Pharisee. It is a picture, however, not only of the loving
mercy of our Lord, but of the unbounded gratitude felt by one who truly
appreciated the priceless gift of his pardoning grace.

By an unfortunate error of interpretation this woman has been confused
with Mary of Magdala or with Mary of Bethany. These three persons should
be, however, absolutely distinct. It is true that Jesus delivered the
first of these from demoniac possession, and that the second, like the
woman in this story, anointed his feet with perfume, but there is every
reason for believing that of the three only this woman was reputed to be a
sinner. She seems to have met Jesus on some previous occasion, to have
repented of her sins, and to have received from the Lord his word of
forgiveness.

It was her gratitude which gave her courage to enter unbidden into the
house of Simon, where Jesus was being entertained as a guest. She had come
to anoint his feet but as she beheld him, she thought again of her sins
and her hot tears of penitence fell upon the feet of her Lord. She hastily
unbound her hair and with it dried his feet and then poured upon them a
flask of fragrant ointment. No truer expression could have been given to
her gratitude and passionate devotion. The fact that Jesus allowed a woman
of such notorious character to express her love for him made Simon
conclude that Jesus could not be a prophet, for otherwise he would have
been able to discern the nature of so depraved a woman.

By his reply Jesus showed his ability to read even the secret thoughts of
his host. The words of Jesus not only answered the silent criticism of
Simon but also rebuked him for his own impenitence and lack of faith.
Jesus proposed to his host a parable of two forgiven debtors, illustrating
the fact that gratitude depends upon the realization of the amount which
has been forgiven, and then he applied this principle to Simon and to the
woman whom Simon had been regarding with scorn. Jesus showed how keenly he
had felt the lack of love shown him by his host, and he contrasted it with
the affection shown by the woman. When he had entered the house Simon had
neglected the customary service of providing a bath for his feet; the
woman had washed his feet with her tears. Simon had withheld the kiss with
which a host usually welcomed his guests; the woman had passionately
kissed his feet. Simon had not furnished the perfume with which it was
usual to anoint an honored guest;