Jesus turned to him. "Do not rebuke her," he requested. _That is the trouble with leaving the door open_, thought Symeon. _Women like this are bound to get in_. Everyone there knew her. She had a bad reputation in the city. Symeon felt humiliated to have such a person in his house.
_This Nazarene certainly knows all the worst people_, reflected the young Pharisee cynically.
Suddenly a lovely fragrance filled the room. The woman had broken open a bottle of precious perfume and recklessly poured every drop on Jesus"
feet.
_Such waste!_ thought Symeon angrily, realizing what she had done. _I wonder if the Nazarene has any idea where she got the money to buy this oil!_ But he said nothing because he was very polite.
Jesus turned to his host. "Symeon," he said, "I have something to say to you."
"What is it, Teacher?" asked the Pharisee.
"There was once a man who loaned money," said Jesus. "One of his debtors owed him two hundred and fifty dollars; another owed him twenty-five dollars." The guests were listening closely. "Neither of these men could pay back the money, so the lender said to both of them: "I forgive you your debts. You don"t need to pay me back at all."" He paused and then asked, "Now which of these two men would be more grateful?"
"Why, naturally, the man who owed more money would be more grateful,"
replied Symeon without hesitating.
"Right!" said Jesus. "When I came into your house you didn"t even offer to wash my feet--and everyone does that for his guest! But this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair!
"You didn"t welcome me with a kiss--and everyone greets his guest that way!" He pointed to the woman. "But she has been kissing my feet.
"You didn"t anoint my head with oil--and everyone does that for his guest! But this woman has poured precious perfume on my feet!" Jesus"
voice was quiet, but all the Pharisees could sense the force of his words when he said: "She has committed many sins, but they are all forgiven and now her heart is full of love." Then Jesus spoke directly to Symeon and each word seemed to strike him like a blow. "But a man whose sins are not forgiven has no love in his heart." Then he said very gently to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."
Symeon"s face burned hot. Never had anyone spoken like this to him! He was troubled by the suggestion that he was a sinner. All his life he had done his best to obey the Law. Had he not always prided himself on his good actions?
Hurt and confused, Symeon heard a friend beside him whisper, "Did you hear him say that this woman"s sins are forgiven?" Abruptly Symeon looked up at the man. He was right! It was an outrage for anyone to say such a thing as this!
"You have no reason to be sorrowful," Jesus was saying to the woman.
"Your faith has saved you."
Symeon stood up, his shame forgotten. Why had he ever let this person disturb him? Anyone who talked this way was a heretic and a blasphemer, nothing better! Only G.o.d could forgive sin. They all knew the truth about this Jesus now: such a man was dangerous to all true religion. As a Pharisee who loved the Law, he would have to do all he could to keep him from deceiving the people.
Jesus said nothing to the disciples about the events of the evening in Symeon"s house. But two days later, while buying food, Andrew and John heard a rumor which they discovered later came from Symeon. "Should we tell the Master?" wondered John.
"We must." Andrew was positive. They made a quick trip to Simon"s home, left their food, and hurried out to the sh.o.r.e of the lake. As usual, a large group of listeners surrounded Jesus. "We shall have to wait until we can talk to him alone," said Andrew.
A man whom the disciples had never seen before was questioning Jesus.
"Rabbi, why do the Pharisees and the followers of John the Baptizer fast while your disciples pay no attention to the fasting rule?" Andrew and John exchanged startled glances; this was it!
Jesus answered very clearly. "Tell me," he asked, "do the friends of people who are getting married fast on the wedding day?"
"Of course not. That is a time for rejoicing, not fasting."
"Right," answered Jesus. "While the bridegroom is with his friends they are not sorrowful. But a time comes when he leaves them. There is time enough then to fast."
"But, Rabbi," protested the man, "the Pharisees say it is a serious sin not to fast."
"Listen to what I say," said Jesus. "If you have an old coat with a hole in it, do you patch it with a brand-new piece of cloth?"
"No, of course not."
"Why not?" asked Jesus.
"As soon as the new piece is wet by the rain," answered a woman very quickly, "it shrinks and tears the cloth of the old coat."
Jesus said, "If you try to add something new to the old, the new destroys the old, doesn"t it?"
"What do you mean by that?" asked the first man after a moment"s thought.
"Listen again. When you make new wine, do you pour it right into a dry, stiff wineskin that has been used before?" The people stored wine in whole goatskins, tied up tightly at the legs and neck.
"Of course not."
"Why not?"
"Because as soon as the wine begins to ferment it stretches the skin tight. New wine is powerful enough to rip an old bag to pieces!"
"Do you understand now what I am telling you?" asked Jesus. "Never try to put new wine in old skins. The old cannot hold the new. The gospel of the Kingdom of G.o.d asks you to do much more than just keep the fasts."
"The Pharisees don"t say that," said the man doubtfully. "I don"t know who is right. It is a serious thing not to keep the Law of Moses."
"Do you know what you remind me of?" Jesus said. "I saw some children in the market this morning who couldn"t decide what they wanted to do. Some wanted to play that they were at a wedding; others, that they were at a funeral. When they piped wedding music, the ones who wanted a funeral wouldn"t dance. And when they piped funeral music, the others quit. It was impossible to please them all.
"You and your teachers are like children who are never satisfied. John the Baptizer came and fasted often--and you said he had a demon. Now I come eating and drinking like other men and you call me a glutton and a drunkard. You accuse me of being friendly with tax collectors and other sinners. But what we do will prove to be right!"
When the crowd broke up, Andrew and John walked back to Capernaum with Jesus. "Someone had been talking to the man who asked that question,"
declared Andrew.
"Yes, I know," answered Jesus. "We must expect the Pharisees to criticize us. How careful they are to keep every little command of the rabbis--but justice, mercy, and kindness they forget. They would strain a gnat out of their soup and swallow a camel whole!" The disciples had to smile at the way Jesus put it. "They cannot understand what we are saying. We offend them--and when you offend men who take their religion very seriously, you must be ready for real trouble!"
The next Sabbath Day the disciples realized that the Pharisees were not going to stand by while Jesus taught the people a new way of life. Jesus had traveled to a small town near Capernaum where he had not been before and so he was invited to speak in the synagogue. Several Pharisees were present and very much interested in what Jesus said. They seemed friendly, and after the service went walking with Jesus and a few other people who cl.u.s.tered around Jesus. The group pa.s.sed through a field of grain outside the town. James and Levi were hungry, so they pulled the tops off some wheatstalks. They rubbed the heads of wheat in their hands and blew away the chaff. The Pharisees seemed offended by this, but at first they said nothing. Other people saw what the disciples were doing, and they plucked wheat too. The Pharisees became more and more disturbed and finally could keep back their protests no longer. They came to Jesus.
"Rabbi, we noticed that some of the men here were pulling wheat," one of them said tactfully.
Jesus said: "They are hungry. It is all right for them to pick wheat, isn"t it?"
"The scribes say it is all right to pick single grains. Rabbi," they replied, "but these men are rubbing out whole stalks, and that is against the Sabbath rule." They were sure that Jesus understood.
"Have you not read in the Bible that David and his warriors took bread off the sacred table in the Tabernacle when they were hungry?" asked Jesus. "That was against the rule of Moses--but David did it!"
The Pharisees were dumfounded. The first almost stammered as he asked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that if there was a higher law for David there may also be a higher law for me and my disciples," answered Jesus plainly.
"But ... but we do not understand," faltered the Pharisee. "You cannot set aside a law. No one can. That is impossible. It is part of our religion. Whoever pays no attention to the Law is an outcast and a sinner."
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," replied Jesus.
"The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."