Luke 7:36-50

Sermon

Luke 7:36–50 ESV

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward 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 wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Jesus knew exactly what he was getting with this woman.

Verse 39

Jesus knows exactly what he is getting with you.

Whether you are prideful and too good

Whether you think you are scum of earth

Either way, you need the grace and forgiveness of God.

Jesus is saying very clearly that your devotion to him is directly related to your understanding of how much God has forgiven you.

Verse 37

We see clearly this play out in v44-47

If this is true, and someone read your daily biography and examined your life, what would they say?

Where do we go from here?

Pray that God would reveal to you just how sinful you are.

Pray that God would show you just how loved you are through the gospel (jesus dying on cross for sin)

Pray that God would give you obedience devotion to Him.

Get active (ask them how)

10 reasons this woman is not the same as in John 12

1. No leper could be a Pharisee, and no Pharisee would go to a dinner in a leper’s house. This fact in and of itself is sufficient to conclude that these are different stories. The name “Simon” was the most common Jewish name in the first century (there are nine in the New Testament).

2. John has the event in connection with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus,  and not a Pharisee.

3. Luke’s account is years earlier in Jesus' ministry; the others are the week before Jesus’ death.

4. It was common to recline at the table.

5. It was common for perfume to be kept in a special container (see Bock). Blomberg adds that  the “alabaster jar”  “appears to be a stereotyped formula for any fancy, long-necked jar of perfume, such as were common in Jesus’s context.”

6. It was common to wash a guest’s feet and anoint with perfume.

7. Mary is named in John while the woman in Luke is not named.

8. Matthew and Mark say she poured the ointment on his head while Luke and John say it was his feet. 

9. Only in Luke does the woman wet his feet with tears and (with John) dry them with her hair.

10. The response of the observers was significantly different in Luke. In Matthew, Mark, and John it was the loss of money. In Luke, Simon complains about begin touched by a “sinner.”