Daily Devotion for Lent - Day 12

Scripture Reading:  Luke 7:36-50

We continue with Luke's use of Simon as the "everyman" which I emphasized in an earlier post.  Luke changes Simon's identity.  In Mark and Matthew, Simon has leprosy with no designation as a Pharisee, and both agree that this happened in Bethany (just outside of Jerusalem).  John removes Simon and places it as the house of Lazarus whom he had just raised from the dead.  And the woman is identified in John as Mary, sister of Martha.

In all of the other Gospels, this becomes a foreshadowing of Jesus' death (it happens much closer to his arrest) as the woman is symbolically preparing his body for burial.  The objection is not to the woman's sinfulness (and how this would hurt the reputation of Jesus) but of the extravagance of the act.  Luke is the only one that mentions her as a sinner.

We need to be sure that our image
is not hijacked by the few!

Simon as a Pharisee becomes someone who knows the law - all of the law - and has to interpret which parts take precedence.  As Luke uses "Simon" as a motif for the reader, we also have been exposed to the law and while we may not know it as well as the Pharisees did, we also have to make choices on which parts we will pursue over others.

Simon is exposed by Jesus for his lack of hospitality.  Of course, Simon has the example of Abraham.  In essence, all of us could be exposed for this from time to time in our lives and in our churches.  What Jesus may be helping us to examine is our sense of entitlement.  When we become "owners" of the church, we become proprietors of God's grace.  Jesus reminds us that grace is given not earned.

As we move through Lent, rather than focus on those you are not forgiving for whatever reason, it may be better to focus on the things for which you are thankful.  When we build up how blessed we are in our minds, it becomes more difficult to hold a grudge against someone else.

Prayer for the day:

Gracious God, we give thanks for your love which washes over us.  As we experience good things in life, let us focus on what we have rather than what we lack.  And as we encounter others, may we be happy for them rather than measuring ourselves against them.  Let this lead us to be hospitable to Jesus in all the ways we encounter him.  We pray these things in his name.  Amen.

Photo by Dave via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.