Let us consider for a second something FN said that I quoted yesterday. To paraphrase: he told a feminist Christian that she was not a wicked woman because she had fornicated but because she was teaching this as a spiritual practice, and that made her a teacher of error.
Today we have a Theologian and a Whore: for that is what a woman of the city was, and Jesus’ comment about her loving much refers to her promiscuity. But the whore corrects the theologian, for she is repenting.
And, as she is a woman, she expresses it in a different way. She takes a subservient position. She does the work of the lowest of servants: washing his feet, and does it using her hair, an expensive ointment, and this offends the theologian, for he has incorrect ideas of what it means to be pure.
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering 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 five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
(Luke 7:36-50 ESV)
It may be, however, that both the theologian — for that is what Pharisees were — and the street walker are more righteous than those in the modern age. For both knew their duty, both were called to repentance, and the very fact that the Pharisee invited Jesus to eat was risky.
Jesus, was by this time in the gospels. politically incorrect. Moreover, Jesus implies that both of them have sinned, and the woman has sinned greatly and grievously. But any discussion of sin is now unacceptable, inappropriate.
To the narcissistic woman, asking her to take personal responsibility is the worst insult you can hurl at her. Why should she have to worry about her own safety? After all, rape is wrong, therefore men should not engage in it. The idea that there’s a whole universe out there that isn’t at her beck and call—that doesn’t care whether she lives or dies—simply does not compute. You might as well be speaking Mandarin to a starving African peasant.And yes, this is monstrous behavior. It’s difficult for men to accept, but the vast majority of the women you are dealing with are hollow girls. Empty shells. Vacuous entities with a gaping hole where their souls are supposed to be. To these women, you will never be—can never be—anything more than an accessory, a clown, a thing to amuse her. And while you do your little clown dance, she demands that the rules of the world be rewritten to suit her, something that not even the most powerful men on the planet have the power to do.
There were systematic injustices in the time of Palestine. Jesus did not come to a perfect nation: in this fallen world there are no perfect nations. Although there will be Dark Satanic Mills, there will never be a Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land.
And in times of starvation, women have done what they need to survive, while in times of prosperity there has been, at the end of the generational cycle, a tendency to celebrate the perverse, and call promiscuity good, and sex work empowering.
The tears of this woman speak against the decadence of this time.
But this infantilizing spirit of the age has consequences. Firstly, men are wising up. They are not living with women: the risks are too great. And they are not relying on women for the essentials, because they know that will lead to pain and lawsuits. The feminist revolution has forced women in to a child like dependence on the state that no adult would want and most women do not deserve.
So what should we do, man and woman of God? Firstly, we should ignore the false teaching that sexual sin is somewhat righteous. Yes, this world is fallen. Yes you will have the hots for your girlfriend or boyfriend: Desire like hunger, is not a sin. But lust and gluttony are.
Secondly, if you can live continent and single, you should praise God, for you will lack a lot pain in this life, and in this time. But if you are one who burns with desire, you should refrain from acting on this with your affianced, and instead test to see if this partner of yours will obey Christ.
If she will weep before the LORD. For God hates divorce, and wants you to remain faithful. To do this he drafts husbands into a position of leadership, wanted or not: and women to be the executive officer, to obey their husbands — not because he is a saint (he is not) but for the glory of Christ. Just like we are told to work hard for our bosses and honour our rules, and none of us pretends that they are saintly.
In the end, we have to follow the example of the whore. We have to change what we are doing, and worship Christ. For we should never forget that she was the one who left the table Christ was at with her sins forgiven.
