Luke 7:36–50: Forgiven!

July 24, 2026

The Ten Signposts of the Bible
CAMDE—400—CALY
Creation. Abraham. Moses. David. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to-Come. 

Some people just don’t deserve God’s grace, do they? They are too sinful, too evil, have caused too much hurt, or too far gone. After all, shouldn’t God’s goodness require a fairly clean resume? Doesn’t he help those who help themselves?  Shouldn’t we demonstrate that we are worthy of God’s acceptance? 

Many people get caught up in this kind of thinking, and that was certainly true of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. But Luke’s account of a prostitute who encountered Jesus challenges works-based theology head-on. Let’s look at our passage today.

The news about Jesus–his teaching and miracles–was spreading rapidly. His growing popularity posed a problem for the Pharisees, whose religious system was being challenged by this itinerant preacher. So one of the Pharisees, named Simon, invited Jesus to dinner (Luke 7:36). 

There are several theories about why Jesus was invited to this Pharisee’s house, but it seems fairly obvious that he wanted to catch Jesus saying something controversial. We later learn that when Jesus arrived, the host did not even extend the common courtesies of hospitality. 

A dinner at the home of a wealthy, influential person was a major event, not only for those invited but for the whole community. As the guests reclined on their left sides and ate with their right hands, the townspeople gathered around to listen through open windows or in open courtyards. That may seem odd to us, but in Jesus’ day it was a form of entertainment. As it is today, people hoped to hear the latest news.

At some point during the dinner, a woman appeared. She was certainly not invited to the dinner, and the crowd did not welcome her. Luke says that this woman “was a sinner,” which means she was a prostitute. She had “learned that [Jesus] was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house” so she brought “an alabaster flask of ointment” (Luke 7:37). A flask of alabaster perfume was worth about a year’s wages. 

This woman found Jesus “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” (Luke 7:38). 

Almost everything she did violated the cultural norms. She pushed through the crowd to approach a dinner guest. She wept so intensely, and stood so close, that her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. She let down her hair, something women did not do in public, using it to wipe his feet. Furthermore, women did not touch men in that way in a public setting. She kissed Jesus’ feet and poured the perfume on them. 

This was intolerable behavior for the religious leaders and they called it out: “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” (Luke 7:39). 

Here’s how Jesus addressed the issue:

Luke 7:40–43
And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ‘Say it, Teacher.’  ‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’

Jesus was not finished. He reminded Simon that he had neglected to provide the common courtesies of hospitality. In Jesus’ day, dusty roads left feet dirty, so they were typically washed before a meal. Oil was also provided to freshen up before eating. 

Luke 7:44–46
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.  You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.’ 

The woman’s’s love for Jesus moved her to offer extravagant worship, and Jesus responded with compassion and acceptance: “‘Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.’  And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ . . . ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace’” (Luke 7:47–48, 50). 

When Jesus said, “he who is forgiven little, loves little,” he was confronting the Pharisees, who believed God should honor them simply because they were on his “team.” But in truth, no one is forgiven only a little. Whether religious leader or prostitute, we are all separated from God and unable to reach him on our own. Only through Jesus’ atoning work on the cross can we be reconciled to God. 

Those at the table, presumably other religious leaders, said to each other, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” (Luke 7:49). Was this a statement of amazement? Probably not. It was more likely a statement of condemnation. They knew that only God can forgive sins, so Jesus was claiming to be God. Either Jesus was a blasphemer, or he was God in the flesh. 

C. S. Lewis said it like this about Jesus, “You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.”^[1] Jesus left no other option. 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Read and reflect on Luke 7:36–50. Do you relate to Jesus more like Simon, trusting in your own goodness, or like the woman, fully aware of your need for his grace?

Talking to God: Ask God to help you see the depth of his love and grace. 

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