Sinner, Yes, Prostitute, No: the Luke 7 Woman Speaks

Luke called me a “sinner in the city” when he told the story about Simon the Pharisee and me. So through the ages people have assumed I was a prostitute. Every woman in the gospels with even a bit of a past is now known as sinning sexually.

But back in the day, it didn’t take much for a woman to be “a sinner.” Rabbinical law made sure of that. Even going out once without a head covering could permanently alter one’s reputation–or going out alone at all.

I was a young widow without children. My parents had passed on and left the inheritance to my brother, who my sister and I lived with. So, I had money to start a business, which my brother encouraged me to do because of his poor health.

I had been seen talking with various men at different times in the markets. I didn’t spend that much time doing cooking or housework; my sister did much more of that.

So, from a rabbinic viewpoint, I was a sinner.  You could gather that I was not a prostitute from Luke’s own story, but only now are readers beginning to put it together. Let me show you the things you may have missed:

1. Prostitutes possessed little; otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen such a way to survive. I was far from poor, especially as an unmarried woman. My family owned an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, worth a year’s wages, which we kept as an heirloom (Craig Keener).
2. I did not dress like a prostitute or in any kind of suggestive way. If I had, it wouldn’t have taken a prophet to discern “what kind of woman she was” (Lk. 7:39). Simon the Pharisee used Jesus’ interaction with me as a test for whether He was really a seeing-type of prophet. They assumed Jesus was ignorant about me, which He would not have been had I been a prostitute dressed-for-the-job.
3. Jesus never told me to “go and sin no more” as he does in other situations where sin was currently and centrally important. He tells this to the woman caught in adultery in John 8:11; and to the man healed at the pool of Bethseda in John 5:14. He knew in my case it was not necessary.
4. The Greek is clear that my sin had “already been forgiven” (7:47) (See Kenneth Bailey). I made my most offensive blunders in the past, as a single, independent woman being observed by many. And I didn’t believe for a minute that Jesus saw me as Simon and the other religious leaders did. I knew Jesus had forgiven me, but also that He was now defending and honoring me.
5. Only someone who knew Jesus well would have the courage to both counter the Pharisee’s extreme disrespect in withholding hospitality, and to pour out my gratitude to Him so publicly. Jesus had resurrected my beloved brother Lazarus; and now the religious authorities wanted Lazarus dead once more (John 12:10). We knew they were targeting Jesus, too (John 11:53), which He Himself had prophesied openly (Mt. 16:21-23; Mk. 8:31-33; Lk. 9:43b-45).
6. In Mark’s and Matthew’s stories, Jesus dines in the small town of Bethany where I lived, though I am not named. John refers to me in John 11 as “the one who anointed the Lord with perfume, and wiped his feet with her hair” as though I was already known for this. John’s account of my anointing Jesus is yet to come in chapter 12. If there were more than one woman who anointed Jesus, John wouldn’t have referred to me as “the one.” And so I hope you will believe me when I say I am Mary of Bethany in John’s gospel account of the woman who anoints Jesus.
7. That day, I felt not only gratitude for forgiveness for my many sins, but the deepest grief that our leaders publicly dishonored and rejected Jesus at this dinner. Though Bible commentators have assumed I could not know I was anointing Jesus for burial, I knew what I was doing, as John remembers (12:7). Jesus told us many times that He would die–and return to life on the third day. Most of The Twelve didn’t accept this, but I and many of the women did. [Note that Luke’s gospel is not strictly chronological].
8. Mark, Matthew and Luke kept my identity a secret to protect me, while I was alive. Jesus had especially praised me and connected me with the spreading of the gospel throughout the world (Mt. 26:13; Mk. 14:9), making me vulnerable to the authorities. By the time John wrote, I had already passed away.
9. I sat at Jesus’ feet to learn from him–in an unconventional way for a woman (Luke 10:39). It is no wonder that, in Luke’s and John’s versions, I took my place at his feet while he reclined, this time to show him that I honored Him not only as Rabbi, but also as the Messiah.

Though not all of you will believe that I am Mary of Bethany, at least understand that I was not a prostitute. Jesus wanted me to be known throughout time for my act of love for him (Matt. 26:13; Mark 14:9). So, I ask you to take another look at the text and the culture, hear my voice, and think again.