We know that she is a sinner (Luke 7:37, 39). Culturally at that time, this most likely means that her sin was of a notorious and sexual nature. Was she a prostitute? If so, was it by choice or of the tragic result of poverty? Was it that she loved the power her body gives her with men? Or was she mentored by the men and women in her life to believe herself a trinket for use? We don't know. What we know is that she had become "that sort of woman." Which means that she was accustomed to "that sort of man."
How that sort of man views that sort of woman is well described in the song, "The most beautiful woman in the room" by the Flight of the Conchords. She is the most beautiful woman "in the room, in the whole wide room" and is useful for his bodily hopes that night. That sort of man uses her in a way well-captured by the hit show, "The Office."
Roy: (Katy walks through the breakroom) Man, I would be all over that if I wasn't dating Pam.
Pam: We're engaged, not dating.
Roy: Engaged, yeah.
As Kerry Cohen notes in her memoir of sexual promiscuity, "Boys have to put forth real effort to get laid, while all (girls) have to do is stand braless in the wind." I don't know what made this woman in Luke 7, choose to use her body for male attention. But I do know that if she was willing to let them buy her a drink, or laugh at their jokes or show some of her skin, she could have all the attention from that sort of man that she wanted. Truth be told, any of us can, any time. Bowing to "that sort" of life is possible daily.
But, Jesus confronts another "sort" of man in this passage. In contrast to the irreligious men who use her body for their pleasure and whom she uses for her own, the religious men look but do not touch. Jesus spoke about them in the Sermon on the Mount. They believe that it is a sin to commit adultery and so they harshly judge this woman. But Jesus looks into their hearts. They too might think her physically pretty. They too might lust in their hearts. This lust makes their religious hearts of the same stuff as the hearts of the irreligious men. They pretend they have no notice of physical attractiveness. Therefore they seek to put her down with no hope for change. She will always be a woman of "that sort" to them.
Jesus confronts both sorts of men and this sort of woman. Unlike these men and that woman, Jesus connects her body to her dignity (do you see this woman?) and to her story (she has many sins, but she loves much). The irreligious male whistles, flatters and uses. The religious man doesn't touch but niether does he offer an alternative or rescue. Jesus neither flatters nor abandons. Rather, he looks at her without lust. He calls her to affirm that her weeping is right and good. That her dignity and her story matter. She has faith, love and forgiveness. These truths are hers to own when foolish men abound and wait for her to flatter them with her flirtations. These truths are hers when religious men only see where she has been and pay no attention to what Christ is doing. These truths are hers when she finds true love, when flashbacks and memories of other bodies and shadows of other sexual or flirtatious moments intrude until healed.
Imagine a bride walking down the aisle. Imagine a man locking eyes on her to flatter her and bring her to flirt with him as she tries to fix her gaze on her husband. Most all of us would cuss at the thought, outraged with the idea. Isn't this because we all realize in this picture what we long for? We long for a recognition of beauty that is more than skin and that guards and protects true love. Why then, the next day, when the bride and groom are wearing jeans, do we indulge the thought of what they would look like naked? Why can't we leave them alone and mind our own business?
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