The following is an excerpt from a book I’m reading called ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in The Gospels’ by ‘Kenneth E. Bailey’. This chapter focuses on Jesus dinner at Simon the Pharisee’s house and a women there of ill repute who washes Jesus feet (Luke 7: 36-50). The contrast is highlighted between Simon’s lack of respect for Jesus in not offering the traditional welcoming rituals to Jesus that would normally be afforded to a Rabbi (due to his true motives for inviting Jesus over), and the woman humbling herself before Jesus and showing him due respect. After Simon points out the woman’s actions and how he feels Jesus should have responded, Jesus then tells a parable in response (v. 40-43):
Luke 7:40-43
New International Version (NIV)
’40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.’
“A gentle, but subtle move is observable in the parable. As the parable opens, the creditor is naturally assured to be God and the debtors represent the condition of fallen humankind. As the parable unfolds, the debtors cannot pay, and once again the credator is clearly God. But then the creditor “freely forgave them both,” and the obvious symbol for God begins to look like a symbol for Jesus. Is Jesus actually forgiving Simon for his rudeness? Yes, and there is both gentleness and boldness involved in Jesus’ construction of the parable. Simon is being reminded that he has just acted in a rude and unjustifiable manner and that Jesus is not going to ignore the insult. Simon is also a sinner. At the same time Simon’s faults are affirmed , in some sense , to be less than those of the woman. Indeed , she owes 500 and Simon only 50. Yet they are parallel in the sense that neither can pay, and the creditor (Jesus? God?) is willing to freely forgive both of them. (What has happened to the rabbinic demand for compensation?)By the end of the parable the subtle fusion between the creditor as God and the creditor as Jesus is complete. This can be called “hermeneutical Christology”. Jesus takes a recognised symbol for God and subtly transforms it into a symbol for himself. This is of particular significance because it is Jesus himself defining his own identity.”
Kenneth E. Bailey, ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’ p.253-254
Filed under: Articles, Bible Studies and Topical Passages
