, Jesus said to her, "Your faith has saved you, go in peace."
Now lets look at this story in more detail. The Pharisee thought that Jesus was a teacher, what convinced him that Jesus was not at least a Prophet? He observed what Jesus allowed the woman to do and said, "If this man were a Prophet, he would know what kind of woman this is." No self respecting Jew, let alone a Prophet, would have allowed that sort of woman to touch him.
Why did this woman do what she did? She obviously had been following Jesus, had heard Him speak and had accepted Him as her Savior. She did the only thing she knew how to do to show her gratitude to Jesus for what He had done for her. She had experienced repentance, forgiveness and re-birth. She was grateful for this and out of humility and love washed His feet which of course, the Pharisee was supposed to have done as was the custom of hosts that day.
Now, how does all this effect Simon the Pharisee? He takes offence to it. He cannot understand why Jesus would have allowed this woman to wash his feet. He also was probably embarrassed at his lack of good manners, and Jesus knowing what was in the Pharisees mind asked him "If two people owed a certain man money, one 500 dollars, the other, 50 dollars. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now, which of the two will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one who was forgiven the most." Then Jesus said, "You have judged rightly, Simon." Then Jesus turned to the woman and said, "Your sins, which were many, are forgiven because you have loved much. Those who are forgiven little, love little."
Those who were around while this was going on and observed and heard all that Jesus said, began to ask questions. "Who is this man that forgives sins?" "If He is the Christ, why has He not come in all of His Glory." "If He is not the Christ, than He is a blasphemer and deserving of the cross." Opinions are beginning to be made. People are beginning to take sides. Already we see the "seeds of calvary" being sown.
So Simon, the Pharisee, thought Jesus was, at best, a Teacher who mingles with sinners, the woman thought He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world and the people who witnessed the whole thing thought He was walking on "thin ice".
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