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362 with his bare feet away from it. It was therefore easy for the Magdalen to come behind his couch, and reach his feet. She bore an alabaster jar containing costly and fragrant oil, — sandal oil, perhaps, which is in such common use in the East. Breaking the sealed jar, she perfumed his feet with the oil, wiping them with her long hair, which hung loosely about her shoulders, as was customary with women of her grade.

Did Jesus spurn the woman? Did he repel her adoration? No! He regarded her compassionately. Nor

was this all. Knowing what those around him were saying in their hearts, especially his host, — that they were wondering why, being a prophet, the exalted guest did not at once detect the woman's immoral status, and bid her depart, — knowing this, Jesus rebuked them with a short story, or parable. He described two debtors, one for a large sum and one for a smaller, who were released from their obligations by their mutual creditor. “Which would be most grateful?” was the Master's question to Simon the Pharisee; and Simon replied, “He whose debt was largest.” Jesus approved the answer, and so brought home the lesson to all; and followed it by that remarkable declaration to the woman, “Thy sins are forgiven.”

Why did he thus summarize her debt to divine Love? Had she repented and reformed, and did his insight

detect this unspoken moral uprising? She bathed his feet with her tears, ere she anointed them with the oil. In the absence of other proofs, was her grief sufficient evidence to warrant the hope of her growth in wisdom? Certainly there was