Luke 7:36 – One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. 41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” 50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (NLT)
Scandalous behavior! Yes, that’s what we have in this passage, downright scandalous behavior – at least in the eyes of one of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. While there have been many theories, we really don’t know who this woman was, or even what her sins were. I’m glad we don’t, for then we would be tempted to act scandalously ourselves and judge her. As the story reads, all we know is that she was immoral. In the context of that day, this could have referred to a host of sins.
What we do know is that she came to wash and anoint the feet of Jesus. This seems strange to our modern sensibilities, but in ancient times it was common for a slave to wash the feet of a traveler when they entered into a home. This woman offered to Jesus the most menial of duties, and she offered freely. Simon, the religious leader, took exception to her actions and spoke to Jesus about her behavior. The answer Jesus gives challenges me: “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
This begs the question – just how much have we been forgiven? The answer, of course, is much! We have been offered forgiveness for all the sins we have ever committed, and for all the sins we will ever commit. Should we not show much love to Jesus for our forgiveness? How do we show our love for Jesus? Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25:40 that when we show our love to anyone, we show love to Jesus – “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
Today, let us show our love for Jesus by showing our love to all!
Posted by Ramón Torres
I pray for the rich and oppressors in America and around the world for their sins are many and many are those they cause to sin. I pray they would come to our Lord sit at His feet..confess their sin and be forgiven…as He has forgiven me. Thank you Lord🙏