What Would Jesus See?

Jesus is invited to the house of a local dignitary for dinner.  A woman of questionable reputation crashes the party.  She is not there to solicit new business.  Rather, she has come to find a path to the future--a path out of "The Life."  She sees Jesus and his power to forgive as that path.

The story contains one of my favorite lines.  The dignitary condemns the woman as irretrievably broken.  Jesus tells a story that shows the dignitary to be the one who in a hopeless state.  Then Jesus offers the punch line: "Do you see this woman?"

That is the question for any of us and all of us.

In The Promise of Mediation, the authors discuss the relational shifts of "empowerment" and "recognition" as the twin processes that produce relationship transformation.  Here is how they describe "recognition."

The hallmark of a recognition shift is letting go--however briefly or partially--of one's focus on self and becoming interested in the perspective of the other party as such, concerned about the situation of the other as a fellow human being, not as an instrument for fulfilling one's own needs.

Jesus recognizes the woman in her full humanity.  He refuses to see her as the two-dimensional stereotype that was the common currency of first-century Mediterranean culture (for more on that see the work of Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh in their social science commentaries on various New Testament books).  

Jesus sees her brokenness and does not blink.   He sees, however, far more deeply than that.  He looks into her depths and recognizes the child of God buried under the layers of guilt and shame.  He sees her tears and accepts her embrace.  As he recognizes her, he frees her from the bondage of her past: "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

A recognition shift leads to a shift in empowerment as well, according to The Promise of Mediation.  The woman leaves this encounter stronger, more fully in touch with the beauty of her humanity.  Now she is better equipped to move into a fuller and stronger life.  She is transformed.

Jesus enacts the cycle of transformation.  He enters the cycle at the point of connection.  He allows the woman to touch him and to bathe his feet.  He is moved to compassion.  He makes a commitment to her as he declares that she is forgiven.  She leaves as a more functional human being.  She has been "saved."

If only church people could understand more clearly that Jesus wants little more than this.  He urges us to see one another fully and in love.  That is enough to change the world.