Luke 7:36-8:3 (NRSV)

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. ³⁷ And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. ³⁸ She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.’ ⁴⁰ Jesus spoke up and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ ‘Teacher,’ he replied, ‘speak.’ ⁴¹ ‘A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they could not pay, he cancelled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?’ ⁴³ Simon answered, ‘I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the greater debt.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’ ⁴⁴ Then turning towards the woman, he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.’ ⁴⁸Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Some Women Accompany Jesus

⁸ Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, ²as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, ³and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

My text today is written in Luke 7:48-50:

⁴⁸Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

I am indebted to Barclay, Caird, Miller and Ryle for this reflection.

Jesus was on the road, as all the synagogues were now closed to him. Instead of finding welcome and openness in the Jewish meeting places, he had found hostility. He was accompanied by a small group of women who provided for Jesus and the disciples. It was always considered to be a pious thing to do to support a rabbi and so this would have been nothing out of the ordinary. What was different was the composition of this group. There was Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus had cast seven devils; there was Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s epitropos – one who served Herod’s interests. In those days, it would be unheard of for women of such different social status being brought together like this.  In Christ the Church the people of God need to be yoked together in a common harness to work for the kingdom and they are, status being of no consequence!

In this group with Jesus were people whose help was practical: they were women so they would not have preached but they gave generous gifts of what they had. This makes a vital point and that is that it is not always the people in the foreground who do the greatest work because without it, nothing can happen. Barclay concludes: “Many of the greatest servants are in the background, unseen but essential to his cause.”

This is so important: what matters is that we are linked together as children of God, that we are committed to following the ways of Jesus and doing his will, and that we treat all people with equal dignity and respect, not even taking into account mistakes of the past – a lesson that the small company who met in the Pharisee’s house needed to learn.

When all of us, in our own small ways, are faithful to what Jesus calls us to do, great things can and do happen!

Today's lesson reveals a number of important truths. Firstly, we must never confuse respect for Jesus and his message with what it means to be a true disciple. The Pharisee, Simon, respected Jesus enough to call him Rabbi. He might even have gone so far as to suggest that he was a prophet. He was sufficiently interested in Jesus to invite him to dinner. Missing, however, were the little gestures of genuine hospitality - the footbath, the kiss and the perfume.  Miller suggests that

Simon's motive in inviting him to dinner is not mentioned. The fact that the common courtesies were not extended to Jesus ... has suggested to some that Simon invited him out of mere curiosity.

But Jesus was willing to go, even though he must have known that Simon's motives were questionable. Irrespective of what Simon's motives were, he showed Jesus more respect than many others. However at the heart of the matter is that there is a difference between being outwardly civil - and real, deep and intimate love.

In this lesson therefore, Jesus warns people to beware that they do not fall into the trap of believing that everything is alright with their souls simply because they do the right religious things like attending church regularly. J C Ryle explains:

It is quite possible to have a decent form of religion, and yet know nothing of the Gospel of Christ, - to treat Christianity with respect, ... to behave with great correctness and propriety at Church, and yet to hate justification by faith and salvation by grace.

Secondly, we see that all those who have experienced Christ's salvation, reveal this fact by their love. Jesus explains this in his dealing with the sinful woman. Verse 37 describes her as 'a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town ...' This woman was more than likely a prostitute - considered then as today to be one of the most degrading things for any person to do. In order to understand the significance of what follows it is useful to explain what happened.

Simon's house was probably built around an open courtyard in the form of a hollow square. In warm weather, meals would be enjoyed in this yard. It was common practise that, when a Rabbi was at a meal in such a house, all kinds of people were permitted to come in to the area to listen to his teachings.

Normally, and especially when a distinguished Rabbi was visiting, the host would do three things as the honoured guest entered the house: (i) place his hand on the guest's shoulder and give him the kiss of peace; (ii) the guest's sandals would be removed and his feet washed - preferably by a slave - because it was considered below the average person even to touch anybody's feet and (iii) either a pinch of sweet-smelling incense was burned or a drop of attar of roses was placed on the guest's head. To do these things was considered nothing more than good manners.  They were not done for Jesus and no reason is given why.

After these gestures of hospitality were completed, the guests would recline on low couches with their feet behind them. What would follow would be the meal and discussion.

While it was not uncommon to leave the doors open on such occasions to allow all sorts of people to enter, a prostitute would never, under normal circumstances, have even dared to do such a thing because they were considered to be ceremonially unclean. They were completely shunned by respectable people.

It seems unlikely that Jesus and this woman had ever spoken before. She had probably heard him teach from the fringe of the crowd. Caird explains:

... that had been enough to soften the hardness of her heart and set her back on the road to self-respect. She had been a woman of evil ways and evil reputation: the reputation remained, but the ways were changed.

Verse 38 describes a wonderful scene of love and worship:

... 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.

Caird paraphrases what happened in a beautifully sensitive manner. He writes:

... she came to make a magnificent gesture of gratitude; but tears came before she could get the stopper out of her bottle of perfume, and, forgetting that this was something a decent woman never did in public, she let her hair down to wipe them away.

Simon was shocked. He would have avoided any contact with the unclean woman. All he saw was a filthy sinner - Jesus saw a sinner who had been pardoned and restored. Simon, in typical judgemental style, frowned on the fact that Jesus had allowed this woman to publicly humiliate herself and him. He thought that this brought into question whether or not Jesus actually was a prophet. But Jesus re-established his credentials by showing that he could read Simon's thoughts, and taught the people using a parable.

Verses 41-43 record the story of the two debtors who were excused their debts. It is pretty obvious which one would love their benefactor more. Simon rather reluctantly agrees. Verse 43 records his words 'I suppose the one with the bigger debt'.  Verses 44-46 explain the meaning of the parable. Even the words 'Do you see this woman' are important because Simon did not really see her at all - because all he could see was what the woman had been. Jesus then compared what she had done with what Simon had done. While Simon had not even shown the customary hospitality, the woman had spent everything she had, emotionally and financially, to bless her Lord.

Jesus did not gloss over the woman's sins. In verse 47 Jesus refers to them as being many. It is all too easy to develop a familiar attitude toward sin and sinning because we know that forgiveness is possible. It is also dangerous to think that we can freely sin and just repeatedly turn forgiveness on or off whenever necessary. It is sad that many, many people think that they are forgiven when they in fact are not! It costs something to be forgiven - it cost Jesus' life - he shed his blood so that people could be forgiven. On our part, it takes a deliberate act of the will, a conscious decision - what John the Baptist and Jesus referred to as repentance. Remember the Greek word metanoia means to turn 180 degrees. To be forgiven requires more than being sorry for what one has done, it also requires a decision never to do it again. One cannot, e.g. expect to be forgiven for living in adultery if one does not end the relationship, one cannot expect to be forgiven for stealing if one continues to steal. In short, it becomes evident in a person's behaviour whether one has real sorrow, repentance and gratitude - whether one has been forgiven. As Jesus explains in verse 47 - '... I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she has loved much'. Caird explains: 'Her love was not the ground of a pardon she had come to seek, but the proof of a pardon she had come to acknowledge'. She most probably did not understand the dynamics of what had happened. The commentator in the NIV Study Bible adds:

She must have heard Jesus preach, and in repentance she determined to lead a new life. She came out of love and gratitude, in the understanding that she could be forgiven.

And so we rejoice today because we know that forgiveness is possible for all those who really seek God's forgiveness in Jesus Christ. If one earnestly desires to be made whole, one can be restored. There is nothing that anybody can ever do that can be so bad that they will be turned away if they come to Christ. But come to Christ one must. It is because we have been forgiven much that we love much and we demonstrate this in our worship, study, prayer - all the things that make Jesus the central focus of our lives.

Jesus said to the woman and he says to all of us as we come in repentance and faith:

…  ‘Your sins are forgiven.’⁴⁹But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ ⁵⁰And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’

Amen.