A Sinful Woman Forgiven

Luke 7:36-50 tells the story of a Pharisee named Simon inviting Jesus to eat in his home. A “woman of the city, who was a sinner,” hears that Jesus is going to be there and brings an expensive flask of ointment for Jesus’ feet. She falls at His feet weeping and wiping His feet with her hair as Simon and his friends look on with disgust and condemnation. Jesus discerns what these self-righteous men are thinking and uses a parable to illustrate the faith of this woman.

A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Luke 7:41-43

Jesus goes on to tell Simon how he failed to honor Him as a guest while this woman had gone above and beyond in her love for Jesus. Then, amazingly, Jesus turns to the woman and tells her that her sins are forgiven! And just to make sure no one mistook what He said the first time, He said it again, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

I’m not sure about you, but if I had to guess which person in this story I would be, I could almost immediately rule out two of them. I certainly wouldn’t be Jesus forgiving peoples’ sins! And I doubt that I would think myself to be the woman sobbing and mopping up her tears with her own hair. Most likely, I would be Simon having invited Jesus into his home probably hoping for a pat on the back and some words of praise from this prophet for his diligence in keeping the Law. If ever there was a person to impress, it would be Jesus! “What an opportunity,” I can almost imagine saying in my mind as Jesus takes His place around my dinner table. “Even Jesus should be impressed with my ability to be good.”

I think this is the point of the story. We all associate much more easily with Simon than we do with the sinful, wailing woman of the city. We all want to turn our noses up at those who just don’t seem to measure up in our eyes. We all want to slam the door of condemnation in the face of others while being overly gracious with our own blunders.

And yet, can you hear the voice of Jesus speaking to you just as He did to Simon?

“Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Luke 7:44-48

Jesus is clearly saying that it is better to associate ourselves with this woman of the city, who was a sinner, than it is to associate ourselves with Simon, the Pharisee! And I don’t mean that we are to go out and sin it up! We need to see ourselves as the sinner who needs forgiveness. We need to see our helpless state and come crawling to Jesus in tears. We need to hope against all hope that Jesus will be our merciful Savior instead of our Righteous Judge.

If we respond like Simon, we seal our own fate. “He who is forgiven little, loves little.” And Jesus isn’t saying this to a man who is mostly righteous and doesn’t have as much of which to be forgiven! He is saying it to a self-righteous man who thinks he is good when in fact he is on the same level of need as the sinful woman. Simon was blind to his need for Jesus’ forgiveness. O, that we would not be blind to our need!

The Letter of Paul to the Romans is regarded by many as the most important doctrinal statement ever written. In Romans 1-3, the Apostle Paul masterfully outlines the sinfulness of man. In 3:20, it seems that all hope is lost when Paul says that no one will be found righteous through good works. Instead, we will only find out how short we come of God’s standard and how sinful we truly are. Paul levels the field explaining how both Jew and Gentile are on the equal ground of total depravity and sinfulness. One is judged condemned through running amuck and the other through attempts at self-righteousness.

But then when all are broken and lost, Paul speaks of a glorious revelation of how to regain good standing with God! To be righteous before God requires faith in Jesus Christ and His perfect life of obedience.

Consider the Good News as Paul records it in Romans 3:23-25:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.

When we realize that we are numbered with the “None is righteous,” then our only response is to come like the woman of the city, who was a sinner, sobbing and hoping that Jesus might be merciful. It’s our only hope. Sin has us captive and only Jesus has the means of escape.

Let us not be quick to respond like Simon when we see others struggling. Let us remember that we ourselves come to Christ with nothing to offer but our sin.