Sweet Forgiveness in the New Covenant

Sweet Forgiveness in the New Covenant.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ…  the fragrance of life.” (2 Cor. 2:14-16).

Sweet Forgiveness and the Fragrance of Christ. There is a small, blue-flowered plant native to East Africa that randomly grows on footpaths and in the fields. These flowers are not really noticed until one steps on them, at which time the flower releases a delicious fragrance that apparently is out of this world. This humble little plant blossom is called the “Forgiveness Flower,” because it only releases its amazing aroma after “allowing itself” to be trampled upon. When it graciously accepts being harmed like that, its God-designed response is to release a sweet perfume to the person doing the trampling. When someone tramples on us in some hurtful way, when a person seems to get away with stepping on us, it is through our forgiveness of that person that the heavenly fragrance of Jesus is let loose into the world, starting with the person who is the wrongdoer. The delicious perfume of the flower being crushed actually leaves its sweet residue on the heels of the offender. To offer a lasting, pleasing aroma to God and to those around us, we need to make forgiveness our lifestyle choice; to choose to deepen our knowledge of the Lord and spread that knowledge everywhere we go; to remind the people around us of God’s loving forgiveness through our forgiveness of others. That is the sweetest aroma we can offer. May our sweet forgiveness be a soothing fragrance to you, O God, and a healing aroma to those around us. “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” (Ephesians 5:2).

Forgiveness in the Newer Testament. There are two main Greek words for forgiveness in Scripture:

1. “Charizonai” = (from the root word charis, which means grace; used 23 times in NT for forgive); to freely offer the favor of forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it; to graciously pardon an undeserving wrongdoer; to generously grant the grace-gift of unqualified forgiveness. “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave (“charizonai”) all our sins. He dismissed our spiritual debt, He canceled the record of the spiritual charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross, the slate wiped clean, taking away that old arrest warrant and blotting it out.” (Colossians 2:13-14).
2. “Aphiemi” = (the other Greek word translated as forgive, used 46 times in NT); to release a debt; to send away; to let go; to remove a burden; to cancel what is owed by another; to set someone free from an obligation; to generously remove the penalties associated with a person’s wrongdoing. “… forgive us our debts (“aphiemi”), as we also have forgiven (“aphiemi’) our debtors .” (Matthew 6:12); “… forgive (“aphiemi”) us our sins, for we ourselves forgive (“aphiemi”) everyone who is indebted to us.” (Luke 11:4).

In Other Words, Forgiveness is… to let an offense go, to no longer hold an offense against someone, without bringing it up again; to decide to put a wrong done to you on the back shelf and move on; to give up the right to justly punish someone in your heart; to send away from your spirit the right to hold a grudge, or keep score, or seek revenge, or stand in ultimate judgment of a person who has offended you; to release God’s grace to go to work in an offender as well as in you the offended one; to freely pardon someone’s offense and thereby create a space in the heart of both parties for the Holy Spirit to do His transforming work; to embrace the divine process whereby forgiveness of others is how we live into God’s forgiveness of us; to work out and put into action God’s forgiveness of us by our forgiveness of others; to generously demonstrate an act of merciful lovingkindness that cancels the penalties of the wrongs done to us.

Jesus Uses Both Words for Forgiveness in One Gospel Passage: The Scandalous Anointing of Jesus with Tears and Perfume. (Luke 7:36-50).

“Jesus said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ‘Say it, Teacher.’ ‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed about 20 months’ wages, and the other about two months’ wages. When they could not pay, he graciously cancelled both debts and forgave the debt (“charizonai”) of each one. Now which of them would love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And Jesus said to Simon, ‘You have judged rightly.’ Then Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins- and they are many – have been forgiven (“aphiemi”), so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven (”aphiemi”) little shows only little love.’” (Luke 7:44-48).

The Context of the Story.  a. After preaching and teaching in a city, Jesus was invited to a banquet hosted by Simon the Pharisee. The meal was in Simon’s home. As with most dinners at this time, the doors to the home were open during the meal, and people could wander in and out of the porch areas and remain in the background observing all that went on. One of the uninvited bystanders was the local harlot, ritually impure and an outcast. Unconcerned about being defiled, Jesus welcomed her to Him, and she proceeded to minister to Jesus in somewhat scandalous ways. She obviously knew Jesus from His time in the public setting, and she wanted to show Jesus what He meant to her.

Too Touchable. Jesus seems to have a soft spot for sexual offenders that religious society deemed worthless, impure, unworthy. For example, he had gracious interactions with the woman at the well (John 4), and with the adulteress about to be stoned (John 8). He was well-versed in the story of Hosea, about his whoring wife, through whom God taught Israel’s infidelity and God’s infinite compassion. And Jesus knew he had a lady of the night in his family tree, Rahab the harlot in Jericho, a hero from the Hebrew Bible who is mentioned with the likes of Abraham, Isaac and Moses in the epistles of Hebrews and James. Jesus didn’t shun that woman caught in adultery, either. He sweetly forgave her and told her to “sin no more.” Jesus didn’t seem the least bit uncomfortable with the prostitute’s attentions at Simon’s house. He seemed to love interacting with the untouchables, and the too-touchables, in His ministry. Could it be that those who live with passionate hearts of flesh may be closer to the Kingdom than those religious folk who grimly plod on with hearts of stone? Didn’t Jesus say often enough that great sinners are more likely to see their need for grace than those who view themselves as little sinners who have no need for grace? Maybe that’s why Jesus told the chief priests and elders that the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of them. (Matthew 21).

The Woman of Ill Repute. She was never named in this scene. We do know that she was a “great sinner,” a prostitute in the city. As such she was ritually unclean, spiritually impure. Anyone who touched her would be defiled, and would have to go through a specific, time-consuming process to be restored to purity. She risked a lot of blatant rejection by appearing at a Pharisee’s house, but she courageously decided to do so. We assume that she had heard Jesus earlier while He was teaching in the city, otherwise she wouldn’t have sought him out. She knew what Jesus was all about, and already responded to His teaching in her heart.

Simon the Pharisee. a. He no doubt heard Jesus in the city as well, and proceeded to invite Jesus to his house for a meal. This is common in the life of a traveling rabbi like Jesus. One isn’t sure what Simon’s motivation was in the invitation. Curiosity? Entrapment? To confirm his worst suspicions about Jesus? To certify that Jesus is not a prophet as advertised?

b. Right from the start, Simon appears disrespectful and inhospitable. He didn’t offer Jesus the common courtesies to a guest. He didn’t offer water to rinse Jesus’ feet. He didn’t welcome Jesus with a customary kiss on the cheek or hands. He didn’t offer some olive oil to anoint Jesus’ head. He did none of that. Simon’s behavior would be considered highly insulting to a guest. Simon offered no special care or affection to his guest. It appears that Simon thought Jesus to be in an inferior class, a part of the riffraff, that didn’t even deserve basic politeness and respect. Throughout the situation, Simon never offered an apology or sense of regret at the way he treated Jesus.

Her Anointing of Jesus. She was silent throughout. She decided to let her actions speak for her. Upon entering Simon’s home, she went right to Jesus and stood behind Him. Her sense of shame for her past life kept her from approaching Him face-to-face. She proceeds to kneel at Jesus’ feet as He reclined at the table. She wet His feet with her tears of repentance and gratitude. Then she unloosed her hair and dried his feet with her hair, smothering and caressing his feet with kisses, again and again, and anointed his feet with expensive perfume that she had brought with her. She displayed what Kenneth Bailey said was “an expression of devotion in a sacrament of thanksgiving.”

1. This was a scandalous scene. For a prostitute to even enter the home was outrageous enough, but to do what she had done to Jesus would have caused a scandal of monumental proportions. Jesus didn’t seem to mind.
2. The costly perfume she used with Jesus was a prostitute’s best friend, used to sweeten the breath and perfume the body. Where was this container of perfume used before this scene? In her eyes, nothing but the best for the Prophet and Teacher, no matter how the perfume was used in the past.
3. Kissing the feet, especially in this overfamiliar way, was highly erotic, highly sensual. Very inappropriate in any public place, no less with Pharisees in full view. This was only supposed to be done behind closed doors in an intimate setting.
4. Letting her hair down was an intimate gesture that a woman was expected to do only with her husband. Highly inappropriate. A woman could literally be divorced if she let her hair down with another man. This must have shocked all the observers, because it simply wasn’t done, period. It was seen as sexually provocative.

Jesus. He was not put off in the least by the woman’s attentions. It didn’t matter to Him that this contact would make Him ritually unclean. It didn’t bother Him that her actions may be the talk of the town or bring unchaste thoughts to the observers. Jesus accepted her acts of repentance and gratitude with open arms, so to speak. Despite the woman’s background, Jesus never shamed her or heaped guilt upon her.

Simon the Pharisee. He mistakenly thought that he completely understood Jesus after this anointing scene. He can’t be a prophet, look at what He is allowing this notorious sinner to do! Simon, in his self-righteous judgment of her, didn’t accept her obvious repentance. Simon continued calling her a “sinner.” Evidently, he thought she was unforgivable. Simon didn’t like the idea that a sinner like her could ever repent. So her repentance is not valid in his cold religious opinion.

Jesus. After telling Simon the little parable about the two debtors, Jesus helped Simon arrive at the story’s right conclusion. Which man loved the lender more? Simon says, the man who was forgiven much. Jesus told him, ‘Yes, you’re right!’

1. Jesus then once again does the unexpected. He shocks the observers by praising a sinful woman in the company of righteous men. Jesus made her the hero, the champion. And then He did the unthinkable once again… He complained to Simon about his lack of hospitality. A guest must never, it was said, complain to the host. It might insult or shame the host. So the guest was supposed to take whatever came his way and was thankful for what he got. Simon was no doubt on his heels after Jesus’ rebuke. Jesus placed Himself in the position of authority! How uncouth and pretentious! It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t mind shaming Simon the religious leader, but He never even considered shaming the woman of ill repute.
2. Jesus then says that because she has been forgiven of much, she loves much. And those who think they have sinned little, will then love little. She has been forgiven of many, many sins, so she is very, very grateful. On the other hand, how can you know of grace if you don’t see yourself as a sinner? The more you have sinned, the deeper your love and gratitude for God’s forgiveness.
3. Jesus then confirms that she has indeed been forgiven, and that it was her faith that saved her. Her tender acts of devotion were out of thankfulness for being forgiven before she even entered the house.
4. It looks like Jesus intended his little parable to help the woman be welcomed back into an accepting community as she transforms her life. He wants the others in the city, including the Pharisees, to accept her as Jesus has accepted her, a reformed sinner who needs the loving support of people surrounding her in her new faith.

Forgiveness. It seems we don’t have the luxury of watering down these words of Scripture that follow here. Instead, we take them to heart and ask for God’s help in this process of forgiveness.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Matt. 5:7)

“Forgive each other, just as in Christ God has forgiven you.” (Eph.4:32)

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”  (Mark 11:25).

“If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others their sins against you, neither will your Father forgive your sins.” (Matt. 6:14-15).

“Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.” (Matt. 6:12).

“Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.” (Luke 6:27-30).

“I say to you, love your enemies and pry for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:44-45).