Epiphany VIII: The Anointing

In Bethany, Simon judges the Teacher — the Prophet of Israel.

Luke presents Simon as the host, yet Simon acts as if he is not the host. He does not wash the feet of the Teacher — the Prophet of Israel. He remains sitting aloof, withholding the respect and honour owed such a distinguished guest.

When the Woman with unbound hair enters — carrying an expensive alabaster jar — Simon thinks to himself:

If this man were truly a prophet, he would acknowledge who is touching him — and how he himself knows of her sin. 

The Teacher observes Simon sitting aside, withholding his welcome. He turns toward Simon, and the two enter into conversation. The Teacher tells a parable — of two debtors, one owning much, the other little — and asks Simon which will love more when the debt is forgiven.

• Simon answers: the one forgiven more.
• The Teacher says to him: You have judged correctly.

With these words, the Teacher confirms Simon’s role as Father of the Law and as Nathan, the prophet, a true Israelite beneath the fig tree of memory — who once judged David. For David had abused his power when he took Bathsheba, the wife of another man, and sent her husband into battle where he lost his life.

The parable of the two debtors does not deny what Simon is thinking. It confirms it — for those who are paying attention. Parables reveal and conceal at the same time. Simon, described here as Pharisee, stands as Father of the Law and Oral Tradition. Yet his posture — seated apart, watching the Woman as she bends to anoint the feet of the Teacher of Israel — reveals the jealous tension within him.

The Teacher, knows what Simon is thinking — not by clairvoyance, but because the Woman has anointed his feet as if he were the Son of David and she were the stolen Lamb.

The people gathered for this dinner Luke recounts, know the story of David and Bathsheba. When David, took the poor man’s lamb, the prophet Nathan gave David a parable, as a life lesson and a gift of God.

Through that parable, David recognized himself as the one who had stolen and abused his power — declaring himself someone who should die. And Simon he recognized himself as someone who had deliberately sinned by withholding his hospitality.

So now, again, the Father of the Law and Oral Tradition, setting himself apart, judges himself and one of David’s lineage as prophesied — through parable. When Simon declares that the one forgiven more will love more, and the Teacher answers, You have judged correctly, Simon stands in the place of the prophet — revealing the sin the Law creates to show the necessity of grace.

For from the beginning, those created in the image and likeness of God became separated from one another, and from God, when they took into themselves the knowledge of good and bad — hiding themselves with fig leaves rather than confessing.

Yet beneath the Law rests the sapphire foundation — the hidden body of grace that once openly dwelt with Adam and Eve, like thunder and lightning permeating and nourishing the whole inhabited world —the living earth and the life-giving sky — before the Fall.

By speaking in parable, the Teacher does not deny what Simon perceives, but holds back its full meaning — saving and preserving what must remain a private affair until the Bridegroom thunders forth his love for the Bride, and the Teacher rises, washed clean, to stand in the place of the Priest, and proclaim — “Kiss the Bride.”

When that moment comes, forgiveness will rise as the Light dawns and rises as surely as sunshine after a storm greets each hour.

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This is the eighth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross. Now in Lent, the next Lenten Epiphany turns to Cana — where the Woman says to the Son of the Father, “They have no more wine.” What appears to be lacking becomes a sign for those paying attention — that prepares the way for the Cross.

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