RT Article
T1 Hosting Jesus: Revisiting Luke's ‘Sinful Woman' (Luke 7.36-50) as a Tale of Two Hosts
JF Journal for the study of the New Testament
VO 40
IS 1
SP 30
OP 50
A1 Bertschmann, Dorothee
LA English
PB Sage
YR 2017
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1576142272
AB The gospel narratives of Jesus' table fellowship have attracted widespread attention, both as parables of divine generosity extended to the marginalized and as examples of radical inclusion, subverting social expectations and hierarchies. Offering a close reading of Lk. 7.36-50, this article uncovers an equally strong emphasis on mutuality and reciprocity, which is too often overlooked by exegetes. Drawing on anthropological insights about hospitality, this article argues that the pericope can be read as the forming, disturbing and re-creating of cycles of hospitality. The woman's gestures are shown to be highly ambiguous; they were likely not deciphered as gestures of hospitality. It is only through Jesus' intervention that the woman's actions are reframed as expressions of generous hospitality. Jesus, who never leaves his role as guest, thus brings the woman into direct competition with Simon, the original host. The woman alone has properly hosted Jesus by approaching him lovingly as the divine saviour.
K1 Apocryphal Gospels
K1 Ambiguity
K1 Forgiveness
K1 Hospitality
K1 Jesus Christ
K1 Narratives
K1 Religious Aspects
K1 Gift-giving
K1 hospitality (cycles of)
K1 Mutuality
K1 Reciprocity
DO 10.1177/0142064X17723476