Luke 7:36-50
"And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little," Luke 7:44-47.
All of us have a perspective pertaining to life. This perspective is usually gained through intellectual knowledge or experience. On the job training is some of the best training you will get, but it is also good to have some book training before you get on the job training. We get our intellectual knowledge about God through the Scriptures. Our faith in the Lord is built upon the Scriptures. Scripture is our authority in all things. Yet we can know about God, but not know Him intimately. "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes," Job 42:5-6. Job had learned about God, even taught others about God (his children), but during the worse tragedy we can imagine Job experienced the love, faithfulness, compassion, grace, patience, and forgiveness of God. Job's life was never the same.
In our text in Luke 7:36-50, we see two different types of people. We see a pharisee named Simon, and a woman without a name known as a sinner. Simon the pharisee was a man with great intellectual knowledge about the Scriptures. To be a pharisee you also had to have a great zeal for the Scriptures and the traditions of the elders. Simon knew about God, but he was also cold and rigid toward other people. He looked down on others whom he did not deem to be on the same spiritual level as himself. His knowledge about God and the things of God made him prideful which produced a high self-esteem of himself. He was so full of himself that he was blinded to his spiritual condition. Nonetheless, Simon invited Christ into his home for a meal. Some say he did this to try and catch Christ is His words; others say he did this because it would look good in front of the people, but regardless why he invited Christ for a meal, it is obvious this was a divine appointment.
This sinful woman was not invited for the meal by Simon, but nor was she blocked from coming into his home. This is an interesting custom of that day. As the feast would end, the poor and beggars would ease into the home to eat of the crumbs that would be left over (Mark 7:24-30). If you got into the home soon enough you may get handed a larger piece of food instead of just getting a crumb. It would be no surprise for a woman to come in during the meal, but what was a surprise was this ladies actions while they were reclined at the table. To get a clearer understanding of what is about to take place, we must understand how they would eat at a table during those times. We tend to view everything from our cultural perspective. We automatically picture Jesus, Simon, and the others sitting at a table like we do, upright in chairs or a booth. People draw pictures of Jesus and the disciples and have them sitting upright, like we sit at a table. This is not how they would recline at a table back then. The chairs would be more like a couch without the back. This couch would go around the table. The people would recline on their side with their head towards the table and their feet would hang off the end of the couch away from the table. The feet were the nastiest part of the body. You would want to keep that which was nasty and stunk as far from the table as possible so you would not destroy the taste or smell of the food. Most homes had servants whose job was to wash people's feet. You did not want to be the one at the table turning everyone's stomach. I hope this paints a picture for us of what was going on in Simon's house.
In Luke 7:37 in walks this woman who is described as a sinner. This means she was wicked, and more than likely a woman of the street. She had taken the blessing of intimacy with a husband and turned it into a way to make a living which destroys God's design for marriage and the home (Proverbs 7). You would teach your sons to stay away from women like this and teach your daughters not to be like this lady. You would point her out and her wicked lifestyle. This woman would be an example in the worst way. When the local people saw her, they knew who she was and how she lived. Sin had taken a terrible toll on her life. Wherever she went people would be talking about her. She earned this by her sinful lifestyle. People may have even said that there was no hope for her and that she was a lost cause. Those who say that do not know the saving power of Jesus Christ!
It is obvious this woman knew about Jesus Christ. Did she hear about Jesus from someone else; did she hear Him preach as multitudes gathered together to hear Him; was she friends with the paralytic man in Luke 5:17-26 whom the Lord saved and healed? Or did she hear about Jesus through Matthew who was a publican before the Lord saved him? We do not know how she heard about Jesus, but she heard about Him, and she loved Him. "We love him, because he first loved us," I John 4:19. Her actions would be considered radical, and even inappropriate. Yet we find her doing what she was doing because she had a biblical view of herself, and a biblical view of Who Jesus Christ is. She viewed herself as a sinner in need of forgiveness. What kind of effect did forgiveness have on her?
"And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment," Luke 7:37-38. Most everything else she had done with men was sinful, but her actions now were glorifying and honouring her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. She did not care who saw her; she did not care what others would say; she hated what she was and she came to the only One Who could forgive her of her sins and deliver her from that sinful lifestyle. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new," II Corinthians 5:17. Turn to I Corinthians 6:9-11. There was one that was a worst sinner than the woman.
How much do you love Jesus Christ? Have you ever seen yourself as an exceeding wretched sinner? Have you ever wept over your sinfulness? Has Jesus Christ forgiven you of all your sins according to the bible? If so, praise Him, but if not, trust Christ alone to save you (John 6:37).
Send questions to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
