We imagine that love is the product of a kind or generous heart. We confuse love with sentiment. Maybe we want others to like us. Perhaps we can’t stomach their suffering, so we medicate them with lies, or we embrace their fantasies because they accommodate our needs. We coddle sentiment as a virtue because it feels safe, womblike, and even noble. 

Sentiment reinforces our private delusions. There is no better resolution for cognitive dissonance than sentimentality. Sentiment is practically Western doctrine. Make everyone feel good. How dare you not? How dare you be so unfeeling, so cold, so unloving? The problem with this line of thinking is that it is evil. Only a self-oriented person believes that a human being is capable of love.

God is the only one who loves his children. If you keep insisting on yourself, which is indicative of what Chris Hedges calls hyper-masculinity, that’s all you will ever understand about relationships. You will never find him. Those who think otherwise always end up alone, sitting in someone else’s chair until the day he appears. You cannot meet God until you are not there, Habibi. 

You will never find him in your “community,” you harlots. “You brood of vipers.” Truly ba‘alic—the lot of you, “reclining together.” That is the prophetic and Pauline wisdom that Jesus uses in Luke 7 to trap Simon, who fancies himself something when he is nothing.

“Do you see this woman, Simon?” Do you dare judge her? Worse, do you dare judge her rightly? Nothing in the Bible is worse than being right about a wrong that condemns you. Jesus does not praise her because she loves much. How could he? That is akin to Simon’s mistake. She is a human. She is incapable of love. Instead, the Lord praises the only one who loved her, the one who gave her the tears to wash his feet when he forgave her much, forgiveness she received from above in submission to him. Simon, on the other hand, judged much.

“What caused you to deny the Master, Simon?” You fool. There is no Judge but him. If I were you, I would trade in my sandals for a pair of running shoes. This week, I discuss Luke 7:40-50.

Show Notes

δανιστής / ת-ו-ך (tav-waw-kaf) / ت-ك-ت (tāʾ-kāf-tāʾ)  The Greek word δανιστής(danistēs),  “moneylender,” refers to a person who lends money, often with interest, associated with violence in Scripture. In Luke 7:41 it is aligned with the function תֹּךְ (tok), which carries the usage “violence” and “oppression” in Proverbs:

“The poor man and the oppressor תְּכָכִים (tekakim) have this in common: The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.” (Proverbs 29:13)

In Arabic تَكَتَكَ (taktaka) means to trample underfoot or to crush, akin to war. تَكَتُك (takatuk): A repetitive sound, such as tapping or clicking, reflecting rhythmic motion or action. The war drum. In Semitic, the idea of trampling extends to subjugation, domination, or persistent oppression, aligning with its use in biblical Hebrew and in Luke 7. 

δάκρυ / ד-מ-ע (dalet-mem-ʿayin) / د-م-ع (dal-mīm-ʿayn)

“I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears דִּמְעָתִי (dim‘ati).” (Psalm 6:6)

ἔλαιον / ש-מ-ן (shin-mem-nun) / س-م-ن (sīn-mīm-nūn) Fat, oil, olive oil. 

“Then Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil (שֶׁ֫מֶן, shemen) on top of it.” (Genesis 28:18)

“You will have olive trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with oil (שֶׁ֫מֶן, shemen), because your olives will drop off.” (Deuteronomy 28:40)

“You will sow but you will not harvest. You will tread the olive press, but will not anoint yourself with oil (שֶׁ֫מֶן, shemen); and [you will tread] grapes, but you will not drink wine.” (Micha 6:15)

“For their mother has committed prostitution; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil (שַׁמְנִי, shemeni), and my drink.’” (Hosea 2:5)

The function س-م-ن (sīn-mīm-nūn) appears four times in the Qur’an, twice regarding Joseph’s dreams and the famine in Egypt, once regarding the Hospitality of Abraham, and once referring to food for the unrighteous from the “thorny plant” on the Day of Judgment: 

لَا يُسْمِنُ وَلَا يُغْنِي مِن جُوعٍ
lā yus’minu wa lā yugh’nī min jūʿ
“[Which] neither fattens nor avails against hunger.”
Surah Al-Ghashiyah (88:7)

μύρον / מֹר — מ-ר-ר (mem-resh-resh) / م-ر-ر (mīm-rāʼ-rāʼ) The function מ-ר-ר conveys bitterness, sharpness, or acridity, both literally (in taste and smell) and metaphorically. The Arabic مُرّ (murr) and مِرَّة (mirrah) are cognates of the biblical Hebrew מֹר (mor), which refers to myrrh, the fragrant yet bitter resin. Related Semitic Cognates: Aramaic: מָרָא (mara) — Bitter.; Akkadian: murru — Bitter or acrid.

μύρον — ב-ש-ם (bet-shin-mem) / ب-ش-م (bāʼ-shīn-mīm) Refers to balsam or other fragrant substances. In some cases, overlaps with the use of μύρον/מֹר to describe fragrant materials mixed with oils. 

“Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense; myrrh (מֹר, mor) and aloes, along with all the finest balsam (בְּשָׂמִים, b’samim) oils.” (Song of Songs 4:14)

συνανάκειμαι (synanakeimai)  (Luke 7:49) THE WORD “RECLINE” DOES NOT APPEAR IN LUKE 7. Three distinct functions describe the action translated as reclining, “synanakeimai” being the third. Each Greek term corresponds to a unique Semitic function. The appearance of the third action condemns Simon and those who congregate with him. “To recline together.” In Maccabees, made functional by Luke, communal reclining, shared meals, companionship, and “500” elephants all serve a wicked scheme: 

“οἱ δὲ συνανακείμενοι συγγενεῖς τὴν ἀσταθῆ διάνοιαν αὐτοῦ θαυμάζοντες προεφέροντο τάδε” “But the Kinsmen reclining at table with him, wondering at his instability of mind, remonstrated as follows:” (3 Maccabees 5:39)

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