Columbian Exchange Symbolism

In the passage of Luke 7:36-50, Luke narrates the event of a meal of fellowship held at Simon the Pharisees home with Jesus and the disciples. Through fellowship and communion at the table, an unnamed woman enters Simon’s home and brings expensive ointment to wash Jesus’ feet. As these events are carefully assessed in Luke, this passage reveals particular aspects of table fellowship that ultimately consist of equality, unity, elements of sharing as this is representative of the Kingdom of God.

Research

As Luke Johnson describes the physical setting of this narrative in his writing of the The Gospel of Luke, and assesses the atmosphere of this setting, the author indicated that they were dining in a “Hellenistic manner,” and he also analyzed

According to the author, these particular settings of meals function as social events where a certain amount of decorum is expected of both the guest and especially the host. As the woman who enters the scene quickly raises social issues within the setting, “[the] woman who enters Simon’s house….comes into this scene like an alien” given the setting and organization of rank, as well as holiness . Through the direct focus on the woman and her social status among this setting, Simon’s basic responsibilities as a host are overlooked. In the most basic form of hospitality to his honored guest (Jesus,) Simon should have handled the responsibility of cleaning Jesus’ feet while the woman takes on this lowly role of a servant as she “fulfills the role expected of Simon, and thus shames Simon” as Simon neglected to honor Jesus as his guest. Not only is this an insult to Jesus, but this challenges the behavior that may often go excused by those in high standing

This author contributes to the physical description of the table setting as they were arranged in a “horseshoe fashion,” as the guests would typically remove their scandals. In addition to this process, a basin was provided for the guests so they would be able to wash their feet when needed and “[in] the case of highly honored guests, a servant would be assigned to wash the guest’s feet.” and this would typically pertain the lowest servants because this was considered a “menial task”. As the woman takes on the role of a sinner, this reestablishes the idea that one’s social status alluded to one’s level of purity. Through entire scene of the table setting, Jesus establishes a new sense of equality as a fundamental factor of communion. In addition to these customs, it is indicated that food may often function as a form of charity outside of the table setting, since it was not uncommon for the head of the household to give to those in need in the courtyard of the house. Through analysis, this could play a role in the representation of food in the kingdom of