Luke 7:36-50

When we look upon Jesus, we see God (John 14:9). The account before us is a window through which we may see how God looks upon us. We see the manner in which God reacts to men’s thoughts (and offenses).

Verse 36 states that a Pharisee asked Jesus to dine with him in his home. The Pharisees, as a group, rejected the ministry of John the Baptist and did not consider John to be a prophet (see v. 30). It is not possible to determine if this particular Pharisee (Simon) regarded John in a manner different from his fellows. Jesus’ miracles of healing and His raising the dead son of the widow of Nain to life (v. 11-16) had given the people cause to believe that He was a prophet. The reason that Simon invited Jesus to eat with him appears to be Simon’s desire to know more about Jesus. Simon wanted to know if Jesus were a prophet.

While Jesus was an invited guest, He was not the only guest. A woman, a known sinner (a prostitute), was also present. A righteous Pharisee like Simon, normally, would not have invited such a woman to his dinner because Pharisees maintained separation from sinners. While an invitation could have been for the express purpose of observing Jesus’ response to the presence of a sinful person, it is possible that the woman was uninvited. The woman, upon learning that Jesus was to eat at Simon’s house, brought a container of ointment with her with the intent of anointing Jesus. Simon did not order the woman to leave and used the interaction between her and Jesus as a basis upon which to judge Jesus (v. 39).

Because Jesus allowed the woman to wash and to anoint His feet, Simon thought Jesus not to be a prophet sent by God. Jesus, at this point, interrupted Simon’s thought process. Before examining Jesus’ answer, we need consider that Jesus knew Simon’s desire. Simon wanted to know if Jesus were empowered by God. Simon had, in his mind, rejected Jesus’ being of God because Jesus did not respond to the woman in the manner that he thought a prophet of God should respond. Simon desired to know the truth but was unable to discern truth because he devised an imperfect test for righteousness. Simon did not understand that “there is none righteous that doeth good, no, not one” (Ps. 14:3).

Jesus’ answer required Simon to think upon that which he had witnessed in a different manner. Jesus presented Simon with a hypothetical situation in which two debtors, one owing much and the other owing little, were forgiven by a creditor. Simon correctly reasoned that the debtor which owed the most would be more grateful.

Simon, no doubt, wondered how that the scenario of the two debtors and the creditor related to him. Jesus directed Simon’s attention to the fact that the woman received Him (Jesus) with much more love and warmth than he (Simon) did. In verse 47, Jesus informed Simon that the woman’s expression of love toward Him were those of a debtor who had been forgiven a great debt.

Simon, a Pharisee, saw the sins of the woman but not his own sins. God sees all men as they are: sinners. Jesus was not blind to the woman’s sins as Simon thought Him to be. Jesus saw both the woman’s sins and Simon’s sins, but He saw something in the woman that He did not see in Simon. When Jesus looked upon the woman, He saw the thoughts of her heart. We see what Jesus saw through her actions. She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. She applied ointment to His feet. She saw herself to be unworthy. She knew that she was in need of a righteousness that she did not possess. She believed Jesus to be sent by God. Jesus counted her faith in Him as righteousness. She came to Jesus believing that He could make things right with God for her. Jesus made things right. Her sins were forgiven.

Simon invited Jesus into his home because he sought to know the truth. Jesus made the truth known to him. Jesus revealed Himself to Simon as one who could forgive sins.

Believers recognize that Simon sat in judgment of God, while the woman fully accepted Jesus to be of God. One embraced doubt while the other believed. Simon would have had Jesus reveal Himself to be of God by having Jesus reject the overtures of one who sought Him. God does not reveal Himself to men in this manner. God reveals Himself to men by being God. God is love. His love is revealed in the Son who willingly gave Himself such that men may receive eternal life and dwell with Him.

Verse 49 states that those who sat to eat with Jesus wondered, “Who is this that forgives sins also?” Jesus declared that the woman’s sins were forgiven, but those present doubted. The woman who had sinned much did not doubt. She was saved by faith. Jesus bid her to go in peace.

We are called to believe. God has given us His scriptures such that we may believe and grow in faith. We are saved by grace through faith — faith which is His gift (Eph. 2:8). Let us not doubt His gift. May we love one another and reach out to others as He loves and reaches out to us.