It wasn’t strange that the woman came uninvited. People often did this in the first century to enjoy the dinner conversation even though they could not partake of the food offered. What is strange is the way the woman behaved at the meal.
More than likely, the woman was a prostitute until her recent conversion to Christ. Overwhelmed by the compassion of Jesus, she went to great lengths to express her gratitude. It could not have been easy for her to enter the home of Simon. She wept over the feet of Jesus and used her hair to dry the tears that fell upon His feet. She anointed the Lord’s feet with fragrant, costly oil. Finally, she kissed the feet of Jesus showing great respect for Him.
All the while, Simon objected in his thinking. He could not understand how Jesus could allow this woman to touch Him. Why is it that he failed to understand the compassion of Jesus? His self-righteous attitude kept him from such an understanding.
The Lord asked Simon if He could tell him a story because He knew what Simon was thinking. The parable concerned two debtors and a creditor. One owed 10 times more than the other. The creditor cancelled both debts. Jesus asked Simon which debtor would love his creditor more. Simon astutely gave the right answer; thereby, he condemned himself.
Jesus told Simon that he had done nothing to show gratitude for His compassion. Perhaps it was because Simon had not experienced the mercy Jesus affords. After all, Jesus assured the woman that she had been forgiven; He granted Simon no such assurance.
If you struggle with compassion or are apathetic toward the salvation that Christ alone grants, then you may have never experienced that salvation. You may be depending upon your own righteous actions to merit favor with God. That is the greatest abomination by far. Sometimes your attitudes and actions betray who you really are.
None of us are without sin. We all appreciate those who accept us as we are and then help us to change and improve. May you experience daily the compassion of Christ. It begins at salvation and extends throughout the Christian life. Those who lack compassion lack gratitude for the finished work of Christ.
