All the time in the world

Luke 7 tells us that Jesus was at Simon the Pharisee’s house. When the alabaster lady heard that, she showed up.

Matthew, Mark—and even John, interestingly enough—tell similar stories. (This is interesting for John because there is not a whole lot of crossover between the synoptics and John.)

We don’t know where Simon lived, but M’s, M’s, and John’s accounts all happened in Bethany. To make it all more confusing, two of the instances were in “Simon the Leper’s” house, and another in our old ex-dead friend Lazarus’ place.

In two of those three narratives the lady had an alabaster flask. In the third, the lady is identified as Mary—the sister who did not keep up with her share of the chores. Mary had “expensive ointment” but no mention is made of the flask.

What these three stories have in common is that they are happening close to the final lap of Jesus’ life here on Earth, and Jesus mentions that these anointings were to prepare Him for his burial.

But Luke’s chapter seven account seems to be a whole different ball game. Simon the Pharisee, when he saw Jesus enjoying getting His feet washed by a woman of the street, whispered to himself, “This guy is a charlatan, otherwise he would have not let this slut touch Him with a 10-foot pole.”

Jesus said, “Simon, got a minute? I want to tell you something.”

“I got all the time in the world, speak on.”