JESUS ANOINTED BY A SINFUL WOMAN
Luke 7:36-50
Key Verse: 7:47
“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven---for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little, loves little.”
Last week we experienced the love of God through the Spring Bible Conference. We heard that because of Jesus’ resurrection we have a living hope. We learned that Jesus will not just be the resurrection and the life, but he is right now the resurrection and the life. (So we must take the stone of unbelief away right now!) We learned that Jesus was forsaken by God for us and was crucified for us and died for us on the cross. And we learned that God raised Jesus from the dead to start a new history as he sent his disciples and us to go into the world to make disciples. All of these events are the signs that God loves us. God did the loving and God did the giving. What do we do? We do the believing. Our belief is a heart appreciation for what God has done for us. When we have this response of gratitude, it does something for us. It completely transforms us in terms of our attitude towards our fellow man as well as our attitude towards God.
In other words, when we understand and when we appreciate what it cost God to save us, what it cost God to forgive us and how much he has forgiven us, we will treat others the same way God has treated us. That is the evidence that we have appreciated the gift of God. Likewise, our relationship to God will be very different.
In this morning’s passage, we see two people: a woman who had lived a sinful life, and a self-righteous Pharisee, and their actions towards Jesus. Their actions towards Jesus reveal their attitude towards his love and forgiveness. As we study this passage, we want to search our own hearts and question ourselves with two questions: First, do we really appreciate Jesus’ forgiving grace towards sinners like ourselves? Second, if we do, then what are we doing in thought and action to show this appreciation?
Part 1. A Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner (36-39)
Look at verse 36, “Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.” It was quite rare that Jesus was invited to a Pharisee’s house for dinner because the Pharisee’s from almost the start of Jesus’ ministry opposed him and looked for ways to harm him and even to have him killed (Mk.3:6).
I think this Pharisee invited Jesus to his home because he wanted to check Jesus out for himself and find something wrong about him. Perhaps this Pharisee considered himself a smart and articulate man and could make Jesus fumble in his words and say something wrong. Jesus did not reject this man’s invitation and went to his house to have dinner. The way they ate dinner in that culture was to recline at the table.
That is, they did not sit on chairs like we do. The style of reclining at the table is characteristic of the Middle Eastern style of dining, with the guests arranged around a very low table, reclining on their left arm and supported by cushions, leaving their right hand free to feed themselves. Their feet, with their sandals removed, would be stretched out behind them, with some space between their feet and the walls so that those serving the meal could bring the various dishes to the table.
The Pharisee’s of Jesus’ day were among the wealthiest people. They had big houses and a courtyard. Their houses were very different from our houses. They didn’t have a living room. The houses were built in a rectangle with little rooms. Those who had wealth, like this Pharisees, had homes with courtyards in the middle. This is where they usually ate.
Look at verse 37a, “When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house…” This verse tells us a lot about this woman. Surely, she has not been invited to this dinner. Though she is a resident of that town, she is looked down upon as a sinner. We are not told by the Bible what her sin is, but the Bible says here that she had “lived a sinful life.” In the context of those times this means that she is probably a prostitute or an adulteress, similar to the Samaritan woman of John chapter 4 who had 5 husbands and who was also living with a man, and the woman who was caught in the act of adultery in John chapter 8. We don’t know how she came to live such a sinful lifestyle. Perhaps she is filled with uncontrollable lustful desires, maybe she had been sexually abused as a child, or perhaps she is a widow struggling to survive.
There is something that we can probably say about this woman. Her self-image is tattered, ragged and ruined. She is the continual object of cutting criticism in insults by the wives of her customers. She has been spat upon and cursed at. She is the example many mothers in town use to warn their daughters. She is the brunt of nasty jokes. Inwardly, she is broken and bleeding. Her spirit is wounded, with feelings of guilt and self-condemnation. She desperately wanted freedom and forgiveness, but there was no human remedy, no human solution for her wounded soul.
Look at verse 37 again, “When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume,” It says that “she learned that Jesus was eating at a Pharisee’s house.” This means that she wanted to go there and see Jesus, even if it was at a Pharisee’s house. Now you might say to yourself, “Oh, OK, she wanted to go to the Pharisee’s house well, good for her” and not think much about what that might mean.
It was risky for her to go there because she might very well be verbally harassed and ridiculed, by the Pharisee and his guests who might also be other Pharisees. (the Pharisees were the religious elite of the day, very pious, self-righteous, proud and critical.) This type of woman was surely not welcome there. It is like trying to go to a very formal and expensive restaurant in flip-flops and cut-off jeans and a tank top. You are going to stick out pretty well and you probably will be told to leave immediately. It would be embarrassing. It takes a lot of risk and boldness of this woman to go to this dinner where Jesus was at this Pharisee’s house.
But this did not seem to matter to her. She had to see Jesus. She had such great desire to see Jesus! She had such a great hunger, such a great thirst, such a great desire! She had heard remarkable things about Jesus that amazed her. She heard that Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with tax collectors. She had heard of the news that Jesus healed people with leprosy and those who were paralyzed. She heard that Jesus turned away no one who came to him. This news was good news to her! She wanted to meet Jesus and go to Jesus! Despite her sinful condition and wretched condition she can see light and hope shining and reaching out to her dark soul when she heard the news about Jesus. This is true for us, too. No matter how dark or hopeless or confused our life seems to be, Jesus is always there, waiting for us to lead us out of our darkness and to give us new life and to have a delicious dinner with us. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Are you hungry? No, I don’t mean for lunch! For Jesus! The news that this woman heard about Jesus was Jesus knocking at the door of her heart, so she could come and feed off of him, the living bread. Now she was responding by going to see him at this Pharisee’s house no matter what might be the cost.
Let’s read verses 37-38, “When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and 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.”
This woman was not formally invited to the dinner, but she crashed it. Her actions were an expression of her love. I think they are the most dramatic and moving actions in the New Testament. Men may say a lot and make many promises that sound good and then do nothing, but women are more expressive. These actions are from the depth of her heart about how she feels about Jesus and what she believes about him. Though she said not one word here; can you find any words she said? Her actions speak 1,000’s of words.
Let’s look at these actions. She stood behind him, because of the way they were sitting, reclining at the table, that she could not face him. There she stood and she wept many tears. These tears were the tears of repentance and faith. She cried so much, out of thanksgiving to Jesus who she believed forgave all her sins, that her tears began to wet the ground where Jesus’ feet were and wet his feet as well. Her tears gave Jesus’ feet a mini-foot shower.
She then wiped his feet with her hair. She must have had long hair to do this. This shows her love for Jesus because a woman’s glory is her hair. She did not think she was ruining her and messing her hair when she did this. She only thought about Jesus. Jesus was more valuable to her than a nice hairdo.
She did not stop there. She then began to kiss his feet, the dirtiest part of Jesus’ body and at times the ugliest part. Some people’s toes just look real ugly! My toes are very ugly! According to verse 45, she continually kissed his feet. She might have gotten bits of sand or dirt in her mouth as she did this, but she didn’t care. She loved Jesus and appreciated Jesus more than clean lips and a clean mouth. She then poured perfume on them. This perfume might have been very expensive and very valuable to her. It could well represent her whole life’s savings. But she thought nothing of it. From this scene, we can see that this sinful woman did not spare anything in giving to Jesus. She poured her tears, wiped his feet with her hair and kissed his feet and poured out this expensive perfume because her heart was so full of repentance and appreciation for Jesus. It was an expression of her love for Jesus.
During this time, Jesus was expressionless. I’m sure that he was greatly moved in his heart by her actions. It could have been an embarrassment for Jesus or for anyone who was eating a meal and for this to happen to them. Do anyone one of you like to be bothered when you are eating dinner? Dinner time should b a peaceful time and a relaxing time. We find it quite annoying when the phone keeps ringing by telemarketers during dinner time.
But Jesus didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t say, “All right now, stop it and clean up this mess!” Jesus did not rebuke her or criticize her for her actions and turn her away. He welcomed her just as she was. He accepted her actions. This is the big heart of God. No matter how much we have sinned in the past, no matter what kind of sinful life we have lived, even if it was yesterday, Jesus never turns us down when we come to him with repentance and faith. Even if we have made many promises to God, and have not kept even one, Jesus will never turn us away when we come to him. John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.”
The key words here are “Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.” The Lord does not drive us away when we come to him with a broken and humble heart of repentance. This is the kind of heart that God is looking for and is greatly pleased with. Psalm 51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
This is the kind of heart this woman had towards Jesus. It is important to see why we can call this woman a great woman by her action. It was because she recognized her utter sinfulness before God’s eyes. She knew that she needed Jesus and Jesus alone. She believed that Jesus was her only solution. Incredibly she believed that Jesus who would accept her, as she poured her tears and sacrificed her most valuable thing, pouring it out on his feet. Now she is empty. Her sins poured out on Jesus through her tears and the perfume. Now she is ready to be filled up by Jesus, the only one able to fully satisfy anyone. We will see what he says later about her.
But now let’s turn to the host of the dinner party, Simon the Pharisee. How did he view her actions in his house and at his dinner party? Was he happy about it? Certainly not! Look at verse 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 a woman she is---that she is a sinner.” Simon was shocked by what he saw! His jaw fell to the bottom of his stomach and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull.
If Jesus was a prophet or a holy man of God, he would not allow himself to be touched by this sinful woman and become unclean. Simon seems to conclude that Jesus can’t be a prophet, because of this. His reaction shows his judgmental, critical and self-righteous attitude in contrast to the woman’s broken heart of repentance. His theology was all wrong. He did not know the heart of Jesus or understand the heart of Jesus. Jesus came to save all kinds of sinners, no matter how despised, wretched and dirty one is. He came to touch us and to heal us. Now let’s see how the good shepherd Jesus helped this Pharisee.
Part 2. Her many sins have been forgiven because she loved much (40-50)
Jesus didn’t let Simon’s judgment go unchallenged---even his silent judgment, because remember that in verse 39, he said to himself about it (39). But Jesus didn’t also rebuke him outwardly for his self-righteous judgment. Instead, Jesus told him a short parable so that he might recognize the great love that God has for him and so that he might also recognize that he is a great sinner who needs God’s forgiveness. Let’s read verses 40-43, “Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to tell you.’ Tell me, teacher, he said. Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which one of them will love him more? Simon replied, ‘I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled. You have judged correctly, said Jesus.”
To be in debt can be a very burdensome thing. When we are in debt we have this uncomfortable feeling until the debt is paid off. If someone lends us some money, and we don’t pay them back right away, that can be a cause of a strain in a relationship and it might even break a relationship. They may say, “Oh,its OK, you can pay me back when you are able.” But just by the body language we know that they want their money back as soon as possible. In our society, people frequently go into credit card debt, especially young people. They find it nice and easy to have a credit card and use it. But if you miss one monthly payment, your interest rate goes through the ceiling. Then there are all these other charges and fees they add on. So you become more burdened by looking at your bill statement. If you only pay the minimum amount of monthly charges, you will never pay off your debt in your life time. Sometimes we may hear on the radio, ways for us to come out of debt, “Just call 1-800-debt free to learn about how you can come out of debt.” It is a real burden to be in debt of any kind, be it credit card, school loans for financial aid or personal loans. In this parable, two of these men who had debt to a certain money lender were unable to pay back the debt. One had a smaller debt, 50 denarii, this might be the amount of a car payment, the other owed a larger one, ten times the amount, 500 denarii, perhaps this is the rest of an amount of a mortgage payment. Incredibly, the moneylender decided to cancel the debts.
Look at verse 42, “Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which one of them will love him more?” They both received something they did not deserve, that is grace. He unconditionally forgave them the debt---canceled the debt—and told them, “You don’t owe me a cent.” The moneylender here is God. In the same way, Jesus Christ canceled all our debts by his death on the cross. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
What a relief it is to have our sins forgiven! What a great burden has been removed! What a blessing from God to know by faith that all our debts of sins have been canceled! There is no way that we can pay back our debt of sin. There is no religious work we can do. There is no amount of testimony writing, praying, teaching the Bible or campus witnessing that can free us and remove the great debt of our sins. Only faith in what Jesus did on the cross. It is by his wounds, by his shed blood, that we are forgiven, our debt of sins canceled. It is the gift of God. It is the free gift, so we should take it, without second thought. Who here ever refuses a free gift?
So look at the question Jesus asked Simon the Pharisee in verse 42, “…Now which of them will love him more?” Simon’s answer in verse 43 is quite obvious, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” His answer shows that he knew he might be stepping into a trap, “I suppose”, not that Jesus wanted to trap him but to show him that he was a sinner who needed to know the grace of forgiveness. So Jesus answered him in verse 43, “You have judged correctly.”
Now Jesus comes and compares Simon and this woman. Let’s read verses 44-47, “Then he turned towards 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. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven---for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Jesus’ point is not hard to guess. Simon did not know himself to be a sinner. He thought he was good and righteous, especially since he was a Pharisee. Because of this attitude, he could not know the heart and love of Jesus, and his actions had shown little love. In fact, he was very cold-hearted. On the other hand, this woman knew she was a great sinner who could not do anything to free herself from the debt of sin. However, she accepted Jesus’ forgiveness of all her sins and then lavished love upon Jesus in her actions.
Accepting and then responding to Jesus’ forgiveness and love is the key to our love and forgiveness of others. The Apostle Paul could love all the Gentiles, people considered unclean to the Jews, because he knew how much of a sinner he was. He had been a violent man, a murderer and persecutor of Christians before his conversion. He never forgot how great Jesus’ grace was towards him. He wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15-17, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners---of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life…”
This response to Jesus grace, his appreciation for Jesus, was shown in his humble attitude that he never forgot God’s grace, and by his actions. He said in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them---yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
Apostle Paul had a big heart of love to welcome the Gentiles because he knew this forgiveness, which is the great love of God. So the more we accept the love and forgiveness of God, the more we can patiently forgive and love others, not just 7 times or 77 times but countless times. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” As a Christian community, we know our spouses and coworkers sins more; we are in contact with each other more. At times things can be difficult, but the key is to remember how much we have been forgiven by Jesus and what it cost him.
Look at verse 48, “Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” Jesus further blessed her by forgiving all her sins. This amazed the guests who were there. “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Look what Jesus said also to the woman in verse 50, “Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus forgave her sins and gave her peace. This is the blessing that Jews often gave in parting from one another: “Shalom” it means peace, but not only peace. It also meant prosperity, wholeness, goodness and blessing. From one believing Jew to another, Jesus had welcomed her back into the fellowship and salvation of God’s people. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Now this woman could live a new life. She had forgiveness of sins and she had God’s peace, what a great package! Our faith in Jesus is not a small thing to be taken lightly. Our faith in who Jesus is gives freedom from our sins. We are free from debt forever and we have peace.
If we could see a picture of this woman, we would probably see her face shining with smiles, as the tears rolled down her face, tears of joy and relief to know that her sins have been forgiven. Tears of joy knowing that she had acknowledged Jesus forgiveness by pouring out her soul to him.
What have you done to show your appreciation to the love and forgiveness of Jesus? How have you responded to it? What will you do? First of all, let’s not be like Simon the Pharisee, but like this woman. Secondly, let’s fully accept the fact that our debts have been canceled by Jesus. May the Lord grant you faith in the love and forgiveness of Jesus.