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Luke 7:36-8:3 (New International Version)

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."

40Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.

41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

50Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."


We often look at this passage and praise the actions of the woman without realizing something; this is really off-the-wall stuff that she is doing. Her actions are way out of line, and probably seemed in very poor taste. She had no respect for the boundaries of the day, which were 1) the common moral code (remember, "sinful woman") 2) she let her down (kind of close to a woman running around topless today) 3) she's touching a man to whom she is not married (kind of like kissing a random stranger on the lips in today's cultural rulebook). So, why is this woman praised by Jesus, forgiven, and accepted by her? Because, He is now, was then, and will always be, more concerned with your heart than your actions. Her heart was in the right place, even if her actions were a bit bonkers. Also, Jesus wasn't then, isn't now, and I don't think ever will be concerned with cultural boundaries. He washed feet. He at one point spit in mud, and rubbed it in someone's eye(Mark 8:23 check it out!). He touched lepers. Our Jesus is very up close and personal, and not at all about personal boundaries. What a great thing for us - we the imperfect, are allowed to touch the perfect. Flawed can be with flawless. Why? In one word, grace. He has forgiven us, done deal. We are now given VIP full access.

Questions to Consider

1) Have you ever been more concerned about someone's actions than their heart? Why?

2) How have you experienced Jesus' touch in your life? Have you attempted to get close to Him?

3) How have you extended His welcome to all? Have you excluded anyone?

Check Your Source

Galatians 1:11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.

At my old office, whenever I was trying to healthy, I would always hit up our Coke machine for a bottle of water. My senior pastor at that time (I was a youth director) would tell me that I was better off drinking the well water from the fountain. I thought that he was just being a curmudgeon, telling me that I was wasting money. After all, this was bottled water - the safest of the safe - healthiest of the healthy. What could be better for a parched palate, right? I blew him off, and went to the machine, plunked down my dollar, and self-righteously drank my pure Dasani water - knowing that I was right. Sad to say, I was dead-wrong, and Pastor Smith, you were right. Dasani is bottled from Philadelphia tap water. I think well water from Palmyra, PA was probably a bit more on the pure side, or at least closer to the spring water image that I had in my mind.

Recently in my church, I've been convicted of the gospel that I preach. In the past six months I've been getting to know my neighbors in town (I live in a parsonage right next door to my church). I was sure that I was a good neighbor, and that these neighbors of mine, most of whom attend no church, would feel welcome at my church.What I've come to realize is that very few of my neighbors come to my church, fewer still are interested in coming. I wondered why that was. Most people find the personage of Jesus compelling in every way. Most people think that we in the church do some good things. I figured that there should be a mild interest in visiting a church literally a few blocks from their door. As it turns out, from my informal polling, it has nothing to do with my doctrine, service style, or programming. Most of my neighbors don't feel that they dress well enough for my Sunday service, some of them don't feel welcome (don't think that they're good enough for church), others still don't care for all of the rules that they assumed will be placed on them. I was deeply saddened. That's not the gospel that I want to preach. I want to preach that Jesus loves them all, regardless of clothes, or lifestyle. I want them to know that they are all welcome, as Jesus died for all of us. I pray that they will feel this. Any other gospel I preach does not come from Jesus, it comes from a different source. I pray that as Jesus taught us to love our neighbor, we will be good neighbors.

Questions to Consider?

1.Have you ever added anything to the gospel?

2.Where did you get your version of the gospel?

3.Who have you recently shared the gospel with?