Questions God Asks

 Over the next several posts, I am planning to put forth questions that God/Jesus asks that, in a sense, go unanswered in their context. I will encourage you to read the Scripture reference to get the context of the question, though I will try to provide a summary for the benefit of the reader. Then, we will move into how that same question may apply to us today, given that we live in a different context, but still have the questions fit in our lives. Hopefully this series will give you opportunity to reflect, much like God intended for the initial hearers to reflect upon His questions.

For today, we are looking at Luke 7:36-50. For brief context, Jesus is invited to Simon the Pharisee's house for dinner. While dining, a sinful woman comes up and begins to wipe Jesus' feet with her hair and tears. Simon wonders to himself if Jesus knows what kind of woman this is, to which Jesus responds first with a parable and then with our question. "Do you see this woman?"

Do you see this woman? For Simon, it seems he saw a reputation rather than a woman. Perhaps he had heard of her misdeeds from others, or maybe even from her. Undoubtedly, her reputation was known in that city. If Simon's response was anything like others, the person of the woman had gotten lost beneath the clothing of her reputation. Now, to be sure, we aren't told of her specific sins, but those sins seemed to define her in the eyes of others rather than her personhood. That is what leads Jesus to ask Simon this question, one which goes unanswered.

To bring this question to bear in our lives, what occasions have you had where you have seen a person and their clothing or their reputation rather than the person? We all have those individuals that we have come to define by what they do or have done, or how they dress. For example, we see the person holding the sign by the traffic light, and we see clothing rather than the person. We have no idea of who that person is, or what their motivation might be for standing there. It could be driven purely by need, or it may be an attempt to have others provide for them so that they don't have to. It may be that they have been unable to hold down a job for a variety of reasons, or they may truly not have a place to lay their heads. We see the clothing and the sign, but rarely do we see the person. (Shoot, for the most part, we probably even avoid eye contact simply because to do so makes us uncomfortable.)

Do you see this woman? This man? This child? To get to know the person beneath the clothing or the reputation means that we have to invest in that person. For Simon, it would have meant finding out what led the woman to have a sinful reputation. Perhaps if he had done so, it would have led to compassion toward her, something that he might not rather have had to face. Compassion always calls for a price to be paid, even if it is only extra time, or perhaps a bit of heartache toward the person. And that may be why we don't want to answer this question. Do you see this woman, or this man, or this child, or this senior, or this person who dresses differently, or thinks differently, or holds to a different political party? We just don't want to have to have our way of thinking be required to change.

Yet, that is the very reason that Jesus puts this question there for us to wrestle with. It brings up our sinful tendency to avoid facing others who are not like us, or around whom we are uncomfortable. It challenges us to change the way we think and act (the biblical word for this is repent), and most of us avoid that if at all possible. Yet, to grow in maturity as a disciple of Jesus, we simply must face questions like this head-on, and address the issues they raise in our lives.

So for your exercise, think of one person in your life of whom Jesus could ask, Do you see this woman/man/child? Challenge yourself to go beneath the clothing or reputation, and actually see the person. You might be moved by compassion, and might just have your heart changed for the better.