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.
Two people in this passage are near Jesus, but they respond to Him very differently. Simon welcomes Him into his house and calls Him Master, while a woman known for her sin comes to His feet with tears and ointment. From the outside, Simon appears to be the respectable one. Yet Jesus sees a difference that appearances cannot explain: the woman comes in genuine faith and love, while the religious host doubts Him in his heart. I want you to see what forgiveness does to a person who truly understands it. God wants you to know that forgiveness should change the way you love Him.
Near Jesus, but Far Apart
Jesus has eaten with publicans and sinners, and now He accepts an invitation to eat with a Pharisee. He does not refuse to enter Simon’s home, any more than He refused to sit with people whose lives were openly sinful. But while He is at the table, a woman from the city hears where He is and comes carrying an alabaster box of ointment. Luke identifies her as a sinner, and her reputation will become the very thing Simon uses to judge what happens next:
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
This is not a casual expression of interest in a popular teacher. The woman is willing to come into this religious man’s house and show her devotion without protecting herself from what others might think. Anointing Jesus honors Him, and washing His feet places her in the position of a servant. She is turning away from her old life and identifying herself with Christ. Her actions say that He is her Master and she is His servant. She believes He can forgive her sins and make her something new, and she comes to the one who can give her that change.
Simon sees the same actions and draws the opposite conclusion. He reasons that if Jesus were a prophet, He would know what kind of woman is touching Him. Instead of noticing her repentance, Simon judges her by her past and judges Jesus for allowing her near Him. The very thing that shows her faith becomes, in his mind, a reason not to believe in Christ. He is more concerned with appearances than with the sincerity of her response to God. A woman is coming to abandon her sin, and the religious man is offended that Jesus receives her.
When Jesus tells Simon that He has something to say, Simon answers by calling Him Master. The contrast makes his hypocrisy plain. He speaks respectfully while inwardly doubting the one he addresses. The woman, meanwhile, does the work of a servant at Jesus’ feet. One offers the title without the submission; the other shows what submission actually looks like. We need to take that contrast seriously, because being associated with Jesus and using the right words about Him are not the same as trusting and honoring Him.
The Debt Neither Could Pay
Jesus answers Simon with a simple story. He does not begin by debating the woman’s reputation or defending the way she has entered the house. He gives Simon a question about forgiveness that Simon can answer for himself, and then shows him what that answer means for the woman in front of him:
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? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
Luke 7:41–43
One debt is ten times larger than the other, but neither debtor has anything to pay. The creditor forgives them both, and Simon recognizes that the one forgiven more will love more. That is the point he has missed about the woman. Her past is not an explanation for keeping her away from Christ. It helps explain the gratitude with which she comes to Him. She knows the greatness of her need and comes to the one who forgives. Simon can correctly judge the little story while failing to recognize the same truth unfolding at his own table.
Honor Shown in What We Do
Jesus now turns from the story to Simon’s conduct. The host has been watching the woman with disapproval, but Jesus asks him to look at her again and compare what she has done with what he himself has failed to do. Her love has taken a visible form, while Simon’s polite title has not been matched by kindness:
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
Simon has not even provided water for Jesus to wash His own feet, but the woman has washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair. He has withheld the greeting of friendship, while she has continually kissed Jesus’ feet. He has not shown the honor of anointing His head, but she has anointed His feet with ointment. Every comparison exposes the distance between Simon’s appearance of respect and the woman’s heartfelt devotion. The person he regards as dishonorable has honored Jesus more than he has, under his own roof.
Simon wants to protect his own standing and authority, but the woman is willing to take the lowest place in serving Christ. She does not need to look important beside Him. She needs the forgiveness and new life He gives. That is why her actions cannot be understood merely as strange behavior at a dinner. They are an expression of faith. The question is not which person has the better reputation in the community, but which has come to Jesus with a heart ready to submit to Him. He sees what Simon overlooks and speaks directly to the woman’s need:
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
Forgiveness Becomes Devotion
Jesus does not pretend that her sins are few. He acknowledges that they are many and declares them forgiven. The other guests wonder who He is to forgive sins, but their questions do not take away the peace He gives her. She has come believing that He is enough to take what she used to be and make her new. She knows she is a sinner, knows she needs to change, and submits herself to His authority. Jesus makes clear that her faith has saved her. Her love is not the price she pays for salvation; it shows the reality of her trust in the one who saves.
Luke then shows us that this woman is not the only one whose life is changed by Jesus. As He travels through cities and villages preaching the kingdom of God, women who have received His help follow Him and support His ministry. Mary Magdalene has been delivered from seven demons and will continue following Him even to the cross. Joanna and Susanna also give themselves and their resources to His work. Luke says little about Susanna, but what he does tell us is significant: these women use what they have to serve Christ rather than keeping their blessings entirely for themselves.
That is the connection between forgiveness and the life that follows it. Grace does not leave us where we were, merely pleased that a burden has been removed. These women stay near Jesus, serve Him, and help carry on His work. The woman in Simon’s house gives us an example of a heart surrendered to Him, and the women who follow show that devotion continuing in practical service. What He has done for them changes what they do with their lives. Forgiveness and grace should naturally lead to unwavering devotion to Christ.
The danger for us is becoming like Simon. We can sit near Jesus, know what to say, and maintain a religious appearance while loving Him very little. We may judge someone else’s past and fail to recognize the grace that is changing that person, or forget how much grace we need ourselves. The answer is not to put on a greater display, but to remember the debt Christ has forgiven. The more clearly we understand His grace, the more willingly we should give Him our worship, loyalty, resources, and lives.
So how has forgiveness affected your life and your love of God? Has it become something you speak about without allowing it to change you, or has it brought you to the feet of Christ in gratitude and submission? The woman did not merely call Him Master. She honored Him as her Master, and He sent her away in peace. God wants you to know that forgiveness should change the way you love your God. Is it a small love, or are you fully devoted to Him?
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