A Sinful Woman Forgiven (Luke 7:36-50)

This sermon was preached on 5/5/2013

One of the striking features of the life of Jesus is the variety of people that gathered round him. Of course, we can see this diversity in those who made up the group of his immediate disciples. Among them was Matthew, who had worked for the ruling power of Rome, and Simon the Zealot who had belonged to a movement that aimed to overthrow the power of Rome. His disciples had worked at different jobs before they met Jesus. Some of them had also been connected to the popular tide that identified with John the Baptist. Other differences could also be shown in that group.

Another detail that stands out among those who met with Jesus was that they not only discovered who he was. In addition, they discovered who they were themselves. A clear example of this is the coupling that John puts together in his Gospel. In John 3, we meet Nicodemus, the religious leader who discovered that he needed new life, and in John 4, we meet the woman of Samaria, the social outcast from her community, who discovered that she needed new life. Nicodemus and the woman had nothing in common until they came in contact with Jesus.

This incident recorded by Luke also highlights the two details we have just mentioned. No one in that community would have expected Simon the Pharisee, a man regarded as morally upright and socially acceptable, and the sinful woman to be in the same room. Yet they were, both there for different reasons but connected to Jesus. But neither the Pharisee nor the woman would have expected to discover such unusual things about themselves as they did after reacting to Jesus.

Of course, the same thing can be said about ourselves as a gathering this morning. We are all different from one another, some very different from one another. Yet here we are, gathered together because of Jesus. But we should also expect to find something about ourselves as we do, because that is what he always does. Although Jesus is not present with us physically, he will speak to us through this passage from his Word. Many have experienced such an effect on previous occasions.

Simon the Pharisee

It is not clear why Simon asked Jesus to go for a meal in his house. Perhaps it was because Jesus was popular and it would help Simon’s own prestige to be seen with such a person. Maybe it was curiosity and he wanted to find out a bit more about this unusual man who was reported to be performing miracles and preaching profound sermons. What is clear is that he had no warmth towards Jesus. He did not feel obliged to give to Jesus the common courtesies expected of a host, such as arranging for the washing of his feet and the anointing of his head with oil. And he was sitting as the judge of Jesus because he quickly came to wrong conclusions about whether or not he was a prophet because of his response to the woman.

How did Jesus react to Simon? He told the Pharisee a story about forgiveness. Jesus accepted that Simon was not as big a sinner as the woman. There are degrees of sinfulness and it does not help to communicate if we imply that all of us are the same. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we have not fallen short in exactly the same degree. But Jesus also told Simon that lesser sinners need forgiveness as much as bigger sinners.

Then he told Simon that he had just committed an enormous sin in the manner in which he had treated his divine Guest. To treat anyone in such a manner would have been serious because it would indicate that Simon did not love his neighbor. To treat Jesus in such a manner was more serious because it indicated that Simon, despite all his religion, did not love God.

I suspect that is where many of us are this morning. We know that we have not committed the types of sins that others engage in. But the real question is this, How have we treated Jesus? Have we given him a welcome into our hearts or have we treated him as if he is unimportant? Because if we have treated him as unimportant, we immediately become great sinners!

The woman of the city

The first detail that stands out in the woman’s attitude is that she wanted to be with Jesus. If that meant going into a situation in which she had not been before, then she would do so because Jesus was there. So we can see that her love for Jesus made her courageous and willing to do something unusual. There is a very simple lesson here for Christians as to how they can do things for Jesus. Increase your love for him and you will do them. We know that in everyday life love will make people do all kinds of different and even dangerous things. Sometimes when we find things going wrong, we take out the magnifying glass and pore over our hearts. It might be useful before we take out the magnifying glass to take out the thermometer and see how warm our affection is. It is obvious that the Pharisee had no warmth, so he would be at the bottom of the scale; it is also obvious that the woman had so much warmth that she would have been off the scale at the top.

A second detail from the woman’s response is that she had a humble heart. We can see this in the way that she was determined to perform the most menial task in a household, which was to wash the feet of guests. Humility enabled her to see an opportunity of service. If she had only looked at the seats at the table, she would have done nothing for Jesus. Looking below the table gave her a notable place of service.

Of course, she could have made excuses. For example, she did not have a basin and she did not have any water. If she had gone to the kitchen to ask for them, she would have been thrown out. But she knew she had something with her that she could use, which was her box of ointment. Jesus doesn’t expect us to use the resources of other people when serving him. Instead he expects us to use the resources we already have. Each of us has the equivalent of an alabaster box of ointment, and each of us always has something to use for Jesus.

A third detail is that she worshipped Jesus brokenly. As she stood by Jesus and then knelt at his feet, her tears were flowing. She had lost something now and it was not her reputation. Instead she had lost her hard heart. It is interesting that she was weeping as he was speaking to others at the table. He had not yet spoken to her directly, yet his words were music in her ears. We are not told what he was saying, but no doubt he would have been speaking about aspects of the gospel. When a person loves Jesus, he or she will find that even listening to what he says to others will be profitable.

How could Simon not be moved? The reason is that while he knew all about the woman he knew very little about the Saviour and what he could do and wanted to do for people like him. While he could list the woman’s misdeeds, sadly he could not list the Saviour’s desires for her forgiveness and blessing. Simon was self-righteous, unaware that God shows grace to the unworthy and sinful. And because he was like that, Simon did not realize that Jesus could show grace to him.

Jesus and the woman

The first detail to note is that Jesus declares her spiritual state to Simon and mentions two aspects of it: (a) she was forgiven many sins and (b) she loved Jesus much because she was forgiven so many sins. The realization that she was forgiven a lot made her love him a lot. She was forgiven fully and freely and permanently. Still we can ask ourselves this question: what would Jesus say about us if he was sitting here? Or we can adjust the question slightly and ask, What would we like Jesus to say about us? It would be good if he would say, ‘They love me much because they have been forgiven much.’

Then Jesus confirms to her what was already the case, that she was forgiven. His statement intrigued those who were sitting at the table because they knew that only God could forgive sins. Perhaps they did not want to make the obvious deduction – since he forgives sins Jesus must be God. But the reason why Jesus said the words was so that she would have assurance. And he says the same words today to any who are in the same state as she was, loving him because they have been pardoned. We are not merely to read this story and comment how wonderful and kind Jesus was to the woman. In addition, we are to put ourselves into the story and hear Jesus speaking to us.

Moreover Jesus encourages her by authenticating her faith: ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace’ (v. 50). Saved her from what? The punishment that was due to her because of her sins. She received this salvation by having faith in Jesus as the one who would provide forgiveness for her sins. How much she knew about this, we cannot say. But she was confident that he would do it, therefore she depended on him.

The Saviour delights in responding to faith in himself.  And here he says to this forgiven sinner, ‘Go in peace’ or ‘Go into peace.’ This was her future in this world and it is now her experience in heaven. We have been thinking about a real person, a person who still lives, although no longer on earth but in heaven. When Jesus gives a promise, who can say what the end of it will be? She does not yet know its fullness, even although she has experienced his blessing for almost 2000 years. Why not imitate her?