United States
«Standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them» (Luke 7:38).
Sister Anna’s witness: from the dance club to praising God
A few years ago I met sister Anna. We were in a monastery near Milan, in Italy, and as a parish youth group we had planned to spend a weekend of prayer and silence. Sister Anna’s community welcomed us; we joined them for a special dinner on Friday evening, when they celebrated Shabbat, as pious Jews do for the day of rest. Then, after dinner, she suggested we dance with her. We were astonished! We knew the community was young and full of life, but we could never have imagined dancing together for the Lord. It was fantastic!
The following day sister Anna told us her story. She was a go-go dancer in a nightclub, that was her job, until she went to Assisi, the city of Saint Francis, with her parish youth group, and experienced «an overwhelming encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God», as she recounted to us.
She wept a lot and her life changed radically. She began to discern what the Lord was asking of her and, after a few years, became a nun. Her congregation asked her to teach dance, and she founded the Holy Dance company, with which she tours Italy, drawing many young people to praise Jesus through dance.
The encounter in Simon’s house between judgment and welcome
Her story helps us understand the woman who meets Jesus in the house of Simon the pharisee (Luke 7:36-50). This pharisee who invites Jesus is the first to hold a positive attitude toward him, but Luke focuses his attention on a woman, who is surprisingly described as a woman of that city who lived a sinful life (Lk 7:37).
We find the same characters we saw in the house of Levi (Lk 5:27-39), where we noted Jesus’ closeness to sinners, the criticisms raised by the pharisees, and the declarations in Jesus’ response.
On the scene are a pharisee and a sinful woman: not just two simple figures, but two completely different archetypes, opposed to one another. The pharisees held a hostile attitude toward Jesus (6:7, 11). Here, an inner monologue of the pharisee who invited Jesus («If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him…», Lk 7:39) sets the narrative in motion, reveals the character’s pharisaic values, and is presented exclusively for the reader.
The archetype of the sinner had already emerged with the calling of Simon Peter (Lk 5:8); in the accusation against Jesus of being «a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners» (Lk 5:30; 7:34); and especially in the Sermon on the Plain, where Jesus asked his listeners to go beyond reciprocity, justifying this stance three times with the statement: «even sinners do the same» (Lk 6:32-34).
Jesus’ silence and the pharisee’s reaction
Here the woman is near Jesus, where she ought not to be, since banquets were reserved for men; she is at his feet, weeping continually: it is the first time in the third Gospel that a sinful woman approaches Jesus on her own initiative.
The woman’s actions could be read as a provocation or, at least, an unjustified transgression: what scandalizes the pharisee is Jesus’ stillness, his silence that accepts her behavior; thus, in Simon’s mind, the judgment immediately arises that this man cannot be a prophet.
A judgment based on the axiom that a prophet is someone who knows; therefore Jesus cannot be unaware of who this woman is: we infer that the pharisee attributes clairvoyance and strict adherence to God’s Law to a prophet, which demands a clear separation from sinners. Jesus had already been acknowledged as a prophet by the crowd following the raising of the widow’s son at Nain (Lk 7:16).
Twice the narrator mentions the house, using OIKOS (house) and OIKIA (house, but also household, domestic property), to state that Jesus enters that of the pharisee (OIKOS), as does the woman (OIKIA). These are terms that accompany most dining scenes.
It is compelling to observe the development of the characters: the guest Jesus is judged not to be a prophet by the pharisee, who nevertheless listens to him addressing him as teacher, and Jesus demonstrates that he is indeed a prophet both through what he says and by revealing his divinity in forgiving sins.
The sinful woman of that city becomes simply a woman, but a special woman because she knows how to love much. The narrator shows how Jesus moves both the pharisee and the sinful woman beyond stereotypes. The focus is not on the category, but on what they do.
The parable of the two debtors and the measure of love
In the parable Jesus recounts («Two people were in debt to a certain creditor. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty…», Lk 7:41-42), the emphasis rests on the disparity of the ratio, which allows the parable’s meaning to be applied to the entire narrated scene (what exegetes call mise en abyme).
Luke contrasts the disparity between the two debt amounts in the parable with Simon’s attitude and that of the sinful woman in welcoming Jesus. He did not do so; she did. The comparison places her at the center of attention, and Jesus turns toward her (Lk 7:44), making his only physical movement in the entire scene.
Jesus reshuffles the cards through the reversal so dear to him; he grants a fundamental role to love, which is never taken for granted and becomes the woman’s new identity. She is a person who has loved much.
Love is the distinguishing mark between the woman and Simon: they stand as two alternative ways of behaving toward Jesus.
The faith that saves and leads to peace
In the conclusion (Lk 7:50), love for Jesus and forgiveness take on the names of faith and salvation, which in Luke correspond closely. The risk of faith that the woman embraces leads her to manifest her love for Jesus through a series of deeds, which open her to the forgiveness Christ assures her.
Forgiveness is a gift of God for salvation and, ultimately, enables the woman to go in peace.
Jesus is the guest, the non-prophet suspected by the pharisee, the object of the woman’s love, the prophet who searches hearts, and the one who guides history toward the revelation of himself.
He is the Lord whom sister Anna praises every time she dances!
Photo by father Piero Masolo
