Luke 7:39 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, saying, “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.”
As readers, we get to listen in to the thoughts of the Pharisee named Simon. He had planned a certain time of meal and time with Jesus. Having some “sinner” woman invite herself in and do this crazy act must have really shaken him up and caused him to question Jesus even more. The first part of his thought expressed as a condition implies that he thought Jesus to be some type of prophet. Only a prophet could do the miracles he did. Obviously, there was something special and attractive about Jesus, even to a Pharisee like Simon. The disconnect for Simon came when he saw how Jesus welcomed the woman and allowed her to touch him.
Behind the “then” part of his thoughts is the idea of holiness and separation from sin. Because this woman was a known sinner, to allow her to be near or even to touch him, Jesus was violating basic religious laws of separation from sin. Simon thought of holiness as separation from evil. That is indeed one aspect of holiness, but that concept is deeply personal and moral. As individual persons, we must stay away from evil practices in our lives. Holiness for Jesus, however, was deeply relational. Holiness as relational does not ignore or exclude holiness as moral separation.
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