Luke 7:36-50 Love and Forgiveness
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.
Reflection:
This is one of the few stories which is told in all four gospels. What makes Luke's version of it unique is that he adds that the woman who anointed Jesus' feet had lived a sinful life. And of course in this story what this adds is Jesus' teaching on forgiveness. When the Pharisees object to his interaction with her since she is a "sinner", he uses the opportunity to teach them on the true nature of sin and how he has come to deal with it.
The first thing we can say is that although it says she lived a sinful life, are not all people sinful? It just so happened that her sin was more publicly known probably as it had to do with immorality. But the reality is we all have lived sinful lives. While some are more public and obvious than others, if we hadn't all lived sinful lives Jesus wouldn't have had to die for ALL of us. Jesus didn't just die for those who lived "sinful lives", but all those born with a sinful nature which is manifested in lots of different ways in each of our lives.
But the real point of the story is the love this woman shows to Jesus, seen by her extravagant act of worship and adoration. Keep in mind she came into the house of a group of Pharisees. The Pharisees probably didn't think they would be getting into this situation when they invited Jesus into their home. But the point Jesus makes is none of them made any gesture to symbolize their own need for a Savior. Jesus said, "you didn't even anoint my head" a sign of worship. But the question Jesus wants to focus on is why she did this. And what he infers is that she offered this worship because she knew Jesus was the only one who could forgive her of her sinful life. And when she experienced this radical forgiveness it sparked radical devotion. The Pharisees, thinking they had not sinned very much but were in charge of pointing out others sin, kept Jesus at arms length rather than kneeling down and asking for that same forgiveness.
So the question for today is who are you more like? Or, maybe you were like the woman at one point, but your love has waned since you have been a Christian for a long time. You have lost a sense of that radical devotion as a result of that radical forgiveness you have been offered and receive by faith in Jesus. It is easy to think we are not as bad as the person who lives a "sinful life", but the reality is Jesus' death for our sin is needed as bad as the sin of any notorious sinner.
Take some time to think about just how much you have been forgiven, and may that lead you to fall at Jesus' feet.
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.
Reflection:
This is one of the few stories which is told in all four gospels. What makes Luke's version of it unique is that he adds that the woman who anointed Jesus' feet had lived a sinful life. And of course in this story what this adds is Jesus' teaching on forgiveness. When the Pharisees object to his interaction with her since she is a "sinner", he uses the opportunity to teach them on the true nature of sin and how he has come to deal with it.
The first thing we can say is that although it says she lived a sinful life, are not all people sinful? It just so happened that her sin was more publicly known probably as it had to do with immorality. But the reality is we all have lived sinful lives. While some are more public and obvious than others, if we hadn't all lived sinful lives Jesus wouldn't have had to die for ALL of us. Jesus didn't just die for those who lived "sinful lives", but all those born with a sinful nature which is manifested in lots of different ways in each of our lives.
But the real point of the story is the love this woman shows to Jesus, seen by her extravagant act of worship and adoration. Keep in mind she came into the house of a group of Pharisees. The Pharisees probably didn't think they would be getting into this situation when they invited Jesus into their home. But the point Jesus makes is none of them made any gesture to symbolize their own need for a Savior. Jesus said, "you didn't even anoint my head" a sign of worship. But the question Jesus wants to focus on is why she did this. And what he infers is that she offered this worship because she knew Jesus was the only one who could forgive her of her sinful life. And when she experienced this radical forgiveness it sparked radical devotion. The Pharisees, thinking they had not sinned very much but were in charge of pointing out others sin, kept Jesus at arms length rather than kneeling down and asking for that same forgiveness.
So the question for today is who are you more like? Or, maybe you were like the woman at one point, but your love has waned since you have been a Christian for a long time. You have lost a sense of that radical devotion as a result of that radical forgiveness you have been offered and receive by faith in Jesus. It is easy to think we are not as bad as the person who lives a "sinful life", but the reality is Jesus' death for our sin is needed as bad as the sin of any notorious sinner.
Take some time to think about just how much you have been forgiven, and may that lead you to fall at Jesus' feet.
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