CLAIM: Jesus said, “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet” (Lk. 7:45). If a woman kissed your feet, wouldn’t this stimulate a sexual response in some way? Critics argue that passages like this demonstrate that Jesus had a sexual relationship with this woman. Is this the case?
RESPONSE: We need to remember that this happened in an era before the modern “foot fetish.” It wasn’t a “turn on” to have your feet kissed, as it is for some modern people in our culture today. Indeed, this sort of display “was regarded by Jews as a very degrading experience and was normally reserved for slaves and others to whom little ‘honor’ was due.”[1] So, far from being erotic, this would’ve been seen as degrading and lowly. At this time, a man’s foot was not clean; it was filthy. People walked through the streets collecting everything from dirt to feces on their feet. If this woman was trying to be seductive, she would have kissed him somewhere else—not on his feet. Instead, she intentionally kissed the worst part of his body. For additional arguments against Jesus having a wife, see comments on John 20:17.
Interestingly, kissing Jesus’ feet wouldn’t have been the stumbling part for Simon the Pharisee in this culture. Instead, letting her hair down would’ve been seen as culturally sexually promiscuous—even “on a par with appearing topless in public, for example.”[2] However, Green understands that Jesus gave a different interpretation of her actions: not lust, but love. Instead of seeing her actions as that of a sinful prostitute, Jesus understood what was happening as an act of love resulting from forgiveness.[3]
[1] Gerald L. Borchert, John 12–21, vol. 25B, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002), 35.
[2] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 310.
[3] Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 313.