The Pharisee and the sinner before Jesus (Lk 7, 36-51)

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus meets Simon, a Pharisee, who invites him to table.
Like all the Pharisees, he considers himself among the "righteous" of Israel because he observes the Law and keeps away from all impurities. Jesus accepts the invitation, despite the fact that the Law forbids associating with Pharisees and sinners.
He came for sinners whom he wants to convert to the love of the Father, without which their obedience to the law is meaningless.
He often shares their food so much as to be defined as a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and Pharisees (Lk 7:34).

He was sitting at the table when a woman, a sinner from that city [...] brought a vase of perfume and, standing behind, at his feet, weeping, began to wet them with tears, a cry of gratitude that expresses how much words cannot to say. She then dried them with her hair, kissed them and sprinkled them with perfume. They are acts of love, an expression of an almost incredulous joy: his heart was pervaded by trust in the mercy of which he had heard.
Mercy: mirror of God's tenderness, even for her, marginalized and despised by the people. Her immense gratitude prompted her to give all of herself to that messenger of love, all her richness expressed by the perfume of great value.
Happy, she abandons herself to that Love which welcomes her, believes in it and wants to enjoy it, she plunges into it, coming out of herself, regardless of the malevolent comments of those present. She is in love with Jesus and she has faith in him.

Jesus with his free and therefore liberating attitude surprises those who welcome him. He allows himself to be touched by the sinner without problems, he accepts her expressions not only of veneration, but of ardent affection, of tenderness: expressions that might even seem too intense, too emotional, even embarrassing.
Indeed, Simon, a prisoner of her schemes, does not understand them and thinks that Jesus accepts them because he has not understood what gender the woman who touches him is: she is a sinner. Therefore, he is not a prophet.

Jesus remains calm, he does not worry about Simon's judgments and is entirely taken by her who, aware of her misery, longs for God's mercy. With a parable, she explains to Simon how much his faulty hospitality was compensated for by the woman's behavior for the who has no words of praise, but limits himself to proclaiming the truth and concludes by addressing those present with the phrase she was waiting for: her many sins are forgiven because she loved much. Jesus reveals that the unicum necessary is love. Human love, an echo of the Father's Love, which women now receive with an open heart.
A love that is too great that only full faith can accept, as Jesus concludes, addressing the woman: Your faith has saved you, go in peace.

Faith is the key to the whole story. It is faith that led this woman to Jesus, making her overcome all the prohibitions in which the Pharisee had locked her up, it is her faith that aroused in her those spontaneous gestures full of love. Hers is a loving faith through which she recognized Jesus as the messenger of God's forgiveness. Now she can leave with God's peace in her heart which has renewed and purified her: finally she is herself .

Anna Maria Del Prete
NP October 2022