Luke 7:44, commentary and pictures

Jesus pointed to a plain contrast in Simon's house, that the host had omitted the customary washing of a guest's feet while the penitent woman had supplied that lack with her tears and her hair. Her humble service expressed repentance, gratitude and love for the forgiveness she had received and prized, while his neglect sprang from self-importance and a small sense of obligation to mercy received. The contrast does not mean she owed more because her sins were greater, for both debtors were alike unable to repay their debt of gratitude. Jesus reads the motives behind such acts, and He used this truthful yet tactful rebuke to bring Simon to recognize his own debt and the connection between forgiveness and love without humiliating him before his guests. To withhold such ordinary honor from Him still reveals a failure to give Him the care and devotion of the heart, whether by rejecting His messengers or by neglecting His work.

Customary Welcome and Contrast

In the East washing a traveler's feet upon welcome was the customary hospitality, ordinarily performed by a servant, and to omit it was discourtesy. Simon omitted it when Jesus entered his house, and Jesus named the omission as discourteous neglect. Jesus was speaking in the house of Simon the Pharisee, where He had come by accepted invitation as He attended feasts. He sought in this way the hearts of the wealthy and cultured, becoming familiar with their lives in order to reveal to them imperishable riches.

He turned to the woman and bade Simon consider her, for Simon had given Him no water for His feet while she had washed His feet with tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. The woman is Mary Magdalene, whom He had pardoned. Her account displays His respect and compassion in His treatment of women.

While the Pharisee judged His conduct, He treated people with generous kindness. His presence and gracious actions gave those who welcomed Him opportunity to know His character. That openness stood in contrast with self-righteous criticism.

Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Love

The tears with which she washed His feet and the hair with which she wiped them were not mere emotion but repentance and humble service flowing from gratitude and love for pardoning mercy and forgiveness received and prized. Her loving attention stood in direct contrast to the failure to offer the customary care due a guest, and it showed that heartfelt courtesy and loving acts are precious in His sight. Simon's neglect came from self-importance and self-regard, from counting himself more righteous than she was. That spirit revealed how little he appreciated mercy, and how small his sense of obligation and love toward his Saviour was. His hospitality, though outwardly proper, therefore lacked the deeper appreciation of Christ that her humble love displayed.

The contrast does not mean she owed more because her sins were greater, for both debtors were alike unable to repay their debt of gratitude. What distinguished them was not the size of the debt but the prizing of mercy, she being filled with gratitude and love while he felt little need. Awareness of one's own sinfulness makes Christ's character and deliverance more precious, so her repentant devotion discerned His worth more truly than Simon's entertainment of Him did. Jesus reads the motives behind both actions, seeing through neglect on the one hand and through tears on the other to the heart beneath. Because loving deeds matter to Him, He is grieved when His children fail to express gratitude through words and loving deeds.

He set forth this truthful yet compassionate contrast to teach truth tactfully in Simon's own house, exposing ingratitude without humiliating the host before his guests. By placing no water for His feet beside feet washed with tears, He brought Simon to recognize his debt and the meaning of forgiveness and love. The aim was that Simon himself would become humble and self-sacrificing rather than self-satisfied. The lesson belongs with the truth that the one forgiven most loves most, with love measured not by self-estimate but by sense of pardon received.

Example and Present Warning

At the Pharisee's feast the occasion was turned into an opportunity for teaching, for words spoken at meals imparted life to those who heard them. That example instructs disciples in how to conduct themselves when among people, whether religious or nonreligious. Courtesy and sociability at the table thus become a means of reaching hearts with truth.

To withhold ordinary hospitality, water for the feet and oil for the head, was to fail to honor a guest to whom care and devotion were due. The lack of water for the feet exposes the same failure in those who reject Christ's messengers and withhold from Him the care and devotion of the heart. Their neglected opportunity stands against them in the record of judgment. The rebuke to Simon likewise confronts unfaithful stewards who have not given Christ the care and devotion of their hearts, nor honored Him by receiving His messengers or supporting His work.