One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him; and when he entered the Pharisee’s house, he sat down at the table.
7:36 One of the Pharisees (Simon, v. 40) begged Jesus to eat with him. And having entered the house of the Pharisee, he sat down (reclined, NASB, margin) at the table. — This “Simon” is not to be confused with “Simon the leper” (Matt 26:6) who also invited Jesus to dinner. Although Jesus was anointed with perfume at both dinners, they are two different cases. The woman who anointed Jesus in the house of Simon the leper was Mary of Bethany (Joh 12:1-8). The name “Simon” was one of the most common names among the Jews (there are nine in the New Testament). Jesus was no respecter of persons. He ate with publicans and “sinners” but also with the Pharisees (11:37; 14:1).
Source: Commentary on the New Testament by Partain
one of the Pharisees begged him. Matt 26:6; Mar 14:3; Joh 11:2.
And entered the house of the Pharisee. Luke 7:34; Luke 11:37; Luke 14:1.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
One of the Pharisees begged Jesus to eat with him: This fact is not the same as Matt 26:6-13; Mar 14:3-9; Joh 12:1-8. The event described in those passages occurred in the house of a leper, a place where no Pharisee would have gone.
sat at the table: The food with a religious character in ancient times, was arranged in such a way that the guest was at the main table while the others were along the outer wall of the room to listen to the conversation.
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
One of the Pharisees. His name was Simon (v. Luke 7:40). He does not appear to have been a sympathizer of Jesus (cf. vv. Luke 7:44-46). Undoubtedly his motive was to set a trap for Jesus or to find some reason to accuse him (cf. Luke 6:7).
Source: MacArthur Study Bible
7:36 One of the Pharisees (Simon, v. 40) begged Jesus to eat with him. And having entered the house of the Pharisee, he sat down (reclined, NASB, margin) at the table. – This “Simon” is not to be confused with “Simon the leper” (Mat 26:6) who also invited Jesus to dinner. Although Jesus was anointed with perfume at both dinners, they are two different cases. The woman who anointed Jesus in the house of Simon the leper was Mary of Bethany (John 12:1-8). The name “Simon” was one of the most common names among the Jews (there are nine in the New Testament). Jesus was no respecter of persons. He ate with publicans and “sinners” but also with the Pharisees (11:37; 14:1).
Source: Reeves-Partain Notes
THE LOVE OF A SINNER
Luke 7:36-50
One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to a meal, and He went into the house and sat down at the table.
There was in that town a woman of bad life who, when she found out that Jesus was invited to eat at the Pharisee’s house, took an alabaster jar full of essence and placed herself at the feet of Jesus, who was reclining on the sofa. She immediately began to cry in such a way that her tears ran down the feet of Jesus, and she dried them with her hair while she covered them with kisses and with the perfume that she had brought.
When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself:
-This is neither a prophet nor is he anything, because he hasn’t even realized the kind of woman who is touching him, which is one of those.
“Simon,” Jesus told him, “I want to tell you something.
“Say everything you want, Master,” Simon replied.
“Once there was a creditor to whom two men owed money,” Jesus began. One owed him five hundred thousand pesetas, and the other, fifty thousand; and since neither of them had enough to pay him back, he forgave the debt to both of them. Tell me, Simon: Which of the two do you think will love him more?
– Well, I guess the one who owed more and was forgiven.
“That is the most reasonable,” Jesus said; and he added, turning to the woman: “Look at this woman!” When I entered your house, you did not offer me water to wash my feet; but this woman has watered my feet with tears and she has dried them with her hair. You didn’t give me the welcome kiss either; but this woman, ever since I came in, hasn’t stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t give me anything for her hair either; but this woman has perfumed my feet with essence. For all of which I tell you that there must have been many sins that have been forgiven her, because she shows signs of great love. But it is clear that he who believes that he does not need much forgiveness, he does not love much.
And then he turned to the woman and said:
-Your sins have been forgiven.
“Who does this man think he is, that he even forgives sins?” the other guests began to say to each other. But Jesus said to the woman:
-Faith has been your salvation. Go, and God bless you!
This scene is so real that it makes one think that Lucas must have been an artist.
(i) The scene takes place in the courtyard of the house of the Pharisee Simon. The houses of wealthy people were built around an open patio that looked like a small square. There was often a garden and fountain in the courtyard; and that was where they ate on hot days. It was customary that, when a rabbi had been invited, all kinds of people would come, no one prevented them, to listen to the pearls of wisdom that fell from his lips. This explains the presence of women.
When a guest entered such a house, it was common for three things to be done. (a) The host put his hand on the guest’s shoulder and gave him a kiss of peace. That was a sign of respect that was never omitted in the case of a distinguished rabbi. (b) The canines were made of earth, dusty, and the footwear was nothing more than soles attached to the foot with straps, and for this reason water was poured on the guest’s feet to clean and refresh them. (c) Either a little incense was burned, or a little rose essence was poured on the guest’s head. They were things that required good manners, but were not met in this case.
‘In the East, diners did not sit, but reclined at the table, on low sofas, leaning on the left arm to leave the right arm free to eat. Their feet were outstretched, and their sandals were removed during meals. Thus it is understood how the woman came to the feet of Jesus.
(ii) Simon was a Pharisee, that is, one of the separated ones. Why did he invite Jesus to eat at his house? There are three possible reasons.
(a) It is possible that he was a sympathizer and admirer of Jesus, because not all the Pharisees were his enemies (cf. Lk 13:31 ); but the atmosphere of impoliteness makes it unlikely.
(b) It is possible that Simon invited Jesus with the intention of catching some word or action to expose him to the authorities. It is possible that Simon was an agent provocateur. This doesn’t seem likely either, because Simon gives Jesus the title of rabbi in verse 40.
(c) Simon was most likely a celebrity collector, and would have invited the disputed young Galilean to dinner with contemptuous paternalism. This would explain the mixture of a certain respect with the omission of courtesy details.
(iii) The woman was known for her low life, and was most likely a prostitute. She had surely heard Jesus from the edge of the crowd, and she had believed that He could reach out to her and pull her out of her mire. She wore around her neck, like all Jewish women, a small alabaster vial containing essence, which was a very expensive thing. She wanted to pour it out to Jesus at her feet, because it was all she could offer him. But, when she saw him, she couldn’t hold back her tears, which literally watered her feet. Appearing in public with her hair down was a sign of shamelessness in a Jewish woman. Young women tied their hair up on her wedding day, and never wore it down in public again. The fact that this woman released it was a sign of the extent to which she had forgotten the whole world except Jesus.
This story reveals the contrast between two attitudes of mind and heart.
(i) Simon did not recognize himself in need of anything, and therefore he did not feel love. He considered himself a good and respectable man in the eyes of others and of God.
(ii) The woman recognized her supreme need, and therefore she was overwhelmed with love towards the One Who could supply her, and for that she received forgiveness.
The only thing that closes us to God’s salvation is the feeling of our own sufficiency. And the strange thing is, the more good a person is, the more he feels his sin. When Paul speaks of sinners, he adds: “Of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15 ). Francis of Assisi said: “There is no sinner in the whole world more wretched and wretched than I.” It is true that the worst sin is not being aware of sin; but the feeling of need opens the door to God’s forgiveness, because God is love, and the greatest glory of love is that the need for it is felt.
Source: New Testament Commentary
— Simon the Pharisee: This passage, which is exclusive to the third gospel, is usually related to the accounts of Matt 26:6-13; Mar 14:3-9 Y Joh 12:1-8. Apart from the space-time framework, which is very different in Lc, the differences are very notable. There are no convincing reasons to identify the anonymous woman of 7.37 with María Magdalena and much less with María, the sister of Lázaro and Marta (see Luke 8:2; Luke 10:39; Joh 11:1; Joh 12:1-3). However, a certain relationship between the aforementioned passages and this one from Lk. In addition, it is surprising that Lc has dispensed with the episode of the anointing in Bethany as the portal of the story of the passion and death of Jesus.
Source: Hispano-American Interdenominational Translation
Luke 11:37; Luke 14:1.
Source: Hispano-American Interdenominational Translation
The sinful woman (cf. Matt. 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8). This story illustrates the accusation made in v. 34. Jesus had been invited to the house of a Pharisee named Simon, probably to eat after the meeting in the synagogue. It was not uncommon for uninvited people to turn up at a banquet and among them was a woman well known as a prostitute. Because people reclined on couches instead of sitting in chairs to eat formally, it was easy for her to get to Jesus. She proceeded to anoint him with perfume, quite possibly paid for by the proceeds of her immoral life, but her tears prevented her from finishing the task. Sure, those actions were unseemly, but she was under too much emotional strain to care what people thought. The Pharisee was very upset by the way in which Jesus accepted the respect given him by such an undesirable person and in such an embarrassing way. The perception that Jesus was a prophet was contradicted because apparently he was not aware that the person who was touching him was a sinner and therefore “unclean”. But Jesus knew what was happening and made Simon notice it through a parable with a very clear message: love is the proof that a person has received forgiveness, and that the more he is forgiven, the more he will love.
It is not necessary to smear Simon’s character by suggesting that his response was haughty or indifferent (43). Nor was his treatment of his guest rude….