Luke 7:44-50 44Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house; you did not give me water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfume. 47For on account of this, I say to you, her many sins are forgiven because she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49Then those who were reclining at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Jesus brings two worlds together in this passage. On the one hand, he teaches Simon and his guests an important lesson. He has no direct pronouncement to them, but what he said should have brought a new awareness leading to conviction. This encounter was an opportunity for Simon to make a significant paradigm shift. It must have been very discomforting to him to have his religious world shaken by what he saw in Jesus. Jesus must have impressed him with the miracles, but what Simon saw at the dinner must have raised many questions.
Although Jesus was looking at the woman, he directed his response to Simon., indicating that there was opportunity for two people to be changed. The woman had already had some level of faith in Jesus but was needing something deeper in her life. Simon may have had some degree of faith, at least expressed as curiosity, but likewise needed something deeper in his life. Jesus simply retells the simple event that had just taken place but compares the woman’s actions with Simon’s lack of action. The woman went out of her way and showed great personal and social sacrifice by anointing Jesus’ feet with tears, hair, and expensive perfume. Simon did nothing to host Jesus except perhaps to provide food. Simon did not go out of his way to care for Jesus personally.
Verse 47 introduces the disconnect and discomforting situation. Jesus acknowledged the woman’s sins, which were many. It was clear that the woman loved Jesus by her great sacrifice. Her love was evidence of her sincere sorrow for her life. Sin diminishes a person into pain and sorrow, though a face mask can be put over these to hind them from others. The woman had come to the place of no hope in her slavery to sin. Sin deceives a person into thinking that by doing it, one might find fulfillment and happiness.
The seed of hope had been planted in this woman’s heart and had sprouted through her act of love towards Jesus. Loving Jesus can be a sign of sincere repentance. The woman’s tangible act of washing and anointing Jesus’ feet showed that she saw something special in Jesus. She did not know the four spiritual laws or understand theology. She simply saw Jesus with love. It was not a sophisticated love, but simple and plentiful. Jesus saw the woman’s greatest need as forgiveness and gave the simple statement that her sins were forgiven.
It is significant that Luke does not record any response from Simon but from Simon’s guests who struggle with the idea that Jesus could forgive sins. Their question is fundamental to every person and one of the key ideas of Luke’s Gospel: Who is this? The most important decision with which we will be confronted is what to do with Jesus. It is highly likely that the guests in Simon’s house were other Pharisees. They may have been curious about Jesus, ready to test him and hear what he had to say. They were shocked by Jesus’ statement because only God can forgive sins. Jesus told his disciples later in John 20:23 that they could be the instruments through which forgiveness is pronounced. Disciples do not forgive sins but act as God’s voice of confirmation that a person’s faith and repentance has brought him or her forgiveness before God.
The woman’s faith was the key to the whole situation. Her faith was shown by her act of love. The result was having her sins forgiven. She could then live in peace. The sequence is significant for discipleship: faith leading to love resulting in forgiveness and peace. She left Simon’s house a changed person.
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