Luke 7:36-50
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 When 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, 38 and 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.
39 When 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.”
40 Jesus 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, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then 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. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Forgiveness is a very important virtue for us to believe in throughout our entire lives...You have the ability to forgive someone who has hurt or harmed you...But forgiving someone even just one time is a difficult task for many people of the world...Scripture tells us these things about forgiveness: We should others, not seven times, but seventy-seven times...Our LORD is forgiving and good, abounding in LOVE to all who calls to Him...And when we stand praying, if we hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that our Father in heaven may forgive us of our sins...If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness...If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O LORD, who could stand?...But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared...If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness...For God will forgive our wickedness and will remember our sins no more...Do not judge, and you will not be judged...Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned...Forgive, and you will be forgiven... Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’?...But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you...
When Jesus tells us we need to forgive others so that our Father in heaven may forgive us of our sins, we see the importance of forgiving and how it impacts God and Heaven and the one we have not forgiven yet...Because more than almost anything we want God to forgive us personally...
So there is One who can forgive all our sins...He is the One when we do something wrong in the world it is God's Human Laws of Right and Wrong (God's Moral Laws) we have broken, and God has given Jesus the authority to forgive us of our sins and the breaking of His Moral Laws...Jesus in the gospels, regularly and commonly, went around forgiving people...An interesting point about Jesus forgiving people in the gospels, He never went and found the injured party who had been harmed by that person's sin...It was like He was taking the place of the one who had been sinned against and harmed or He was actually the One sinned against by the ones He was forgiving...So He did not go and search out and find the third party who had been sinned, He just forgave the sinner He was talking to...But regardless, it was a common practice of Jesus to be talking to someone and forgive them of their sins...Another point on Jesus' forgiveness of sins, He tells us that He came to earth for sinners and for His Savior Abilities...He said He did not call come to call on the righteous...So Jesus only saves sinners, and by making this statement we can believe that all of us are sinners and that we all fall short of the Glory of God...So we as men and women must recognize and confess we are sinners so we can be saved by the One who came to earth for sinners...By knowing we are sinners, we can see the importance of our past sins and the Great Importance of needing a Savior and the need we personally have for Him...We see this in the Parable of Jesus Being Anointed by the Sinful Woman in Simon the Pharisee's house...Simon did not see why he might need forgiveness...But the sinful woman knew how desperately she needed the forgiveness Jesus had to offer her...So Jesus tells Simon a story of how one who is forgiven little, loves little...This statement shows us a Great Forgiveness Truth: We will love God to the degree that we recognize and know the magnitude of our sins and the Immensity of God’s Grace to forgive us of our sins...The sinful woman saw the importance of being forgiven, while Simon did not see a reason to be forgiven...The sinning woman could love God very much, while Simon could only love a little...So let us know and admit and confess we are sinners and that we are in need to touch the True Savior, the One who gives us Salvation...
Jesus forgave a paralyzed man, and a Samaritan woman at the well, and the only reason I can think of why He would do this, is that He is the Anointed One, the One Who Was to come from the Old Testament, because only God and the Anointed One can forgive sins in an immoral fallen world where men and women need to be forgiven...God has given His Son the Power to forgive because we are wicked and need a Savior, to help us with our sins...God wants us to treat others like we treat ourselves, and so He has given Jesus the authority to forgive mankind, so we may love our neighbors the Way God wants us to...
Jesus wants us to love God and to love neighbor if we are to ever to get our world in harmony and live together in a loving fellowship...Jesus' common and regular and ordinary acts and teachings about forgiveness show us that He is More than a Teacher, and more than a Rabbi...It helps show us that Jesus is Divine...His acts, His Teachings and His forgiving us are Absolute and He has the Authority from His Father...So He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the Only Way to God...The unbeliever can say that Jesus just told people they were forgiven of their sins out of Him being a Nice Rabbi or a Rabbi in general, which He was, but in the Jewish Community Only God could forgive sins...The Pharisees and teachers of the law who watched Jesus very often thought to themselves, why does This Fellow talk like that?...He’s blaspheming!...Who can forgive sins but God alone...But He is the One who committed no sin, and no deceit was ever found in His mouth...The unbeliever must have a hard time explaining how a Man just out of the blue can say I forgive you of your sins (who would even think to say something like this)...The Pharisees and teachers of the law could not understand Him forgiving others of their sins...Why do you think He went around forgiving others?...
If we want to be morally right with God we need salvation from the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life...No one gets to God except through Him...Let us be forgiven and forgive and be Perfect like He is Perfect...