In His Name Devotionals
THE SINFUL WOMAN
In His Name Devotionals
THE SINFUL WOMAN
“There I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Luke 7:47)
This picture of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50 gives us a clear insight into the mind of Christ and teaches us so much about love and forgiveness.
Jesus had been invited to the house of Simon, a Pharisee, for dinner. While he was having dinner, a “woman who had lived sinful life in that town” came into the house, stood behind Jesus at His feet weeping, wet His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, and poured perfume on them. The Pharisees in attendance were astounded that He allowed this woman to touch Him. They concluded that Jesus was obviously not a prophet, because a prophet would have known that this woman was a sinner and thus, would not have allowed her to touch Him. Jesus knew their thoughts, of course, and used the opportunity to teach them an important lesson. He presented Simon, His host, a question. Suppose two men owned money to a moneylender. One man owed him a great del of money; the other only a small amount. Neither of the men, however, had the money to repay the moneylender, so he canceled the debts of both men. “Now which of the men, Simon, do you suppose will love him more?” Simon correctly responded, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
Then, turning toward the woman, Jesus pointed out to Simon that although He had not provided water for His feet, the woman had washed His feet with her tears. He noted that although Simon did not greet Him with a kiss, the woman had kissed His feet and poured perfume on them. Jesus then really shocked His proud Pharisee audience when He said “her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” He then told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:47-50).
We can learn a number of lessons from this picture of Jesus. First, we see the importance that Jesus places upon love, how He wants us to love Him, and how He links love and forgiveness. Second, we see the risk we run when we judge others. Jesus also said that you recognize a tree by the fruit it bears (Matt. 7:17). We should not forget, however, that even a seemingly barren tree can sometimes begin to bear good fruit. Also we should remember that we are unable to see into a heart as Jesus could. And finally, we should note that Jesus readily accepted the sinful woman’s adoration and worship even though He had not specified that she should do any of the things that she did to show her love for Him. This should make us hesitant to criticize others who may choose to show their love for Christ in a way other than that which we may choose, or even in a way we may not understand. Sincere love can obviously be expressed in many different ways.
We no doubt come away from this story identifying more with the sinful woman than with Simon, the “religious” Pharisee. Realizing that we have been forgiven much; let us love much.
