Intellectual Reunion or Intimate Relationship
Analysing one’s level of spiritual commitment is a constant challenge for every follower of Christ. The discipline of self-examination as a tool to evaluate how well one is imitating Jesus is an ever-present task for the faithful. The last lesson helped define true devotion by asking one to test and see if they function as a spiritual fan or a follower.
This lesson will contrast two individuals within the same setting and text. One a Pharisee the other a prostitute. One seeking an intellectual reunion, the other an intimate relationship.
Simon, the Pharisee, equates spiritual commitment with knowledge. Knowledge created the line of distinction which separated the Pharisee from the common Jew. He is out to use dinner as an occasion to sharpen his knowledge skills on this rebel rabbi, Jesus. The evidence is abundant that Simon has no interest in intimacy but views Jesus only within selfish boundaries of advancing his intellectual superiority.
The prostitute, on the other hand, longs for intimacy. She risks ridicule by entering into a room full of religious know-it-alls. She endures the judgmental glares of those who believe they are made righteous by knowing more than her. She identifies, walks to, and stands at the feet of Jesus where her tears produce clean spots on his dirty, unwashed feet. She then uses her hair as a towel, repeatedly kissing the feet she seeks to clean. In one final intimate action, she pours perfume (and her life) upon the Christ she longs to know.
This lesson is not as concerned with what one knows about Jesus, although that has spiritual significance as well. It is concerned with how well one knows Jesus! One’s knowledge can produce nothing more than an intellectual reunion or it can be a knowledge that begins the process of an intimate relationship? Powerful questions in honest analysis of spiritual commitment! Which role characterizes you at this feast? Simon? The prostitute? The quest for information or the quest for intimacy?