Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner
John M. Buttrey II
After so many confrontations with the Pharisees, an invitation to dinner at the house of a Pharisee was certainly out of the ordinary for Jesus. Nevertheless, when Simon (the Pharisee) made the request, Jesus responded affirmatively (Luke 7:36). As they were dining together, an uninvited woman came into the house. Here is how Luke recorded the scene:
And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. And when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And standing behind Him at His feet, crying, she began to wet His feet with her tears. And she kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, saying, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner” (Luke 7:37-39 Emphasis Mine)
Simon was offended that Jesus did nothing to stop this woman from kissing His feet and anointing them with perfume. In Simon’s mind, the fact that Jesus did nothing to reject her actions was tantamount to an endorsement of her sinful lifestyle. I dare say, some of us today might feel the same way. Certainly, there are ways we can be guilty of endorsing the sins of others. The Corinthians were guilty of such as they freely accepted the brother who was involved with his father’s wife (1 Cor. 5). Paul rebuked these brethren for not making a proper distinction of the sin in this matter. Paul told them:
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or greedy, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler —not even to eat with such a one (1 Corinthians 5:9-11 Emphasis Mine).
The situation with Jesus and the woman was much different than that which took place in Corinth. Rather than an endorsement of her sin, Jesus was using this as an opportunity to reach out to her. He had a loving concern for her soul. The Pharisees never understood this about Jesus. As such, they had a continual problem with Him spending time with sinners. Consider some familiar passages:
Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:10-11 Emphasis Mine) And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2 (Emphasis Mine)
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19 Emphasis Mine).
In connection with these is the reaction of Jesus’ disciples when they discovered He had been talking with a Samaritan woman:
And at this point His disciples came, and they were marveling that He was speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” (John 4:27 Emphasis Mine)
Consider also the description Luke offered, regarding the reaction of the people when Jesus went to the house of a cheating tax collector named, Zaccheus:
And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner” (Luke 19:7 Emphasis Mine)
By spending time with tax collectors and sinners, was Jesus in any way endorsing their sinful behaviors? Of course not! This was a means of reaching out to people in love for their souls. Paul did the same thing in Corinth. The apostle told these brethren:
“Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you” (1 Cor. 6:9-11a Emphasis Mine).
Imagine some of Paul’s dinner guests in Corinth! The Lord told Paul that He had many people in Corinth (Acts 18:10). The apostle needed to find them. Remember, the mission field for evangelism is not the church, but the world. Jesus made this very clear:
“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12b-13 Emphasis Mine).
We would do well to learn such lessons as seen in our Savior’s life. Otherwise, we will be modern day blind Pharisees, aloof to those who need the hope of Jesus Christ.
