If taken within the context of meals---a context which has been arranged by Jesus’ reference to the eating and drinking in which both He and John are said to engage, then we can hear Jesus speaking of Himself within the long-standing wisdom tradition within Israel that is associated with the Messiah. Though it is the Gospel of John that makes a more prevalent use of the highly-developed wisdom tradition, there is no reason to preclude Luke from making use of it as well, as he makes his report on Jesus’ words and deeds. If the messiah-associated wisdom tradition is in play here, then it is conceivable that there are messianic banquet considerations to be taken from the words of Jesus.
Is this a bit of a stretch to hear Jesus making messiah and messianic banquet references in this short little statement? Probably not, especially in light of His making mention of eating and drinking, and then Luke’s transition to Jesus’ presence at the dinner at the house of a Pharisee. The use of “wisdom” as a clearly self-referential statement at this point in the narrative, when both Jesus’ hearers and Luke’s readers have been thrust into a meal-related mindset, clearly ushers us into a messianic context. With thoughts of both messiah and meal at play, along with talk of vindication (an incredibly important concept for Israel especially in relation to messiah), it would not be difficult to find Jesus’ hearers associating words such as “all her children,” when used in this context, entertaining thoughts of the great messianic banquet.
What we get here is a glimpse into Jesus’ mindset as it relates to this banquet in Matthew, when we hear Him say “I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (8:11-12). Though we will be looking at Jesus’ presence in the house of Zaccheus at a later time, the words that Jesus speaks in that situation, in which He declares that Zaccheus “is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9b), Jesus’ use of “son of Abraham” informs us that such an idea, used in association with a meal, might be at work when Jesus says something like “wisdom is vindicated by her children.” Clearly, if we ever find ourselves thinking that any of the Gospel authors are offering up anything less than complex theological constructs in narrative and biographical form based upon the fact of a resurrected Christ that demanded their full allegiance, then we do them a tremendous disservice.
Having dealt with that transition, we now move on to an examination of Jesus at a meal at the house of a Pharisee. As we embark upon yet another examination of one of Jesus’ meal events, we bear in mind the statement from Revelation that prompted us down this path, in which Jesus says, “Listen! I am standing at the door and knocking! If anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with Me” (3:20). This situation of Jesus being outside the church, we also remember, has been brought about because of a practice of the church that has Jesus telling them that He is “going to vomit you out of My mouth” (3:16b). Finally, and based on our thorough examination of similar statements, we are also keeping in mind that Jesus, through John, is dealing with a real life situation that would be well understood by His hearers (John’s readers), with this fact marked out by the statement “The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (3:22).
At this particular meal, we learn that “a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee’s house,” and that “she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil” (7:37) to this house. Jesus, of course, was in the customary reclined position on the dining couch, with His feet away from the table, and this woman “As she stood behind Him at His feet, weeping… began to wet His feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfumed oil” (7:38). At first glance, this may seem to be a repetitive presentation, as we have already encountered a similar story of perfumed anointing in our examinations of the meals of Matthew and Mark. However, this is clearly a different function and a different woman, with this event taking place well ahead of the anointing story chronicled in Mark and Matthew. As a matter of fact, Luke omits the particular anointing story found in Matthew and Mark, providing this one instead.
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