Another Dinner Party

Scripture – Luke 7:36-39: 36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood 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. 39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

Reflection: First of all, I find myself taken back to chapter 5 of Luke where Jesus found Himself a guest at another dinner party. This was with Levi, a tax collector – someone the Pharisees would have kept way out at arm’s length as one of the “sinners” of the day. Now Jesus is having dinner with one of those Pharisees. He really will go wherever He’s invited.

This scene has a bit of a cultural context. Without going into details, just understand the set-up of the house and the dinner in those days (unlike in our day) allowed this woman to come and do what she did. And what she did was a very loving, humble and courageous act.

This story will carry over for two more days in our readings, so it is to be continued. For today, what do you make of the Pharisee’s thoughts? What kinds of people trigger a similar reaction in you?