Turning to 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, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing My feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint My head with olive oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who were at the table with Him began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Luke 7:44-50 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
Many people apologize for not being “religious”. In reality, being religious is a block to any true relationship with God. Religious people crucified the Lord Jesus. Like we started explaining yesterday, this passage reveals how differently two people can treat Jesus. The religious Pharisee treated Him with suspicion, unfriendliness, coldness, and prejudice while the "sinful" woman treated Him with honor and love. Though she did not say a word, she communicated humility and repentance by her actions, pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet in an extravagant act of giving. At any other time and with any other person this would have been too much… but she understood that the feet that she was washing and anointing were God’s.
In reality, both the Pharisee and the prostitute were sinners — their sins were different in nature, and the Pharisee made the dangerous assumption that the woman’s sins were much worse than his in the eyes of God. But the truth is that God does not care about the nature of our sin, how long we’ve sinned, or how much we’ve sinned — He cares about our honesty and humility in the present. Though the woman appeared to be the bigger sinner, Jesus gave her the one thing in life that she desperately needed: a brand new start. Jesus was kind and forgiving to the sinful woman, and rebuked the religious leader.
An aspect of this story that we should not ignore is the offerings of these two people. The Pharisee held a dinner for Jesus and yet did not give Him a kiss, wash His feet, or anoint His head with oil. His attitude was one of suspicion and doubt. The sinful woman, on the other hand, did not give Jesus an offering, she gave a sacrifice. She went to a house that she knew would condemn her, cried over His feet, dried them with her hair, and kissed them over and over in a powerful demonstration of repentance and brokenness. Then she poured out the perfume which signified a great financial loss to her. In everything she did she showed an extreme form of love, trust and worship… and the Lord Jesus, God of the universe, felt honored by this flawed woman.
We need to run from all religious tendencies, from being impressed with our own spirituality — it makes us blind and stupid. We need to approach God like this woman, in a humble, worshipful, sacrificial manner. The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to her after this, but we can be sure she was transformed from this day on.
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