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Luke 7:36-50 - 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."

We’re in the eighth week of our series Meeting Jesus, where we’re looking at different interactions that people had with Jesus in the gospels, in order to understand more about what it means to know and follow Jesus. Today’s passage includes an incredible story about an interaction that takes place between Jesus, a Pharisee named Simon, and a woman who had lived a sinful life. I want to look at what we learn about knowing and following Jesus by taking a closer look at the three main characters – Simon the Pharisee, the unnamed woman who had lived a sinful life, and Jesus.

Pharisee is from the Hebrew word Parah – to separate – and they were the religious leaders of Israel. The Pharisees’ chief concern, as you can gather from their name, was that the Jewish people would be separate from pagan influences, pure and faithful to God’s law. The reason for this focus on purity during the time of Jesus was so Israel could maintain their Jewish identity and hopefully achieve freedom from the Roman oppression. They believed that the Messiah, who would liberate the Jewish people from their Roman oppressors, would not come until the people were pure. So, they steadfastly kept all of God’s rules, and even added more in order to help the Jewish people maintain their purity. The laws were boundary markers, keeping pure people in and impure people out. You can imagine, with such a focus on purity, what kind of people they would not be happy with. They weren’t happy with the Jews who broke God’s laws, because they were preventing the Messiah from coming and the Jews from achieving freedom. So, their goals were admirable – purity, freedom, faithfulness to God – but it caused them to behave in ways which caused Jesus to criticize them in many ways. They used guilt and shame and condemnation in order to get people to repent.