Jesus' astonishing response to a woman known for her sins showed a criteria for drawing near to God that still makes people stumble, writes Paulo Ueti in his reflection on Luke 7.36-50.
The theme that emerges from the text Luke 7.36-50 is very hard to deal with in our churches in Brazil. How do we welcome to the table – to the community – a sinful woman?
Usually, in our doctrine and in legislation we go the other way: to get close to the table it is necessary not to have sinned.
We are still listening to the teaching of the Pharisees from Jesus' time: God is only for the pure ones, those who don't have sins.
Like us
The Pharisees were like some of us today: good church people. They knew the Jewish religion, the sacred texts and the laws, very well. And they were convinced that only those who live by the correct practice of the law could deserve love and salvation from God. Several other stories written in Luke's gospel demonstrate this exaggerated care for the practice of the law. They forgot that God is first grace and poetry.
Many times this also happens in our church relationships, Bible reflections and studies. We are imprisoned by the law and its strict execution and forget the love and grace of God.
We are imprisoned by the law and its strict execution and forget the love and grace of God
In the story in Luke a Pharisee invited Jesus to eat at his house. A woman, a sinner, heard he was there and went to meet him. Something told her that this man, different from the other men of her time, would listen to her, receive her, understand what she desired.
The Pharisee and the other people around thought they were better than others because they were accomplishers of the law. They reprimanded Jesus for his unorthodox response to the woman. But Jesus helped the Pharisee to realise that love is the criteria for Christian practice.
The woman's sins were forgiven because she found, at last, the right direction for her life. Sin means "in the wrong direction" or "missing the target".
She became a model of searching for God, of discipleship. Entering forbidden places because of love and doing the things we usually don't is the right way for Jesus. It's because of this he was murdered.
The criterion of faith is no longer to fulfill the law but movement towards Jesus.
The transformation that happened to the woman was that she left home, took risks and became devoted to others. It didn't matter if sin existed or not. Her attitude should teach the church that discipleship is fulfilled on the journey towards full life, the free gift from God, and that it is done with risk and sincere and passionate desire to continue being in love.