Radical Hospitality by Jesus

A Meal of Scandal and A Meal of Forgiveness

The idea for this blog post came from two inspirations:  The Gospel Comes with a House Key, by Rosaria Butterfield, which we are reading in our community groups at The Village Community Church, and two sermons I heard preached at Central Presbyterian Church in New York City recently.

A Meal of Scandal

Luke 5:29 – 32

“And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ And Jesus answered them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’”

* * *

In chapter 5 of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke, Levi was a man who worked for the Roman government collecting taxes.  In Jesus’ time, Israel was under the control of the Roman empire, and we can glean from the text that Levi, like many other Roman bureaucrats, was a sinful man.  Roman tax collectors used brutal force to collect the taxes, and often lined their own pockets by collecting more than what was remitted to the Roman government. Men like Levi reminded both Jews and Gentiles living in Israel that God’s chosen land was once again under the oppressive authority of an evil foreign government.  What godly man would choose to extend hospitality to such a person?

As recorded by Luke, Jesus called Levi to follow Him; and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Levi immediately did so.  Jesus set Levi free from his public, scornful sin. It is not surprising, then, that Levi wanted all of his fellow sinful friends to meet the one who set him free from his sinfulness and despair, so he threw a feast for them to meet his Savior.  And Jesus went.  

Jesus and His disciples were radical in their willingness to associate with the outcasts of society; yet they did so through the very ordinary means of eating and drinking with them.  In contrast, the Pharisees grumbled about this, seeing Jesus’ association with tax collectors as repugnant. Are we more like the Pharisees, who cared most about appearances and legalism, or are we more like Jesus who cared about reaching the people most in need of salvation – people possibly the most willing to hear the Good Word? 

A Meal of Forgiveness

Luke 7:36-50

“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at 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.’”

* * *

In Chapter 7 of the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke, we read about another unlikely meal Jesus participated in.  Here, we are confronted with a sinful woman – probably a prostitute – at a dinner with Jesus. Surely, she was not invited by the Pharisee hosting the dinner. While she was a resident of the town, she was looked down upon as a sinner and she was clearly battered down.  Pharisees, the so-called best people, shunned her, and worse, adulterous men abused her and used her for sex. But Jesus offered her His attention, care, and, most importantly, forgiveness only He can give.

Inwardly, the woman was broken and bleeding, totally in need of the Good News and saving grace found only in Jesus.  We don’t know how, but she heard of Jesus or sensed His presence at the meal. She may have heard the gracious words of God's love and forgiveness and healing and restoration. She may have heard Jesus speak of His Father's Kingdom in words so plain and compelling that she could see herself as a child of God, a full citizen in His Kingdom of love. At the meal, she performed the scandalous act of weeping upon Jesus’ feet and then wiping her hair upon them – a symbol of anointing and worship.  Jesus’ acceptance of this act was radical; the welcome He showed her at a meal was a totally ordinary act we can likewise do for the outcast sinners we encounter. Do we act like the Pharisees, who considered themselves elites because they had few outward sins in a time of legalism and thus loved Jesus little; or do we act like Jesus, and show the most love to those with the greatest sins?

Rev. Jason Harris’s sermons on these topics can be found here.

Incidentally, check out how the Lord saved this beautiful House of God from Satan’s grasp and theological drift here.