The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 187

Vere. 36-50.-The woman who was a sinner. It is a truly lovely story which the evangelist tells-one of those pass.iges io the life of Christ which we are never tired of reading, and as full of meaning as it is full of beauty. We may regard it from many points, and present its didactic force in many ways. Perhaps we shall best ensure the reception of its various lights by studying the portraiture of character which it gives, I. THERE IB SIMON THE PHARISEE-Jesus' host on the afternoon of the day whose earlier part had been signalized by the mighty work at Nain. The notable thing about this Simon is that he meets our view as the type of that anonytuous, yet most powerful, influence which we call society. He is one of t!:J.e priests of that goddess which society, everywhere and in every time, worships-Respectability. A Pharisee! that is as it should be. The Herodians were a base, courtly party, fawning on the Herodia.n dynasty, and therefore outside religious society. The Sa<lducees were laritu- <llnarians. Some of them were clever, and had much to do with the intellectua.J. life o( the 11ation; but, on the whole, they were a cold-blooded sect which could not command thtt vote uf society. The correct course was to be thi; Pharisee. That secured the llOcial 184 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO 8T. LUKE. [cu. vn. 1-oO ---------------------------- ' Jac.e, put one right with the Church an<l the worl<l, for this life 1md the next. The ouour o~ sanctity clung to the profession; it intimsted a certain arist<>crnt.ic position --& pos1t10n among the elect of the heavenly kingdom, Simon the Plmrisee is in sooidy. And the desire that Jesus ~houl<l eat with bin., the entertainment which he offered Jesus, is in behalf of society. 'l'hat must have its lion. It takes up one to-day and dismisses him to-morrow, but a lion it m11st hne, Sometimes the lion is a _religious person ; a great preecher or a great author becomes, for the time, the fashion. Jcsn~ of Nazereth was the hero of the hour. Everybody spoke of him, of whal be did, said, was. This priest of society must give him a dinner, We need not suppose secret hostility, Simon sePms to have been willing to know more of Jesus t.han he did know, to atudy him as a phenomenon with at least a measure of iuterest. But he is the patron. The courtesies which would have been extended to the pfrdleged few are omitted. Is not this Jesus only a Peasant-Preacher? Further 11till, the condnct of the Pharisee is representative of the separatist side or society, not only to~·ard Jesus, but toward the sinner. It is without generosity of feeling; it is narrow, hitter when its canons are broken. That horrid creature to come to his table and touch bis guest !-is it not monstrous? He a Prophet? That be should let her go near him, that she should bestow her caresses on him-this is sufficient to dispose of the claim. He could not imagine any purpose of the visit except an evil one ; and such a visit was a disgrace to bis house. For Respectability, hard in its judgment, is always selfish, always thinking bow a thing will look, what is becoming or proper, how it can he protected and preserved. Holiness seeks the sinner; it will give itselt for him. Respect:1bility bids the sinner away. Ah I this Simon is a figure most con- spicuous in our life! Respectability is the Juggernaut-car which rolls through our midst; and, as it rolls, multitudes rush forward and lay themselves prostrate before it. It bas a place for Jesus; it will patronize him. Jesus has a word for it, a terribly scathing word. "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee." II. THERE IS THE WOMAN. Who she was we know not. There is really nothing to confirm the old tradition which identifies her with that Mary called Magdalene, referred to in the following chapter, out of whom seven devils were cast. Whoever she was, she is known by only one feature-she was a sinner, an abandoned woman of the city, Perhaps she had beard some word of the gentle Prophet as be passed through the street. In some way •• the Dayspring from on high" bad visited her. And-not so difficult a matter in an Eastern house--sbe forced her way to his presence. Puor, weary one, for whom., for many and many a day there bad been no sunshine- & mere plaything of coarse and wicked men I Observe her action as recorded in vers. 37, 118. It is to her that the Lord turns; be he.s glances and words for her which he has not for the priests of Respectability. From her heart proceed the welcomes which the Pharisee bad denied him (vers. 44-46). Yes, in the social outcast there is often a preparation for Christ, a power of self-abandoning, simple trust, which is wanting in the Pharisees of society, with their forms and phylacteries, the pomp and pride and circumstance of the be-worshipped Respectability. Ill. THE DEALING OF JEBUB is II a precious history, the sweet kernel of which poor sinners will never exhaust." Consider his words about the woman, and his words to the woman. I. The word in the forty-seventh verse-let us see that we rightly apprehend it. The meaning is not, as might hastily be gathered, " forgiven because of her much love," as if the love were the reason of the forgiveness. That would be equal to putting the rill before the spring. There are two kinds of " for "-the " for" causal, and the " for" inferential. It is the " for" in/eren tial which we find in Jesus' saying. "From the love which moved this sinner to me, which constrained her to lavish on me the signs of respect which thou, Simon, didst omit, thou canst infer that her sins, which are many, are forgiven. Even as the tree is known by its fruit, so her forgivir oess iB proved by the presence of its appropriate fruit-love." This is the view borne out by the short parable which was the something that Jesus had to say to Simon (vers. 41-43). Suppose that we insist on an interpretation of this parable which the terms employed in it might warrant, we are met by serious difficulties. For instance, it might seem to teach that the more, in amount, the debt remitted, the more will be the Jove realized; that the more of a sinner one has been, the more of a &aint, after conversion, 0110 will be. Hut we kuow that thill could nut be the wean• on. vu. 1-60.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BT. LUKE. 186