From Human Condemnation to Divine Compassionنموونە

Imagine this scene: A Pharisee invites his friends to learn more about Jesus. They all lie down for dinner in a semicircle formation, with their feet pointing outwards to allow them to see each other, talk, and eat. Suddenly, a woman arrives and begins to wash Jesus' feet. There is an uncomfortable silence, but Jesus is not scandalized enough for the others to dare to throw the woman out. It's the same scene, but divine compassion sees things that condemnation is incapable of seeing.

From divine compassion, Jesus saw a grateful woman; the text speaks to us of tears of gratitude, possibly before she encountered Jesus or heard something from him that made her understand the power of forgiveness to start another life when she felt condemned and without hope. The biblical text uses the word "Sozo" which, according to studies on the subject, translates as "to give new life" and "to produce a new heart." That repentant and forgiven woman lived the present with a freedom that made her generous and bold, free to laugh and cry.

Simon the Pharisee and his friends couldn't understand any of that. There are things that human judgment blinds and stuns us to. We can't see our failures; we only live in an internal dialogue of judging by our own rules and designing strategies to avoid being discovered. Simon didn't see the woman; he only saw an embarrassing situation. Moreover, if he did see the woman, he could only see her based on his past.

Besides, he thought he was having dinner and conversing with Jesus, but he was only talking to himself. He was unable to see the greatness of his guest. Remember, human judgment always prevents you from seeing others. You look at life from your history; in this case, the story we tell ourselves makes us myopic, egocentric, and unable to connect. We are trapped by a history of crime and punishment where redemption and freedom have no place. We are hostages of guilt and shame.

Jesus was aware of Simon's state of mind and sought to awaken him from a metaphor of divine compassion. How do we look at ourselves and others, like the Pharisee or the redeemed woman? If we see ourselves as the Pharisees, Jesus lovingly wants to tell us a story about two debtors, hoping that we can understand once and for all that He does not measure as we measure. If we fail to embrace redemption, we will never experience true freedom.

Lord Jesus, help us to see ourselves and others as you see us.