Then Jesus turned to His host and with a smile said to him:  “Simon, in thy mind thou thinkest these words:  ’If this man be indeed a prophet, would he not know what manner of woman this be who toucheth him, and would he not rebuke her and drive her from him?’” And the Pharisee was sorely confused, for the Master had read his thought word for word by the method known to occultists as telepathy.  And then in gentle raillery the Master called his host’s attention to the fact that the woman had performed the service which he, the host, had neglected to observe.  Had she not bathed and dried His feet, as the Pharisee would have done had his guest been deemed worthy of honor?  Had she not anointed Him with precious oil, as the host would have anointed an honored guest?  Had she not impressed upon even His feet the kiss that etiquette required the host to impress upon the cheek of the esteemed visitor to his house?  And as for the character of the woman, it had been fully recognized and forgiven.  “Much hath been forgiven her, for she hath loved greatly.”  And, turning to the woman, He added, “Go in peace, for thy sins are forgiven thee.”  And the woman departed with a new expression on her face and a firm resolve in her heart, for the Master had forgiven and blessed her.

But by this act Jesus brought upon His head the hatred of the Pharisee and his friends.  He had dared rebuke the host in his own palace, and had moreover arrogated to Himself the sacred rite to pronounce remission of sins, a right vested solely in the high-priest of the Temple, upon the performance of certain ceremonies and sacrifices upon the altar.  He had flung defiance at vested ecclesiastical right and functions, even in the house of one of the stanchest adherents of formalism and authority—­a Pharisee.

In this incident was shown not only the broadness of Jesus’ views and the universality of His love, as well as His courage in defying the hated formalism, even in the palace of its stanchest advocates, but also His attitude toward women.  The Jews as a race held women in but scant esteem.  They were not deemed worthy to sit with the men in the synagogue.  It was deemed unworthy of a man to mention his female relations in general company.  They were regarded as inferior in every way to men, and were treated as almost unclean in their most sacred natural functions.

Toward fallen women especially Jesus was ever considerate.  He saw their temptation and the social cruelty of their position.  He resented “the double standard” of virtue which allowed a man to commit certain offenses and still be respected, while the woman who committed the same offense was damned socially, reviled and treated as a shameful outcast.  He was ever ready to voice a defense for women of this kind, and seemed to be ever actuated by the sense of injustice in the attitude of men toward them, which finally voiced itself on a notable occasion when called upon to pass judgment upon the woman taken in adultery:  “Let him among ye who is without sin cast the first stone.”  No wonder that the outcast woman kissed His feet and poured out the precious ointment upon Him.  He was the Friend to such as she.