The faith of a pagan
1 When Jesus had finished teaching in this way to the people, he went to Capernaum.
2 There was a captain whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him.
3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade him to come and save his servant’s life.
4 The elders came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, saying,
5 “He deserves this of you, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”
6 Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the captain sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy to welcome you under my roof.
7 You see I didn’t approach you myself. Just give the order and my servant will be healed.
8 For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers and I say to this one: ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to the other: ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant: ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
9 On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”
10 The people sent by the captain went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.
The son of a widow restored to life
11 A little later Jesus went to a town called Naim and many of his disciples went with him – a great number of people.
12 As he reached the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother and she was a widow; there followed a large crowd of townspeople.
13 On seeing her, the Lord had pity on her and said, “Don’t cry.”
14 Then he came up and touched the stretcher and the men who carried it stopped. Jesus then said, “Young man, awake, I tell you.”
15 And the dead man got up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
16 A holy fear came over them all and they praised God saying, “A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.”
17 This news spread out in the Jewish country and the surrounding places.
Jesus answers the messengers of John
18 The disciples of John gave him all this news. So he called two of them and
19 sent them to the Lord with this message, “Are you the one we are expecting, or should we wait for another?”
20 These men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask you: Are you the one we are to expect, or should we wait for another?”
21 At that time Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses or diseases; he freed them from evil spirits and he gave sight to the blind.
22 Then he answered the messengers, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the poor are given good news. Now, listen:
23 For tunate are those who encounter me, but not for their downfall.”
24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began speaking to the people about John. And he said, “What did you want to see when you went to the desert? A tall reed blowing in the wind?
25 What was there to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? But people who wear fine clothes and enjoy delicate food are found in palaces.
26 What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
27 For John is the one foretold in Scripture in these words: I am sending my messenger ahead of you to prepare your ways.
28 No one may be found greater than John among those born of women but, I tell you, the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
29 All the people listening to him, even the tax collectors, had acknowl edged the will of God in receiving the baptism of John,
30 whereas the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, in not letting them selves be baptized by him, ignored the will of God.
31 What comparison can I use for this people? What are they like?
32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their com panions complain: ‘We piped you a tune and you wouldn’t dance; we sang funeral songs and you wouldn’t cry.’
33 Remember John: he didn’t eat bread or drink wine, and you said: ‘He has an evil spirit.’
34 Next came the Son of Man, eating and drinking, and you say: ‘Look, a glutton for food and wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
35 But the children of Wisdom always recognize her work.”
Jesus, the woman and the Pharisee
36 One of the Pharisees ask ed Jesus to share his meal, so he went to the Pharisee’s home and as usual reclined on the sofa to eat.
37 And it happened that a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that he was in the Pharisee’s house. She brought a precious jar of perfume
38 and stood behind him at his feet, weeping. She wet his feet with tears, she dried them with her hair and kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them.
39 The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching and thought, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what sort of person is touching him; isn’t this woman a sinner?”
40 Then Jesus spoke to the Phari see and said, “Simon, I have something to ask you.” He answered, “Speak, master.” And Jesus said,
41 “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.
42 As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven
more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.”
44 And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this wo man?
45 You gave me no water for my feet when I entered your house, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since she came in.
46 You provided no oil for my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
47 This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.”
48 Then Jesus said to the wo man, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The others sitting with him at the table began to wonder, “Now this man claims to forgive sins!”
50 But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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Comments Luke, Chapter 7
• 7.1 THE POWER OF GOD
This captain of a foreign army earned the esteem of the Jews. The amazing thing was not that he should have contributed to the build ing of the synagogue, but rather that the Jews should have accepted it from him. He must have been a good man. He knew the Jews’ prejudices too well to have dared to per sonally approach this Jesus of whom they spoke. Indeed, up to what point did Jesus share his compatriots’ pride? Would he respond to the pe tition of a Roman official? That was why he sent his Jewish friends to Jesus.
The man is really troubled: will Jesus consent to go to a pagan’s house and “become impure”? (Jn 18:28). The captain goes one step further: Jesus does not have to come to his house. While other sick people seek to be touched by the Master thinking that Jesus possesses some healing power, this man, has instead grasped that Jesus has the very power of God and does not need to go to the sick servant: it would not be any more difficult to give a command from a distance to a life that was slipping away.
• 11. No one has ever attributed power over death to any person. Only Jesus conquers death and he does so very simply.
Jesus only knew this young man through his mother and it is for her that he has restored him to life. To be a widow without children is the height of distress (see Ruth), and it will be the lot of Mary.
The woman represents suffering humanity. “You will suffer because of your children”: this was said after the first sin. Humanity cannot avoid accompanying the dead after depriving them of their reasons for living. Humanity buries their young with tears, while continuing to kill them.
THOSE WHO DOUBT
• 18. Jesus and John the Baptist. The situation has been reversed. John appeared as a great prophet, while Jesus began preaching in John’s wake but without the same impact (3:18-20). Now John is in prison and Jesus is known as a healer. Has John doubts in prison? It is possible even if he had told some of his followers that Jesus would take his place. It might be more accurate to interpret his question as a pressing invitation: “If you are the one who is to come, why so much delay?”
John’s disciples did witness the cures, but the cures are not everything and Jesus adds: the poor hear good news because real evangelization restores hope and leaves people renewed.
The blind see, the lame walk… (v. 22). The prophets foretold these signs (Is 35:5) that were really something new, because in the past God usually manifested himself as a powerful savior. These healings pointed to the liberation that Jesus was bringing: not punishment of sinners (which was a great part of John the Baptist’s preaching) but, before all else, reconciliation suited to healing a world of sinners, of violent and resentful people.
Fortunate are those who encounter me, but not for their downfall (v. 23). And fortunate are those who do not doubt Christ’s salvation after seeing the fruits of evangelization. Fortunate are those who do not say: this way is too slow. The Gospel shows its richness in giving life to people, in restoring hope to those who have experienced weakness and sin. It is necessary to have seen and understood that this is most important.
It does not matter if the world seems to continue to surrender to the forces of evil. The presence of liberated people compels others to define themselves in terms of good and evil and this makes the world grow.
With this, Jesus answers the disciples of John, men who are self-sacrificing and concerned for the triumph of God’s cause. Per haps they are so absorbed in their search for justice that they fail to recognize God’s powerful working in Jesus’ actions, which appeared so gentle and mild.
• 24. When John’s messengers had gone. Most of John’s disciples continued to follow him and did not acknowledge Jesus. Jesus did not accuse them, instead he praised John and situated himself in respect to John.
A prophet and more than a prophet (v. 26): Jesus clearly takes a stand in favor of John; yet John was the subject of many reservations in respected circles. No one (the Gospel uses the Jewish term: among those born of woman, that simply means: no one) could be found greater than John. For the common people John was the greatest contemporary figure. Jesus agreed with them for this reason: John introduced the Savior and the kingdom of God.
The least in the kingdom of God is greater than he (v. 28): in the sense that Jesus’ disciples entered the kingdom that John only announced. However holy John may have been, he was not given the knowledge of God that permeated Jesus. Actually Jesus emphasized the superiority, not of his disciples as compared to John, but of his own mission when compared with that of John.
John said that each one had to straighten out his life. Jesus rather insists that all efforts are useless if a person does not believe in the Father’s love. John’s disciples used to fast; Jesus’ disciples will know how to forgive. John attracted to the desert those who knew how to let go of conveniences that they were accustomed to; Jesus lives among people and heals their wounds. The baptism of John signified a per son’s willingness to give up his vices, while the baptism of Jesus bestows the Spirit of God.
They are like children sitting… (v. 32). They do everything at the wrong time; they reproach John for his austerity and Jesus for his lack of austerity. There is no “one” way of serving God; there is no “one” model of holiness, “one” style of Christian life. God acts in thousands of ways throughout history, encouraging at a given time what he will censure later in another milieu. The alarming asceticism of hermits in the desert or that of the ancient Irish monks has been a richness for Christianity; a Christianity that appears more human has not prevented other believers from following Jesus to the cross. Jesus went further than John but he needed John: the Gospel is heard with pleasure but is not taken seriously as long as repentance and sacrifice are brushed aside. Perhaps the renewal of our faith today is waiting for prophets and for movements that dare to question a culture and a society that has become sterile.
• 36. The Pharisee, Simon, had some clear and simple religious principles: The world is divided between good people and sinners. Those who obey are the good people; sinners are those with notorious sins. God loves the good and does not love sinners: God stays away from sinners. Being good, Simon stays away from sinners. Since Jesus does not move away from the sinful woman, the Spirit of God must not be guided by him.
Simon was a Pharisee, and Pharisee means: “separated” (apart). Let us not condemn him: a constant theme running through the Bible invites the righteous to separate themselves from sinners; it was thought that the “uncleanness” of a sinner necessarily contaminates the others. Jesus shows that this need to separate, like awaiting the punishment of sinners, disregards both the wisdom of God and the reality of the human heart. God knows that we need time to test good and evil and also to arrive at a mature and stable orientation. He lets us sin because, in the end, we will know more clearly that we are bad and that we need only Him. Thus God easily forgets our sins and our excesses, if in spite of them or through them, we come to genuine love.
Simon did not welcome Jesus with the customary signs of hospitality at that time. In those days, people reclined on sofas around the table according to the custom of rich people and thus Jesus did as well. How could he dialogue with this respectable man who believed he knew the things of God but was incapable of feeling them? Jesus was waiting for the arrival of the sinful woman.
The one who is forgiven little (v. 47). This is a maxim rather than a valid affirmation in every case. Many who were not great sinners have loved Jesus passionately. Here Jesus speaks with irony to a very “decent” man: Simon, you think you owe little (and you are wrong in that), and for this reason you do not love much.
This is why her sins are forgiven (v. 47). Some see a contradiction between this verse and verse 42, where great love is the fruit of greater forgiveness. In verse 47 great love obtains this forgiveness. Jesus does not attempt to say which of the two – love or forgiveness – comes first: in fact, the two go together. Here Jesus is contrasting two forms of religion. The religion of the Pharisee is something like bookkeeping: God takes note of good and bad works to later reward more fully the person with more entries for good works. True religion, focuses instead, only on the quality of love and trust, and usually we love to the degree that we become aware of how much God has forgiven us.
Your sins are forgiven (v. 48). Try to understand the scandal such words must have caused. Actually, whom had the woman loved except Jesus? Who could forgive sins, except God?
It is easy for us at a distance to side with Jesus against Simon and his friends, but in fact Jesus went against all the reasons that usually help religious persons in their own decision-making.
From early times a question has been raised: what relationship is there between the sinful woman of this paragraph, Mary of Magdala of the following paragraph, and Mary of Bethany who, during another meal, pours perfume on the feet of Jesus (a very strange gesture) in the house of another Simon, and becomes the subject of criticism? Are they one, or two or three? The Gospel does not tell us clearly, given also the fact that the evangelists never hesitate to relocate a word or conversation of Jesus to put them in a context better suited to their account.
Whatever the answer may be, there are links between these various episodes. The scandal for religious persons was not that on one occasion Jesus allowed a sinful woman to approach him, but that women who belonged to the group of disciples familiarly approached him. One of them, Mary of Magdala, could have been less than a model at the time of her demons (8:2).