A Sinful Woman, a hard heart, and Jesus’s Love!
Luke 7:36-50
(Part 1)
Part 1
A Meal with “Holy” Men
The story begins in Luke 7:36–38
Luke 7:36–38 (ESV)
36One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
37And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,
38and 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.
The Pharisees
Luke 7:36 (ESV)
36One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
· The Pharisees
o Holy men
o Like a Lay Pastor or Elder
o Were always the villain in the story of Luke, always opposing Jesus
o Trying to find flaws in everyone
· Why Jesus??
o Jesus often dined with Sinners (tax collectors, prostitutes, and Religious people)
o Were they trying to set him up??
o Jesus ends up teaching them!!
· Reclined at the table
o Paint the picture
The Woman
Luke 7:37 (ESV)
37And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,
· A woman of the city
o Women did not get invited to theological discussions
o Women did not dine with men in public
· A Sinner
o Her reputation negatively precedes her.
o Most commentators believe that she was, perhaps, even a prostitute.
o She’s done things that ought not to be done.
o Her reputation’s damaged and destroyed because she’s considered dirty and defiled.
o And she hears Jesus is at this man’s home, so she is going to do the unthinkable.
I need you to see her. She’s going to get an alabaster flask of perfume, and she is going to walk to the Pharisee’s house. She is going to walk to the religious meal, she walks thru the door, Can you see her? I’m assuming she’s nervous, ashamed, not wanting to make eye contact, wondering what will be said or done to her or about her. She may even be shaking. She walks into a room filled with men, not just men, “holy” men, “devout” men, “religious” men, they all know her. They all know her reputation. She’s the only woman in the room, and she’s uninvited. And you don’t do this. You don’t walk into someone’s home. You don’t walk into their meal as an uninvited guest, as the only woman, as the quote, unquote, “unholy” woman among the holy men.
Can you see her?
Luke 7:38 (ESV)
38and 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.
· The Feet
o Jesus was not treated as an honored guest (she notices)
o It was customary to provide a servant to wash honored guest's feet or at least the means to do so yourself
o They were inconsiderate to the needs of Jesus. Aren’t we sometimes rude to spouses, coworkers, church members?
· The Hair
o It was not right for a woman to show her hair in public
o That was believed to be the beauty and soul of a woman
· Weeping (can you see her?)
o She is probably
o Something happens, she becomes overwhelmed with her sinfulness
o The closer she gets to Jesus the more she weeps, and cries so much she can wash His feet!
o It happens to us all….the closer to Jesus we become the more our sin is apparent! Then He becomes holy and us unholy
o Martin Luther calls theses tears “Heart Water”
A Humble, Repentant, Generous, and Passionate Worshiper
This is an act of repentance. This is her publicly acknowledging before the most judgmental, shaming, condemning, self-righteous, religious men, “Yes, I’m a sinful woman, and I deeply regret the life I have lived.”
And she just begins bawling. Her eyes are filled with so many tears. They’re coming down her cheeks. There’s snot in her nose. There’s a quiver in her voice. Her make-up is coming down over her dress. There’s so much water flowing out of her eyes that it wets Jesus’ feet sufficiently to clean them. That’s a broken, humble, repentant, devastated, grieved sinner. That’s an act of repentance.
Some of you have never shed a tear for your sin. She may have never shed a tear until that moment, and she shed a tear for perhaps every sin. And I believe she was not anticipating that she would become so emotional. Had she anticipated becoming that emotional, she would have brought a towel. She didn’t have a towel to dry Jesus’ feet, and so instead she used her hair. She let her long hair down. Paul says elsewhere that a woman’s hair is her glory. She takes that which is glorious, and she uses it to clean Jesus’ dirty feet.
Have you been there, can you see her? Have you been so broken, so repentant, so close to Jesus that you simply break down? She did and maybe so should you!
An Act of Worship!
When she falls at His feet, when she is acknowledging her sin, when she is shedding her tears, when she is cleaning His feet, when she is anointing His feet, when she is kissing His feet, this is an act of worship.
One of the ways of worship in the Bible is to fall down on your face at the feet of Jesus. That’s what she’s doing. She’s worshiping Jesus passionately, humbly, publicly, repentantly, generously. She’s giving her best. She’s giving all that she has. She’s giving all that she is in love for Jesus as her Lord.
It’s that act of worship, that act of repentance, that separates us from the rest of the world!
· It’s not that we are better than they are
· It’s not that we are less sinful than they are
· It’s not we are better than they are
· It’s the blood of Jesus and His love of the lost and hurting
· It’s Jesus who accepts us right where we are but refuses to let us stay there
· Its Jesus and His overwhelming grace that saves us
o PERIOD!
o There is no person unworthy
o And there is no person unable
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
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