It’s a Thin Line Between a Sinner and a Saint

"It's a Thin Line Between a Sinner and a Saint"

A Pharisee invited Jesus to eat dinner at his home. He was Simon the Leper. It's curios to me that he was called a leper. This title gives us insight into why Jesus was invited. For Simon to be called a leper yet able to dine with others indicates that he must have been healed from his leprosy. He would have to be grateful to Jesus because as a leper, Simon would have been shunned from society and thought of as unclean. This would have been a very precarious situation for a Pharisee who was at one time looked upon with admiration and respect. In his leprous condition he would have lost that respect and power in his community. Now that he is healed, he invites the Man responsible to dinner as a gesture of thanks.

A woman (who in John 11: 2 is identified as Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus) came to Jesus weeping and she anointed Jesus' head with precious oil and anointed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Simon was the host and was responsible for having Jesus' feet washed as a courtesy as was the custom of that time.

The disciples complained of the waste of the oil and Simon complained of the fact that Jesus allowed a sinner to do this. Jesus deals with the disciples by telling them to leave her alone as she is preparing Him for His burial and that the poor you have always but with Him every moment you have with Him is precious. With Simon, Jesus explains the parallel between this "sinner" and Simon. He didn't even do what was his responsibility to do and Mary, who did not live there nor was a servant of Simon's, did what was not her responsibility to do.

The difference was appreciation. Simon was healed of leprosy and knew first hand how it felt to be shunned. Yet, he did the same to Mary who, was forgiven of sin and whose brother was resurrected. She indeed was grateful. Simon had no cause to judge as he himself should have known the blessings of mercy.

We as Christians have no cause to judge and hate on sinners as we ourselves should just be grateful that we are not under the curse of sin. We are now under grace and the very definition of grace denotes receiving favor from God even though we did nothing to deserve it. We are now under his mercy, which means that though we deserve punishment, God withholds it from us. Mary understood she had so much to be thankful for because of her sinful past. Yet Simon felt he deserved the healing he did receive because of his stature and piety. He felt as though he was already righteous because of who he is and what Jesus did for him. There is a thin line between a sinner and a saint and we who are the called and chosen must appreciate the fact that we have been called saints by God. Let us not be confused and think that we can spot who is not worthy of God's grace and who is. That would be the equivalent of the pot calling the kettle black. We who have a past should know better.