“I Have Something to Say to You”

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus is no stranger to sinners. He is surrounded by them, and He knows it. In fact, He knows every sin of everyone He meets, before a person even opens his mouth. Jesus eats with sinners, touches sinners, worships with sinners, lives with sinners, and dies with sinners.

In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus eats with sinners. Not just the woman, whom tradition identifies as a prostitute, but also the Pharisee who thinks he lives a more holy life than Jesus. Sinners are all around, and Jesus deals with each sort in turn. The same treatment will not apply to both the woman and Simon the Pharisee.

The woman, whom the Church has traditionally identified as Mary Magdalene, is a sinner of the worst kind, at least in the eyes of her community. She lives in open, manifest sin. Prostitution is not something one does secretly, after all. One must attract business to ply the trade. She is a woman of ill-repute, some of which is probably deserved. She probably bears the marks of her trade – well-coiffed hair, gilded and painted face, plentiful jewelry. When she walks through town, she is a marked woman, known for what she is and scorned because of it. She might as well be wearing a scarlet letter, for as much ability as she has to live privately.

And yet, she feels the weight of her guilt and shame. She knows that she lives in gross and open sin. She understands that she offends not only against the Law of God, but against the propriety and sensibility of her neighbors and her religion. She knows that her tinkling bangles and batting eyelashes are as clanging pots and bellows fanning the flames of her own demise.

But what does she do? Does she invite Jesus into her home, attempt to entice Him by her own ample devices? Does she make a scene in the public square, swearing off her misdeeds – until next time? No. She takes a very expensive jar of perfume and anoints Jesus' feet, then washes His feet with the tears of her contrition. She makes no show of outward piety, but demonstrates her faith in the One who has the power to cleanse her from her sin and make her whole and right again.

She anoints the One whose feet are beautiful among all mankind. For how beautiful are the feet of Him who brings good news! How beautiful are the feet of the Savior, the feet which are anointed now to become the sacrifice for the sins of the world. A costly offering is poured out on Him who will be the most costly offering ever rendered.

She bathes the Lord's feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. The glory of this woman, the crown of her beauty – she submits in service to the one who can make her beautiful beyond measure, who can crown her not with temporal prettiness but with eternal radiance. Her contrition is poured out in tears of sorrow for her sin, and in demonstration of the faith that believes that the Holy One of Israel will not destroy her or cast her away, but will cleanse her not from dirt on the body but from filth in her conscience.

On the other hand, all this outpour happens while Jesus is reclining at table with Simon the Pharisee. Simon thinks he has done the duty of a good host, of a proper Jew. He has welcomed this famous teacher under his roof. He has provided a good meal for a road-weary traveler. He even tries to defend our Lord's sensibilities against the invasion of this evil woman.

Therefore, Simon takes it as proof that Jesus is not really what He seems, since He allows this prostitute to touch Him, to go on like this over His feet. “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” Can you imagine? A sinner touching Jesus!

Then and there, the Pharisees receive their vindication for turning away from Jesus. He is not really a man of God, certainly not the Son of God, because He puts up with gross sinners like this. He might be a famous teacher, a miracle worker, a first-rate magician, but Jesus could not be the Son of God and allow this sort of thing to happen.

Of course, this is not a thought confined only to Simon. Each of you has had your moment, consciously or not, of thinking “If this man were a …” How often does God fail to live up to your expectations? How often has He not answered your prayers or left you in the lurch? He did not help you get that job. He did not heal that dying person. He did not save that poor kidnapped girl. He let that tornado kill all those people. He lets thousands of abortions happen every single day. It is easy for you to get discouraged and wonder if God is really . . .

And so it is also when you think of your pastor. When things do not go as you think they should, you may think of him, “If this pastor were only …” If he were only a better preacher, then things would shape up. If he were only more of a people person, then the church would run better. If he were only a better evangelist, then we would be growing in numbers. If he were more like the pastors we liked in the past, then things would be like we remember from the glory days. If he just studied more, or prayed more, or visited more, or talked politics more, or talked farming more. If only your pastor were more like you, then you might like him better.

But Jesus speaks out at Simon's silent indignation. “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And Simon, unwittingly, invites Jesus to speak His mind. And what does Jesus have to say to Simon the Pharisee?

Stop gossiping. Stop condemning those over whom you are not judge. Stop impugning the motives of those around you. Remember how much you have received from the hand of the Lord. Remember His grace and mercy toward you. Help your neighbor in her distress. Let her find comfort and peace and mercy in your house. Repent of your cold-hearted-ness.

Stop boasting of your righteousness. Stop trying to bend the Law to accommodate your pet sins and secret desires. Stop beating others over the head with the Law that also condemns you for your sins. Stop thumping your chest for all your shows of piety and so-called good works. Repent of your foolish pride.

However, Jesus also has something to say to the woman who repents of her sin. “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” This is what Jesus has to say to every sinner who repents and turns from his evil ways. This is what Jesus has to say to you. Your sins are forgiven. Your blood is safe, because those beautiful feet bore our Lord Christ to Calvary, and were nailed to the cross, where they bore the weight of the sin of the world.

Your sins are forgiven, because they are no longer yours anymore. They have been hung on the one who was hung on the accursed tree for you. They have been washed away in the water and the blood flowing from the pierced side of Christ. It is for this reason that Christ is anointed by Mary. She anoints Jesus for His high-priestly duty of offering the sacrifice for the sins of the people. She anoints Him to die, so that she – and you – might not die the death due to sin.

But death is not the end of you. Your faith has saved you, because your faith is not in your own works or in the righteousness of your efforts, but in the Holy One of Israel who died and who is raised from death to life for you. You believe the forgiveness of sins, because He who is your righteousness stands before you ever as your great high priest. Your faith has saved you because your faith is rooted in the Truth, in the Lamb who is raised to life immortal and who stands on the throne of God in heaven.

Whether your sins are open and gross like Mary's, or hidden behind a veneer of respectability like Simon's, Jesus has something to say to you: “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.