PAPER 147: Section 5.
Visiting Simon The Pharisee
P1651:5, 147:5.1
Though Simon was not a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin, he was an influential
Pharisee of Jerusalem. He was a halfhearted believer, and notwithstanding that
he might be severely criticized therefor, he dared to invite Jesus and his personal
associates, Peter, James, and John, to his home for a social meal. Simon had
long observed the Master and was much impressed with his teachings and even
more so with his personality. P1651:6, 147:5.2 The wealthy Pharisees were devoted to almsgiving, and they did not shun publicity regarding their philanthropy. Sometimes they would even blow a trumpet as they were about to bestow charity upon some beggar. It was the custom of these Pharisees, when they provided a banquet for distinguished guests, to leave the doors of the house open so that even the street beggars might come in and, standing around the walls of the room behind the couches of the diners, be in position to receive portions of food which might be tossed to them by the banqueters.
P1651:7, 147:5.3 On this particular occasion at Simon's house, among those who came in off the street was a woman of unsavory reputation who had recently become a believer in the good news of the gospel of the kingdom. This woman was well known throughout all Jerusalem as the former keeper of one of the so-called high-class brothels located hard by the temple court of the gentiles. She had, on accepting the teachings of Jesus, closed up her nefarious place of business and had induced the majority of the women associated with her to accept the gospel and change their mode of living; notwithstanding this, she was still held in great disdain by the Pharisees and was compelled to wear her hair down -- the badge of harlotry. This unnamed woman had brought with her a large flask of perfumed anointing lotion and, standing behind Jesus as he reclined at meat, began to anoint his feet while she also wet his feet with her tears of gratitude, wiping them with the hair of her head. And when she had finished this anointing, she continued weeping and kissing his feet.
P1652:1, 147:5.4 When Simon saw all this, he said to himself: "This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is who thus touches him; that she is a notorious sinner." And Jesus, knowing what was going on in Simon's mind, spoke up, saying: "Simon, I have something which I would like to say to you." Simon answered, "Teacher, say on." Then said Jesus: "A certain wealthy moneylender had two debtors. The one owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Now, when neither of them had wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them do you think, Simon, would love him most?" Simon answered, "He, I suppose, whom he forgave the most." And Jesus said, "You have rightly judged," and pointing to the woman, he continued: "Simon, take a good look at this woman. I entered your house as an invited guest, yet you gave me no water for my feet. This grateful woman has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss of friendly greeting, but this woman , ever since she came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you neglected to anoint, but she has anointed my feet with precious lotions. And what is the meaning of all this? Simply that her many sins have been forgiven, and this has led her to love much. But those who have received but little forgiveness sometimes love but little." And turning around toward the woman, he took her by the hand and, lifting her up, said: "You have indeed repented of your sins, and they are forgiven. Be not discouraged by the thoughtless and unkind attitude of your fellows; go on in the joy and liberty of the kingdom of heaven."
P1652:2, 147:5.5
When Simon and his friends who sat at meat with him heard these words, they
were the more astonished, and they began to whisper among themselves, "Who
is this man that he even dares to forgive sins?" And when Jesus heard them
thus murmuring, he turned to dismiss the woman, saying, "Woman, go in peace;
your faith has saved you."
P1652:3, 147:5.6
As Jesus arose with his friends to leave, he turned to Simon and said: "I
know your heart, Simon, how you are torn
betwixt faith and doubts, how you
are distraught by fear and troubled by pride; but I pray for you that you
may yield to the light and may experience in your station in life just such
mighty transformations of mind and spirit as may be comparable to the tremendous
changes which the gospel of the kingdom has already wrought in the heart of
your unbidden and unwelcome guest. And I declare to all of you that the Father
has opened the doors of the heavenly kingdom to all who have the faith to
enter, and no man or association of men can close those doors even to the
most humble soul or supposedly most flagrant sinner on earth if such sincerely
seek an entrance." And Jesus, with Peter, James, and John, took leave of their
host and went to join the rest of the apostles at the camp in the garden of
Gethsemane.
P1653:1, 147:5.7
That same evening Jesus made the long-to-be-remembered address to the apostles
regarding the relative value of status with God and progress in the eternal
ascent to Paradise. Said Jesus: "My children, if there exists a true and living
connection between the child and the Father, the child is certain to progress
continuously toward the Father's ideals. True, the child may at first make
slow progress, but the progress is none the less sure. The important thing
is not the rapidity of your progress but rather its certainty. Your actual
achievement is not so important as the fact that the direction of your
progress is Godward. What you are becoming day by day is of infinitely more
importance than what you are today.
P1653:2, 147:5.8
"This transformed woman whom some of you saw at Simon's house today is, at
this moment, living on a level which is vastly below that of Simon and his
well-meaning associates; but while these Pharisees are occupied with the false
progress of the illusion of traversing deceptive circles of meaningless ceremonial
services, this woman has, in dead earnest, started out on the long and eventful
search for God, and her path toward heaven is not blocked by spiritual pride
and moral self-satisfaction. The woman is, humanly speaking, much farther
away from God than Simon, but her soul is in progressive motion; she is on
the way toward an eternal goal. There are present in this woman tremendous
spiritual possibilities for the future. Some of you may not stand high in
actual levels of soul and spirit, but you are making daily progress on the
living way opened up, through faith, to God. There are tremendous possibilities
in each of you for the future. Better by far to have a small but living and
growing faith than to be possessed of a great intellect with its dead stores
of worldly wisdom and spiritual unbelief."
P1653:3, 147:5.9
But Jesus earnestly warned his apostles against the foolishness of the child
of God who presumes upon the Father's love. He declared that the heavenly
Father is not a lax, loose, or foolishly
indulgent parent who is ever ready
to condone sin and forgive recklessness. He cautioned his hearers not
mistakenly
to apply his illustrations of father and son so as to make it appear that
God is like some
overindulgent and unwise parents who conspire with the foolish
of earth to encompass the moral undoing of their thoughtless children, and
who are thereby certainly and directly contributing to the delinquency and
early
demoralization of their own offspring. Said Jesus: "My Father does not
indulgently condone those acts and practices of his children which are
self-destructive
and suicidal to all moral growth and spiritual progress. Such sinful practices
are an abomination in the sight of God."
P1653:4, 147:5.10
Many other
semiprivate meetings and
banquets did Jesus attend with the high
and the low, the rich and the poor, of Jerusalem before he and his apostles
finally departed for Capernaum. And many, indeed, became believers in the
gospel of the kingdom and were subsequently baptized by Abner and his associates,
who remained behind to foster the interests of the kingdom in Jerusalem and
thereabouts.