"Uninvited, Undone, Unashamed"

INTRODUCTION

Saints, I came to tell somebody today: Desperate love will always look crazy to the comfortable! When you're hungry for Him—I mean truly famished for the presence of Jesus—you will break through barriers, you will disregard tradition, and you will run headfirst into scandal if it means getting just one moment at His feet.

We're about to meet a woman who loved Jesus so fiercely, the room couldn’t handle her. The Pharisees called her sinful. The disciples stood in awkward silence. But Jesus… oh, Jesus received her worship like the King He is.

“Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner…” — Luke 7:36-37 (NKJV)

Let’s walk through her story. Let’s see what happens when hunger breaks the rules.

I. HER ACTIONS WERE RADICAL — SHE BROKE EVERY CULTURAL RULE

This woman didn’t just enter a room… she crashed a system. Let me give you a glimpse of the cultural norms she shattered that day:

1. A Woman Entering a Pharisee’s Banquet Uninvited

Women were not allowed to attend a dinner with men, especially not in the home of a Pharisee! ✅ Rule broken: Social separation of men and women.

2. A Known Sinner in the House of the Righteous

She wasn’t just a woman. She was a woman with a reputation. She had no business being there. ✅ Rule broken: Sinners don’t belong at the table of the holy.

3. Letting Down Her Hair in Public

This was considered shameful—equivalent to indecency in Jewish culture. ✅ Rule broken: Public modesty and feminine propriety.

4. Touching a Rabbi—Let Alone Anointing His Feet

This was taboo on every level! Rabbis avoided contact with women, especially unclean ones. ✅ Rule broken: Touching the holy while being unclean.

5. Weeping at His Feet and Wiping with Her Hair

No decorum. No reservation. No pride. ✅ Rule broken: Emotional restraint and self-composure.

II. WHY DID SHE DO IT? — SHE WAS HUNGRY FOR HIM

“And stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears…” — Luke 7:38 (NKJV)

This wasn’t performance—this was passion. This wasn’t a show—this was a soul crying out!

She had encountered His mercy. She had seen His eyes, heard His voice, maybe even watched Him forgive another sinner in the street. And something in her snapped — “I don’t care what they think! I have to get to Him!”

She didn’t come with a theological thesis. She didn’t bring eloquent prayers. She came with tears. She came with oil. She came with a broken, burning, surrendered heart.

🔥 She wasn’t there to be seen. She was there to pour out.

“I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am lovesick!” — Song of Solomon 5:8 (NKJV)

That’s what she was! Lovesick. Not just convicted… consumed. Not just emotional… driven. She said, “I don’t care what this costs me—I’ve GOT to get to Jesus.”

III. JESUS SAW WHAT THEY COULDN’T

Simon the Pharisee looked at her and saw a category: “sinner.” But Jesus looked at her and saw worship. He saw repentance. He saw hunger. He saw love.

“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” — Luke 7:47 (NKJV)

Her actions weren’t her justification… but they were the evidence of it. She didn’t earn His love—she responded to it. She didn’t buy His forgiveness—she poured out her gratitude for it.

IV. A CALL TO THE HUNGRY: BREAK THE RULES THAT KEEP YOU FROM JESUS

What rules have we let religion, culture, or shame write on our hearts?

“You don’t belong here. You’ve sinned too much.”

“Real men don’t cry at the altar.”

“That kind of passion is just emotionalism.”

“You need to get your life together first.”

📣 LIES. ALL LIES.

Let this woman preach to you today without saying a word. Let her broken perfume bottle, her sopping hair, and her silent sobs testify:

🔥 Sometimes the only way to touch Jesus… is to break the rules that keep you from Him.

CONCLUSION: YOUR HUNGER IS HOLY

I came to speak to the lovesick, to the hungry, to the desperate. You may feel unworthy. You may be labeled, judged, dismissed. But if you’ll bring your alabaster heart and pour it at His feet—He will not turn you away.

Jesus looked her in the eye and said:

“Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” — Luke 7:50 (NKJV)

He silenced her accusers with a sentence of salvation.

ALTAR CALL / INVITATION

I don’t care if you’ve been in church 40 years or 4 minutes—do you still have the kind of hunger that breaks the rules? Will you weep again? Will you bow again? Will you risk the stares, the whispers, the judgment, and pour it all out?

If you’ve been lovesick for Him... if you’re tired of playing church and ready to break the box—this altar is for you.

Come. Weep. Kneel. Worship. Break the bottle.

Because He’s worth it.

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🕊️ Cultural Norms Broken by the Woman in Luke 7:36–50

1. A Woman Entering a Pharisee’s Banquet Uninvited

✅ Rule Broken: Social Separation of Men and Women

Historical Context: In 1st-century Jewish culture, particularly in Pharisaic and rabbinic circles, men and women did not socialize freely in formal or religious settings. Meals, especially those hosted by Pharisees (like Simon in Luke 7:36), were often restricted to male guests.

Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary Jewish philosopher, speaks of “modest” women remaining in private quarters (Philo, Special Laws 3.169).

In the Mishnah, women were expected to occupy the inner quarters of the house, away from male company (Mishnah, Ketubot 1:10).

Application to Luke 7: This woman entered a male-dominated, religious environment—uninvited. That action alone would have been considered socially disruptive and shameful, especially in a Pharisee’s home.

2. A Known Sinner in the House of the Righteous

✅ Rule Broken: Sinners Don’t Belong at the Table of the Holy

Biblical Context: The woman is identified in Luke 7:37 as “a woman in the city who was a sinner.” The Greek word used is hamartōlos (ἁμαρτωλός), often referring to people who lived a public lifestyle contrary to the Law—which included tax collectors, prostitutes, and the ritually unclean.

Religious Context: Pharisees were known for their strict separation from the “am ha-aretz” (common people) and especially from known sinners.

In Mishnah Chagigah 2:7, Pharisees are instructed not to associate with the am ha-aretz lest they become defiled.

Psalm 1:1 represents the ideal righteous man as one who "does not sit in the seat of scoffers" or associate with the wicked.

Application to Luke 7: Her presence was not only uninvited socially, but unacceptable religiously. According to Pharisaic purity standards, she defiled the atmosphere just by entering.

3. Letting Down Her Hair in Public

✅ Rule Broken: Public Modesty and Feminine Propriety

Cultural and Rabbinic Context: In Jewish tradition, a married woman was expected to keep her hair covered in public. Letting one’s hair down was considered intimate, and in some cases even grounds for divorce.

Mishnah Ketubot 7:6: A woman could be divorced without compensation if she “goes out with her hair loose.”

In Talmudic literature, a woman who let her hair down in front of men was considered as behaving promiscuously (Sotah 7:6).

Application to Luke 7: By unbinding her hair and using it to wipe Jesus’ feet (Luke 7:38), the woman was engaging in an act that was culturally interpreted as indecent, yet Jesus received it as worship.

4. Touching a Rabbi — Let Alone Anointing His Feet

✅ Rule Broken: Touching the Holy While Being Unclean

Religious Context: Jewish rabbis in the Second Temple period avoided contact with women in public, especially with those who were perceived as ritually unclean. The concern stemmed from Levitical laws of purity (Leviticus 15), and rabbinic extensions of those laws.

Leviticus 15:19–27 explains that anyone who touches a woman during her menstrual period becomes unclean.

Talmud Niddah 4b: "One should not speak with a woman in the marketplace, not even his own wife."

Application to Luke 7: Jesus, regarded as a rabbi or teacher (Luke 7:40), was touched by a woman widely believed to be ceremonially unclean. Her touching His feet, especially with oil, violated rabbinic purity laws—yet He didn’t resist or rebuke her.

5. Weeping at His Feet and Wiping with Her Hair

✅ Rule Broken: Emotional Restraint and Self-Composure

Social Context: Middle Eastern hospitality culture—especially among elite Jews like the Pharisees—valued order, composure, and public dignity. Emotional outbursts were considered improper, especially for a woman in a male setting.

Cultural Norm: A public display of unrestrained grief or affection in a formal setting was often seen as undignified, especially for women. Public weeping, unless in mourning, was not culturally expected or accepted.

Biblical Precedent: The woman wept so profusely that she “washed His feet with her tears.”

The verb klaió (κλαίω) is used again here, meaning deep sobbing or wailing (Luke 7:38).

In Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is “a time to weep,” but formal gatherings like banquets were not one of them.

Application to Luke 7: Her complete lack of restraint would have caused shock and discomfort to the attendees. Yet Jesus affirmed her emotional transparency as authentic love and worship (Luke 7:47).