Jesus and Sinners

I've read the book review by Burgert De Wet of Sinners: Jesus and his Earliest Followers by Greg Carey (RBL; see bookreviews.org). De Wet states that "Carey also introduces another point of interest right at the end of this chapter [i.e., chap. 1]: even though Jesus forgives her sins, he does not require repentance." This statement interprets Luke 7: 36-50, the pericope of Jesus at the home of Simon the Pharisee, involving a woman who washes Jesus' feet (the woman is a sinner to Simon & Jesus). De Wet goes on: "Carey continues to develop this line of thought in chapter 2 and concludes that, rather than calling on individual sinners to repent, Jesus is presented as one who encourages repentance in general. We are thus left with the challenging thought that Jesus is continuously seen in the company of sinners, accepting them unconditionally, without criticizing them or calling upon them to repent." This is a valid point, considering the testimony of the synoptic gospels. The witness of John is different, to wit: "Quit your sins, or something worse may happen to you" (5.14, TEV), to a sick man lying by the Bethzatha pool, or "go, but do not sin again (8.11, TEV), to an adulterous woman. Does John's Gospel conflict with the synoptics? I think not. John's testimony is more personal. What do you think?