From our Sunday service on August 30, 2026, Luke 7:36-8:3. This is part 14 of our Gospel of Luke series. Watch the full message: Joy in Forgiveness – The Gospel of Luke #14 on YouTube.
Last time, we saw Jesus resume his preaching around Galilee. We saw him stop at the city of Nain, where he raised a widow’s son from the dead. Shortly after, we saw John’s disciples come to express John’s doubt about whether Jesus was truly the Messiah. We saw that Jesus praised John despite his doubts and reassured him of his identity as the Messiah through his miracles. And we concluded that lesson with Jesus thanking God for those faithful ones who truly repented of their sins and came to him for hope. Today we’re going to see another one of these faithful ones come to Jesus for the first time. From our time in Scripture today:
God wants you to know that forgiveness should change the way you love him.
Dinner at a Pharisee’s House
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
Luke 7:36
Here we see Jesus doing something he did quite a bit, but in a new setting, different from what we saw before. Previously we saw Jesus eat with publicans and sinners at Matthew’s house. Now, for the first time, we’re going to see him bridge the gap on the other side. Jesus ate with sinners a lot. A lot of sinners invited Jesus to their houses, and Jesus ate with them. He had dinner with them and communed with them, and Pharisees came to those dinners with sinners. But now we see the other side. Jesus is becoming more popular and more well known, so now the Pharisees are beginning to invite Jesus into their homes. Today we see Jesus sit down for dinner at a Pharisee’s house, and that Pharisee’s name is Simon.
Jesus will continue to eat at Pharisees’ houses throughout his ministry. The Gospels record at least three occasions when Jesus is invited by a Pharisee to eat with him, and he always attends when invited. Those three passages are our passage today in Luke 7, and then Luke 11 and Luke 14.
Which Simon?
There are two possible points of confusion I’d like to address right off the bat, before we get into the story. First, let’s deal with the topic of Simon. This passage will later tell us that the Pharisee’s name is Simon, so don’t be confused and think we’re talking about Simon Peter when the name comes up. Simon here is Simon the Pharisee. This shouldn’t surprise us, because the name Simon comes up a lot in Scripture. In the New Testament we have Simon Peter, Simon the Zealot, Simon the brother of Jesus, Simon the leper, Simon the Pharisee, Simon of Cyrene, Simon the father of Judas Iscariot, Simon the sorcerer, and Simon the tanner. Simon was a common name. So when you see Simon come up, don’t jump right to Peter. Peter’s not in this passage.
Two Anointings
The second possible point of confusion is that there are multiple accounts of women anointing Jesus. There are two times in Jesus’ ministry when women offered perfume on Jesus’ feet. Here in Luke 7 it is at Simon the Pharisee’s house, near or at Capernaum, before the death of John the Baptist. The woman in this passage is called a sinner and is unnamed. She anointed his feet, and Jesus forgave the woman’s sins.
But there’s another account, in John 12, Matthew 26, and Mark 14, at Simon the leper’s house, if that’s not confusing enough. This one happened in Bethany, with Lazarus, Mary, and Martha all attending, and it occurs specifically six days before Jesus’ final Passover. There’s no mention of sin in that passage, Jesus’ feet and head are anointed, and Judas gets upset about the wasted money. Both of these stories involve a Simon, and both involve anointing Jesus, so it could be easy to confuse the two.
Some believe they’re the same account, but that’s very unlikely because of the context surrounding them. Here’s why I believe that. Number one, they’re placed in two different chronological and geographical settings. One, by the context, is in Capernaum, and the other is in Bethany. These places are 125 miles away from each other, so you’re probably not going to confuse the two at all. And they’re said to occur three years apart, so it would be a very unlikely scenario that someone just misremembered it. Number two, the woman in Luke is said to belong to the city of Capernaum, not Bethany. So we’d have an issue with where specifically the woman lived. These must be two different accounts.
But there’s one other consideration. It is possible, and some believe, that Mary of Bethany and the sinful woman are one and the same: one account from her life at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and one near the end. John introduces Mary of Bethany, before the story of her anointing Jesus’ feet, as “that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair.” So we have two accounts of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet, and it’s possible this is actually the same woman, specifically because John introduces the story of Lazarus by saying that this is the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, which would be a strange thing to do before that story has occurred. Unless you had already read the other story, you wouldn’t know this had happened. So it could be that Mary of Bethany and the woman in this passage are the same woman.
Matthew 26:13 and Mark 14:9 say that Mary of Bethany’s act of sacrifice would be told wherever the gospel is preached. If they are different people, then Luke does not record Mary of Bethany’s sacrifice in his Gospel, even though Matthew and Mark say her story would be told wherever the gospel goes. That makes trouble for us if Luke doesn’t mention it. So it would appear that this is the same woman in both stories, one at the beginning of her time with Jesus and one near the end.
This section concludes with multiple women becoming followers of Jesus. Today we’re going to see how women begin to follow Jesus as Jesus takes care of them, and this woman is set as an example of what it looks like for Jesus to change your life and what it looks like to follow him afterward.
The Alabaster Box
With all this in mind, let’s look at the story as the woman approaches.
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Luke 7:37–38
The first thing we’re told about this woman in verse 37 is that she was a sinner. We’re not told specifically what type of sinner she was, but considering the kind of shame that comes later in the passage with Jesus even being seen in the same room as her, it’s most likely the sin of prostitution. This woman was a prostitute. She clearly has money, because she comes with an alabaster box of ointment: not just an expensive perfume, but an expensive box. It’s estimated that this box of ointment would cost 300 denarii, an entire year’s wage. This woman has money, and she’s a sinner. You can draw some connections here about what kind of thing is going on.
What we see this woman doing is a huge metaphorical act of faith. In breaking this alabaster box of ointment, she is surrendering to Jesus a tool she used for her illicit and sinful works. Every morning before she went to her job, she would use this perfume to anoint herself, to make herself more appealing to the people of her community, to indulge in sin. This woman had been hearing Jesus preach in her city, and she had heard about the baptism of repentance, how it was time to repent from your sins and turn away. Clearly she didn’t make the decision to repent while Jesus was preaching, but clearly it worked on her heart. As the Spirit began to work in her, she decided, “You know what? It’s time for me to give my life to the Messiah.”
So she says, “I’m going to go find Jesus. I’m going to take this alabaster box of ointment, this precious, expensive thing I’ve used to indulge myself in sin and wealth for a long time, and instead of selling it and making money off of it, I’m going to give it up to the one who forgives my sins.” In this metaphorical action, she takes this box that used to be the source of sin in her life and breaks it, signifying, “I’m not going back to that old life. I don’t need the alabaster box anymore, because I’m not going back to the sin. Jesus, I’m going to anoint you.”
Why? In this culture, to anoint someone with perfume was a sign of honor, respect, and dignity. It meant that person was almost at the level of royalty, somebody who should be respected. So she says, “This man can forgive sins, and I want to show him respect. My past actions weren’t respectful to my God, but I want to show my God a sign of respect now.” Not even caring what others would think, she breaks the box and anoints his feet, and by doing so she breaks ties to her old business and starts to identify herself with Christ instead.
A Scandalous Act
This act quickly becomes scandalous because of who she is. In this culture alone, it was scandalous to let your hair down in front of a man. You could not do that; you had to have your head covered. But she takes her covering off. She breaks the box on Jesus. She begins to cry, her tears fall on Jesus’ feet, and she takes her hair and washes his feet. Do you understand what kind of woman is doing this? This is the Pharisee’s home, and what is happening in his house is not going to make him happy, because he knows what kind of woman this is. He thinks, “Oh boy, how scandalous this woman is. She washes his feet with her hair? Her hair shouldn’t even be seen.” It was disgusting to their culture. To touch him with her hair would be seen as even more scandalous and bizarre behavior. It was unheard of. There was no precedent for it. But this is what she decides to do.
Foot washing was a servant’s job. When you came to someone’s home, their servant would come and wash your feet as a sign of respect. So when she does this task of washing Jesus’ feet, she is metaphorically saying, “I am your servant. Christ, I know you can forgive. I’ve heard about you forgiving sins. That man who had the palsy, whom they brought through the roof, you forgave his sins. I know you can forgive my sins. Jesus, I break my box. I leave my past behind me. I’m not going back, and I’m going to submit to you as your servant and wash your feet.” In doing so she says, “Jesus, I am your servant, and you are my master.”
Do we see how serious an action this is, and how dedicated this woman is to Christ? A lot of times we look at this and say, “Yeah, that was a thing that happened. That was interesting.” But we don’t understand the depth of what’s going on in this woman’s mind. She is fully selling herself out for Christ. She’s fully leaving all of her sins and saying, “Jesus, I’m going to follow you.” And we’re told in the end that she does faithfully follow Jesus.
The Pharisee’s Judgment
Obviously, the people around her didn’t quite understand what was going on. We see that in verse 39, as the Pharisee chimes in.
Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Luke 7:39
The Greek preposition here, where it says “he spake within himself,” could mean internally, as in he thought to himself, or it could mean he spoke to himself, as in he muttered it under his breath. It’s a little ambiguous, and it could be either. One way or the other, this man either thinks or mutters to himself, “If Jesus really was a prophet, if Jesus really was the Messiah, he would know this woman was a prostitute. He would know this woman is a lady of the night. He would not allow this woman to be near him, let alone touch him.”
Seeing this, instead of seeing the faith of the woman, he begins to think about Jesus in a different light: “Jesus is a sinner. He’s not a serious prophet. I don’t believe in him as the Messiah, because anybody who’s anybody religious wouldn’t even associate with this person.” He completely overlooks the act of submission to Christ and begins to judge both the woman and Jesus for their actions. Once again the Pharisee, as Pharisees do (compare Matthew 23:5, “all their works they do for to be seen of men”), cares more about appearances than about the sincerity of a walk with God. He thinks Jesus should have just said, “Go away. You’re dirty. You’re sinful. This isn’t your house. Get out of here.” But Jesus, as we’re told, perceives the man’s hypocrisy.
And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
Luke 7:40
It makes me sick the way this man talks. Did you catch that? Jesus says, “I have something to tell you,” and Simon says, “Master, say on.” In your mind you just said he’s not really a prophet. You doubt that Jesus is the Messiah, and yet you call him Master. The Pharisee is putting on a display of fakeness, of falsehood. He acts like he believes in Jesus for the sake of being associated with him, but he doesn’t believe.
Remember last time, when John’s disciples came? The Pharisees did the same thing. They were afraid to say they didn’t believe in John the Baptist, because the community liked him. This Pharisee is doing the exact same thing with Jesus: “Capernaum loves Jesus. I live in Capernaum, so I’m not going to say I don’t believe in Jesus. I’ll just be neutral. I’ll call him Master. I’ll recognize him as a teacher, but in my mind I have no faith. I’ll invite him to my house to get the publicity of being associated with him, and that’s that.” The woman washes his feet as his servant. She is literally treating Jesus as Master, in the most physical, literal sense. And this man just praises Jesus with his lips in hypocrisy.
Two Debtors
So Jesus speaks a parable to him, as he so often does.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Luke 7:41–42
Jesus gives the Pharisee a very simple question. If two people owe a man a debt, one owing him 500 days’ wages and the other 50 days’ wages, and the creditor decides to forgive them their debts, who do you think would love their former creditor more?
Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
Luke 7:43
Simon obviously gives the right answer: the one who is forgiven the most will love the forgiver the most. Now Jesus makes it clear what has just happened. The woman has come to the one who forgives and offered gratitude for his forgiveness. Jesus is trying to get Simon to understand the significance of this woman’s actions. She had a life before, which he is judging her for, but she has come to abandon that life for forgiveness. So Jesus says, “Doesn’t it make sense that this woman would do more drastic things for me, because I’ve forgiven her of more sins than you? You as a Pharisee have the sin of pride, but this woman’s whole life was filled with sin and indulgence and exploitation of all kinds. I’m going to have to forgive her more. Isn’t it natural that she would love me more?” In fact, this man Simon didn’t love Jesus at all.
Seest Thou This Woman?
We see Jesus compare the woman and the Pharisee in verses 44 through 46.
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Luke 7:44–46
Jesus begins to call out the Pharisee’s hypocrisy by contrasting his behavior with that of the repentant woman. He gives three examples.
No Water
In verse 44 he says, “thou gavest me no water for my feet.” You didn’t even give me water to wash my own feet. In the culture of that day, when you were a guest in someone’s house, they were supposed to have a servant wash your feet. At the bare minimum, as a sign of respect, you gave the guest a bowl of water to wash their own feet. But this Pharisee, who’s only going through the motions of inviting Jesus into his home, doesn’t care enough about the culture of his day to put out a bowl of water for Jesus to wash his own feet. Jesus says, “You didn’t even have the decency to put out a bowl of water for me to wash my dirty feet, but this woman came into your home, under your roof, and washed my feet with her own tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.” He tells him, “You are a hypocrite. You say I’m Master, but you haven’t treated me like one. You’ve treated me like somebody you don’t like, somebody who is not welcome in your home.”
No Kiss
He continues in verse 45: “Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.” You didn’t greet me with a kiss as is customary, but she is continually kissing my feet. In this culture, greeting someone with a kiss on the cheek was a sign of friendship or closeness. This Pharisee didn’t want to be a friend of Jesus. He didn’t want to be a companion of Jesus or an equal of Jesus. “He’s a religious teacher of the law. To greet Jesus with a kiss as a sign of friendship would be a sign of submission to him.” So, not wanting to lessen his authority in the community, he doesn’t greet Jesus in that customary way. But this woman is willing to kiss Jesus’ feet. How much more of a submissive posture is that than what Simon was supposed to do?
No Oil
Then verse 46 gives the third example: “My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.” Anointing someone’s head with oil was not a normal thing you would do, but it was a thing you would do for special guests, especially Pharisees. Anointing the head or feet with oil was a sign of high respect or honor. It would probably be the equivalent of the President of the United States coming to your house, somebody high in authority, and as a sign of respect to that authority, when they walked into your home, you would anoint their head with oil.
Jesus says, “You didn’t invite me to your home and anoint me with oil like you would your other Pharisee friends. If the leader of the Sanhedrin came here, you’d anoint him with oil. You’d show him respect. You’d show him his position of authority. But did you do that, Simon? No. You withheld it to protect your own position, to protect your own authority, and to make sure I knew when I came in that I am a lesser authority than you. But this woman who came in has anointed my feet with ointment.”
These three actions showed that Simon viewed himself as more important and more deserving of honor than Jesus. By not extending these honors to his special guest, he was protecting his own status. The Pharisee was saying it was dishonorable for Jesus to allow her to touch him and associate with him in this way, but Jesus points out accurately that the Pharisee has shown him no kindness and has actually dishonored him himself by not extending the cultural customs of the day. This woman had shown Jesus honor, but Simon purposefully did not.
So Jesus turns to Simon and says, “You are a hypocrite. You don’t like this woman because of her past, but this woman has honored me more than you have as a guest in your home. You invited me into your home as a prophet, but you don’t believe me to be one. You invited me into your home as someone esteemed in the community, but you didn’t give me the dignity someone of that position deserves. You are just going through the motions, and this woman is going through the actual heartfelt actions of faith.”
Thy Faith Hath Saved Thee
So what does Jesus do? He extends forgiveness to this woman in verses 47 through 50.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Luke 7:47–50
Because this woman who was such a sinner comes with repentance, Jesus does in fact forgive her sins. In so many words he tells her, “They don’t understand you. They don’t understand what you’ve done, but I do. Your faith has saved you.” Jesus sees this woman, and he sees an amazing faith, a faith that says, “I believe in you, and that you are enough to take what I used to be and make me something new.” She knew she was a sinner. She knew what she did was wrong. She knew she needed to change, and she went to the one who gives change. She submitted to him and his authority, showed him respect and honor, and showed faith in who the Messiah was. And because of her faith she was saved from her sins.
Of course, those sitting at the table begin to chatter about what just occurred. They don’t understand how Jesus could forgive sins. It’s not something previous prophets or messengers were allowed to do. So they mutter among themselves, “Who is this man who forgives sins? Who does he think he is?” Simon probably doesn’t believe it at all. He probably just doubles down on his doubt about whether Jesus is the Messiah. But Jesus saw the woman, and he says, “You know what? Your sins are forgiven. You want that new life? Take it. You can find it in me.”
The Women Who Followed
Turning to chapter 8, we see that she isn’t the only one who has this experience. Soon after this, other women begin to come to Jesus just as she did. Her actions lead others to Christ.
And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
Luke 8:1–3
We see a connection between what happens in this woman’s life and what happens in Jesus’ ministry. We’re given an example of what it looked like when women repented of their sins and decided to follow Christ. Before, we saw disciples who were men. Now we see followers of Christ who are women, who will help Jesus in his ministry. This woman set an example, and clearly other people in the community saw how Jesus changed her life. So we see three other women in the community who also give their lives to Christ. As Jesus continues to preach in various cities with his disciples, he gains more followers, and these women who join him will actually support his ministry financially. The three we are introduced to by name are Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna. Let’s look at them real quick.
Mary Magdalene
What do we know about Mary Magdalene? She was a woman who was possessed by seven demons. When Jesus cast them out, the miracle clearly changed her life, and Mary Magdalene will go as far as following Jesus to the foot of the cross.
Joanna
We also see that Joanna is saved. Her husband was a Nabataean; we know this because of his Nabataean name. Generally, Nabataeans didn’t belong in Israel at all. However, Josephus tells us that Herod married a Nabataean princess. The text also says her husband was Chuza, Herod’s steward, the man responsible for Herod’s household finances. So Chuza is likely an in-law of Herod Antipas, the very man who kills John the Baptist, and he would probably have been a member of the royal family of the Herod line.
So Joanna would help Jesus and fund his ministry with her royal wealth, which was tied to Herod himself. Talk about a risky business to be running as a relative of Herod. Herod is literally a few days away from killing Jesus’ cousin, and she’s deciding to fund his ministry. Boy, the women were all sold out for Christ, risking everything to serve him. She will faithfully continue to follow Jesus and will actually be among the women who first see the empty tomb. She will be there with the other Marys at the empty tomb and will report back to the disciples that Jesus is risen.
Susanna
Lastly, we have Susanna. Unfortunately, we don’t know anything about her other than her name, that Jesus changed her life, and that she too helped support Jesus and the disciples financially.
Forgiveness That Changes Us
To conclude, what we’ve learned from this passage is that forgiveness should change the way we love Jesus. The woman in Simon’s house understood what Simon did not. When you truly understand what Christ has forgiven, you cannot walk away unchanged. Her love was not an attempt to earn forgiveness. It was the response of a heart that knew how much she had already been forgiven. That is why this passage naturally leads into the women who began following Jesus through Galilee. Their lives too had been changed by him, and their response was to stay near him, serve him, and use what they had for his work. Forgiveness and grace should naturally lead to unwavering devotion to Christ.
The danger is that we can become like Simon the Pharisee. We can sit near Jesus. We can know the right answers to make people happy. We can maintain a religious appearance and still love Jesus very little, because we have forgotten the greatness of what he has done by forgiving us. But when we remember the debt Christ has forgiven, our love for him should deepen. The more clearly we understand his grace, the more willingly we should give him our worship, our loyalty, our resources, and our lives.
God wants you to know that forgiveness should change the way you love your God. So, how has forgiveness affected your life and your love of God? Is it a small love, or are you fully devoted to him?
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