Saint Mary Magdalene
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
On this day, the Church remembers and gives thanks to God for Saint Mary Magdalene. She was one of the women who accompanied our Lord and His disciples, providing for them from their own possession (cf. Luke 8:2-3). This Mary is designated “Magdalene” so as not to confuse her with the other Mary’s who appear in the Gospels. She was privileged to be the first to see the resurrected Christ, and therefore she was also the first to bring the message of Christ’s resurrection to the apostles (cf. John 20:18). There is debate amongst theologians as to whether Mary Magdalene should be associated with the sinful woman in today’s Gospel text. Obviously, the ancients who appointed our text as the Gospel for the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene were of the opinion that Mary and the sinful woman were one in the same. Many present-day scholars disagree. Either way, we know that Mary Magdalene was a woman whom our Lord had freed from demonic possession, having cast out seven demons from her (cf. Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2). And so, the association between Mary Magdalene and the sinful woman in our text is at least plausible. But regardless, today’s Gospel text is a fitting text for the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene because it shows how: Christ has compassion on those who are contrite and repentant.
Throughout His ministry, our Lord did not discriminate regarding who He ate and associated with. This clearly bothered the Pharisee who had invited Christ to dinner in our Gospel text. When the sinful woman appeared in his house and began to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears and to anoint them, the Pharisee very quickly began to judge. For our Lord did not respond in rebuke. Nor was He bothered in the slightest by her presence or attention. In fact, He seemed to care for this woman. The Pharisee concluded that if Christ were so unaware, He couldn’t be who He claimed to be. After all:
“This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner” (Luke 7:39).
The Pharisee’s condemnation of this woman is clear. She is a sinner who has messed up beyond repair. There can be no restoration, no redemption for someone of this sort. Why does Jesus pay any sort of attention to her?
The Pharisee’s attitude toward the sinful woman is one that is all too common in our world. His cynical conclusion is one that might be drawn by someone in our world today. The premise is simple: Human nature does not change. Once a liar, always a liar. Once a thief, always a thief. Once an adulterer, always an adulterer. And therefore, such a liar, thief, or adulterer is not to be trusted because he cannot change his nature. So it is that our world today despises those it deems to be “sinful.” A transgression, if it is serious enough, will cause a person to be labeled unworthy. This is the heart of the secular “cancel culture.” When one messes up badly enough, there is no redemption.
Perhaps this is why our world despises repentance to the point where it almost seems allergic to the idea. How hard is it to confess one’s transgressions and to ask for forgiveness? And yet, you will rarely, if ever, see a pagan confess a transgression and ask to be forgiven. There are any number of reasons for this, but at the heart of the matter is a culture which does not believe in the power of contrition and repentance or the God who is at work to forgive sins. To be sure, you will see plenty of contrition in the world—which is to say, you will see plenty of people who are sorry for having transgressed in some way. The trouble is, such sorrow does not lead them to repentance, and so it is useless. The world has no place for repentance because it has no place for forgiveness. And from a godless perspective, this is understandable.
But Holy Scripture and the Christian faith offers us something profoundly different, something profoundly comforting. Holy Scripture and the Christian faith offers us contrition and sorrow which is not worthless. For such contrition, when it leads to repentance, is always met with the compassion of Jesus. Such is illustrated in the parable which our Lord tells to the Pharisee.
There was a creditor who had two debtors. The one man owed $7,000 dollars. The other man owed $70,000. Neither one was able to pay the creditor back. So, he forgave them both. And so, our Lord asks the Pharisee, “Which of them will love him more?” (Luke 7:42). The answer is obvious: “The one whom he forgave more” (Luke 7:43). But here is the catch: How does this apply to the present situation? From the Pharisee’s perspective, the sinful woman is the great debtor—one who owed an absurd debt which she could not repay. According to our Lord’s parable, it would make sense that she is grateful to have her debt forgiven. But the application does not stop here. For our Lord’s implication is that this Pharisee—indeed, all men—are like these debtors too. Whatever the amount may be, there is a debt each of us owes because of sin. And we are unable to repay this debt. But this debt of sin is freely forgiven on account of Christ, who has paid our debt for us at the cost of His holy, precious Blood and His innocent suffering and death upon the cross. And such forgiveness is freely offered again and again to sinners. The question is, how will you respond to such a truth?
The Pharisee’s real problem is not that his debt was so small that he didn’t possess the gratitude of the sinful woman—as if going out and accumulating a larger debt would have remedied the situation. The fact of the matter is, $7,000 is still a lot of money! The Pharisee’s problem is that he did not recognize the enormity of his debt. In his pride, he assumed that if he had a debt at all, it was a debt which he could work out of and pay off. But until one realizes the enormity of his debt of sin against God, he will not be truly prepared to receive the free forgiveness of sins offered to sinners for Christ’s sake.
The sinful woman, on the other hand, had nowhere else to turn. She fully felt the enormity and weight of her sin. She was fully aware of how crushing her debt was and how incapable she was of paying it off. She completely and utterly despaired of herself and threw herself at the feet of Jesus. For it is only by His mercy that she can be forgiven.
And Christ responds to this woman’s contrition and repentance with compassion and forgiveness. He says to her:
“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
Neither the woman’s love for Christ nor her contrition over sin grants her forgiveness. Only faith grants salvation. For faith receive the promises of God in Christ. Faith believes the truth that you and I are poor, miserable sinners. We are no better than the prostitutes and drug attics whom our culture deems to be the chief of sinners. We are equal with them before the judgment seat of God. Faith grasps this truth and is led to contrition and repentance over the horrific debt we have accumulated for ourselves. But faith also grasps the truth that Christ has compassion on those who are contrite and repentant. He desires that none should perish. Therefore, He invites you to dine at His house where He offers you His Body given and His Blood shed for your forgiveness. And by faith, we receive this gift and trust that these words are for us too:
“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luke 7:50).
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
