A woman at the airport waiting to catch her flight bought herself a bag of cookies, settled in a chair in the airport lounge and began to read her book. Suddenly she noticed the man beside her helping himself to her cookies. Not wanting to make a scene, she read on, ate cookies, and watched the clock. As the daring "cookie thief" kept on eating the cookies, she got more irritated and said to herself, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!" She wanted to move the cookies to her other side, but she couldn't bring her self to do it. With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he would do. Then with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half, and he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother, this guy has some nerve, and he's also so rude, why, he didn't even show any gratitude!" She sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look at the ungrateful "thief." She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, reached in her bag to get a book to read and forget about the incident. In the bag, next to her book was her bag of cookies.

The cookies they ate in the lounge were his not hers. She had been the thief, not him. The cookie thief story reminds us, as we see in today's gospel lesson, that it often happens that the one pointing the accusing finger turns out to be the guilty one, that the complainant sometimes turns out to be the offending party.

In our New Testament text, we read where a Pharisee named Simon was hosting a dinner party and invited the widely-acclaimed Rabbi named Jesus as one of his guests. The houses of influential people in those days were built around an open courtyard in the form of a hollow square. It was the custom that when a Rabbi had a meal in such a house, all kinds of people gathered freely. The meal became an event whereby the listeners could receive the teachings of the Rabbi. While we sit at a table for formal dinner parties, sometimes even with place-cards, those invited to dinner parties in first century Palestine would lounge on couches, propped up on their side and feast on the bounty provided.

When guests enter our homes, we exchange hugs and handshakes, immediately ask to take their coats, ask if they’d like something to drink, and invite them to enjoy some appetizers. As invited guests entered the dinner parties during Jesus’ day, custom demanded three things: the host place his hand on the guest’s shoulder and gave him the kiss of peace as a sign of respect. Secondly, sandals were removed, and then cool water was poured over the feet of the invitee. The roads were only dusty, dirt paths, so the cool water provided relief and refreshment. The third customary action was placing perfume on the guest’s head or burning some sweet-smelling incense. (William Barclay. Commentary on Luke. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1975. p. 94)

Dr. Luke recorded that a woman with a bad reputation, perhaps a general contractor in what some have called "the world’s oldest profession," learned of the dinner party. How she received this news remains a mystery. We know that Jesus had been traveling the countryside, that his reputation preceded him wherever he went, that the love and acceptance which he extended to others were making headlines.

Luke offers no explanation of this woman having any earlier encounter with Jesus. Had she heard his teaching, witnessed his healings, or personally received even eye-contact from this itinerant Rabbi called Jesus remains conjecture. But we can deduce from the passage is that she knew who Jesus was. Upon learning of the dinner party and knowing the open-house custom, she seized an opportunity. Arriving at the home after the crowd had already gathered, the woman probably had to snake her way around the courtyard. Her presence was certainly recognized by the locals. As she said, "Excuse me," the neighbors must have thought, "Why is she here? Doesn’t she have any more respect for the Pharisee than to defile his own home? She should know that Simon’s family has been respectable for generations in these parts. No doubt, she didn’t have good raising. Her problem is one which is unacceptable in the home of a holy man. To think that we have all gotten dressed up to hear Jesus, and she’s now going to make a spectacle of herself. This is no place for someone of her kind. Those people should know better than to be here."

While the woman of ill-repute was no mind-reader, she certainly understood body language and nonverbal communication. I doubt that she stealthily made her way behind Jesus’ couch without the piercing, unaccepting eyes of those gathered following her every move. Once she found herself behind Jesus with the expensive perfume in her hands ready to anoint his dry feet, the woman was moved to tears. She wept onto his feet, bathing his parched feet, and then, realizing she possessed no towel, she instead dried his feet with her hair. Luke doesn’t tell us what Jesus did when the first tear splashed onto his heel. We don’t know if Jesus was surprised or startled at this open display of compassion. But we also know that Jesus did not ask her to stop.

After drying his feet with her hair, which then and now is quite an intimate act, she continually kissed the Rabbi’s feet and anointed them with the perfume. Not only was this action unorthodox, it was violating the social customs of the day. Rabbis did not even speak to women in public; "good women" put their hair up on their wedding day and never appeared in public again with their hair down. While many had gathered to be "fed" by this great teacher, this scene had become a spectacle which nullified any teaching of what the listeners should or should not do.

I make "to do" lists. The Jewish religion was filled with "to don’t lists." Don’t do this; don’t do that. They sought righteousness which could be seen in what they didn’t do.

While the onlookers must have gawked at the surprising turn of events, the host, Simon, silently seethed. Pharisees prided themselves on looking good; at times, their reputation was what set them apart from the rest of society. This woman had crashed the party; uninvited guests were to blend into the background, be seen and not heard. He was offering his home as a public service to enlighten those a little lower on the righteousness ladder, and she had spoiled it by not understanding her place. But worse for Simon was the embarrassment which Jesus caused. Evidently, Jesus was an imposter; if he was as smart as everyone said he was, as astute as his reputation indicated, as prophetic as the newspapers reported, then he would have known that the prostitute who was fondling his feet had crossed every acceptable line. She had not only broken social customs but had violated religious regulations as well. Yet he did not refute her, refuse her, or rebuke her. Instead he smiled at her, spoke gently to her, and graciously received her gift of gratitude.

The woman massaging Jesus’ feet was not the only one in the room who understood body language and nonverbal communication. When Jesus saw Simon’s posture and facial expressions, he read Simon like a book. So, as Jesus often did, he told a story. "Two men were in debt to a banker: one owed $500; the other owed $50. When neither could pay up, the banker wrote off both debts. Which of the two do you think would be most grateful?"

Simon unwittingly responded, "Well, I guess it was the one owed the most money."

Jesus had cast his bait, and Simon had swallowed hook, line and sinker. Jesus said to Simon, "Right you are!" And then turned his attention to the woman who was blushing from all the attention and said, "Do you see this woman? When I entered your home, you neglected to provide what was good, fitting and proper for guests, which calls into question your invitation for me to eat with you, but this woman has greeted me as an honored guest by washing my feet, kissing my feet, and anointing my feet."

Jesus knew that Simon did not see the woman. Sure, he noticed her, but instead of seeing her as a person, Simon had immediately classified her as a member of a group. For Simon, this woman was a harlot, and she should be treated as one. Yet Jesus did not classify people. He didn’t lump people into stereotypes; he saw persons as individuals. Simon did not see the woman because of his preoccupation with people who shared her occupation. Over and over again, Jesus encountered individuals and accepted them individually. This contributed to why he became known for receiving and accepting the outcasts of that society. Jesus readily spoke to the sick, blind, lame, tax collectors, women, lepers, and even Samaritans. Jesus did not group these individuals into some indistinguishable mass; he saw each person as an individual.

And after explaining the parable to Simon, setting the record straight, comparing the righteous indignation of the Pharisee to the abundant compassion of the prostitute, Jesus turned to the lady who had felt the stares of all those present. He said, "Her sins have been forgiven, and she’s living like it." The love the woman demonstrated illustrates this brief sentence, "Forgiveness begets responses."

The public display of affection exhibited by the lady of the evening resulted from the forgiveness and acceptance she received from the Rabbi. While Luke doesn’t tell us when Jesus forgave her, that point is truly inconsequential. What matters is that she received the forgiveness in her heart which prompted a great outpouring of love. The courage to enter the home of a person who despised her, to seek Jesus, to be so overtaken by compassion that if she didn’t cry her heart would burst, and then to forget the moment enough that all self-conscious efforts were aborted and the choice was made to dry Jesus’ feet with her hair, no matter what anyone else thought. I wonder if her focus was so defined that she did not hear the probable gasps when her mane of dark hair absorbed any remaining moisture from his scorched feet. But the response did not stop there. She continued to kiss the feet of the One who offered the one gift which she sought all her life–acceptance. Anointing his feet with the perfume was like putting a beautiful bow on a wrapped package. The forgiveness she had received prompted her to lose herself, as if she was having an out-of-body experience. For those brief minutes, years of neglect and abuse were erased, and all she could experience was the forgiveness of her sins. And she showed her love lavishly.

When was the last time that you and I became so in love with Jesus that we responded with utter disregard for our own reputation? When was the last time we realized just how rare the unconditional love of God truly is and we responded as if we had never known love before? When was the last time we experienced grace and forgiveness for wasting our lives on our own personal gratification and responded to Jesus with a lavish love by sharing that lavish love with someone else?

Aren’t you glad that Jesus came for all people, Pharisees and prostitutes? Let’s live our lives as if Jesus came for you and me . . . because he did, and that merits a response.