Capernaum, 31 A.D. - Further controversy has surrounded the preacher Jesus following a recent incident at the home of Simon, a local Pharisee.
An article in the Moon tabloid on Tuesday, titled "Jesus's Women", reported Simon explaining how he invited the preacher for dinner one evening recently. "I had heard so many of the stories. It seemed like the makings of a good evening," he said.
Shortly after Jesus and the other guests arrived at Simon's house, a well-known local prostitute knocked on the door.
She demanded to see the preacher. Simon tried to get her to leave. She refused. Simon was deeply embarrassed, wondering what the guests might think. But she would not leave. "Eventually I had no choice. I had to let her in," he said.
She stood beside Jesus and began to weep. "It was awful. My wife was mortified," Simon recalled. Then the woman began to wet Jesus's feet with her tears and to kiss them. She wiped the feet with her hair and poured perfume on them.
"It was excruciating. My other guests didn't know where to look. He just lay there as if it was the most normal thing in the world. If he was a prophet, I thought to myself, he would know the sort of woman who was touching him like that." Simon was about to say this when Jesus said: "Simon, I've a story for you."
"Two men owed money to a moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. Neither could pay him back. So, decent man that he was, he cancelled their debts. Now tell me which of the two loved him the most?" Simon answered: "Probably the man with the biggest debt." "You're right" said Jesus. "Do you see this woman? I came to your house. You gave me no water for my feet but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair. You didn't give me the customary kiss but since she came here she has not stopped kissing my feet.
"You did not put any oil in my hair but she has poured perfume on my feet. She may have done much that was wrong but it is all forgiven because she has loved much. And, Simon, remember, whoever forgives little loves little." Jesus then turned to the woman and said: "All that you've done wrong is forgiven." Simon said some of his other guests were very annoyed at this, indeed at the entire incident. "Who is he to forgive sins?" was one angry comment Simon overheard. Jesus told the woman to go in peace. "Your faith has saved you," he told her, and she left happy.
"The night was ruined. It was all downhill then. Jesus left not long afterwards and my guests . . . well . . . speculated," Simon told the tabloid.
Some of the guests said Jesus was surrounded by women all the time. "His friendship with the two sisters Martha and Mary came in for a lot of discussion," Simon told the Moon. "Then there is Mary from Magdala, now called Mary Magdalene I believe, who is well known to men in this part of the country. And there is Joanna, wife of Cuza, the manager of King Herod's household. She is said to be besotted by Jesus. My guests were amazed Cuza allowed her spend so much time with Jesus. But she is a strong-willed woman.
"And there is Suzanna . . . and so, so many others. As well as their time, and who knows what else, these women are among the main financial supporters of the Jesus campaign," he said.
"Most of the men at my house that night were baffled by this. They could not understand what women saw in Jesus. But the women all agreed he was charismatic. `A sort of innocence. The little-boy-lost look. You feel you can trust him and he is very attractive . . . even if he is from Nazareth', was how one of my female guests explained it. Strange creatures!" commented Simon.