Luke 7:36-50
Jesus Forgives a Sinful Woman
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 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 people 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 forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“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—as her great love has shown. But whoever 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.”
Romans 3:22-26
We Fall Short of the LORD
22 There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
We sin...So we need forgiveness...But how often a day or week do we think about needing forgiveness from God...We all fall short of the LORD, each and everyone of us...And we need to recognize this...
When Jesus was in Simon, the Pharisee's house, they were with a notorious sinner...Simon, in his thoughts, was pointing out to Jesus that if He truly were a Prophet, He would see the one who was crying for Him and who was washing His feet, and who was anointing Him -was a true sinner...The woman's sins were definitely many, and Jesus knows this...And so does the woman who sinned...She recognizes her sins...Her weeping and repenting and her actions toward Jesus showed Him that she knew she was a sinner, and she needed a Savior, and she knew that she needs forgiveness...
However, Simon appears to think that he is a righteous man...And he doesn't seem to recognize that he too, like the woman is a sinner...So Jesus tells Simon a Parable about sinning and needing forgiveness and being thankful of God's LOVE and His mercy and His grace...Jesus makes the point to Simon in His Parable that we all are sinners and fall short of our Father...We need to know and be aware of the fact, that we sin and have sinned...When we forget this we are like Simon and are judgmental and critical toward others...In looking down on other sinners, we forget to show love and forgiveness to others and the love toward our neighbors which Jesus wants us to do...Simon is in need of God as much as the notorious sinful woman...The sinful woman recognizes this, but Simon does not appear to recognize that he too is a sinner, and needs the gift of God's Grace...