We come now really to the last section of chapter 7 in the book of Luke but with how I want to exposit the text we will look at this in 2 studies. In this study we are going to look at the act of the woman that we see as a sinner and in the next study we will look in detail of the parable that Jesus tells toward this Pharisee that has invited Jesus to his house. In the flow of our text we know that Jesus had been speaking on the greatness of John the Baptist and then we looked at the reaction from the people. Most of the people had a positive response to what Jesus was speaking about concerning John because they too accepted John’s message and even was baptized by John. But the Pharisees as usual was not happy about any of that because they had rejected John and his message of repentance.
Jesus showed how these unsatisfied people that was mostly the religious leaders were really never going to be satisfied because the message of repentance was not in their theology or soteriology. They were more interested in looking good instead of actually being holy. In fact they thought themselves to be holy and righteous. We have seen their attitude often as we have studied in Luke. Luke 5:29-32 gives us a good look at this, read with me there: it says And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
The Pharisees were in this for the show and were never interested in reaching the lost. They only looked for people to become like them that fit their social and economical status. As we will see in this study and several other times throughout our study of Luke, even though the Pharisees did not agree with Jesus or like Him in so many ways, they still looked to have status with Jesus simply because He was the popular teacher that everyone seemed to love. Let’s get a better view of this as we look now at our first point.
1.A Pharisee invites Jesus to dinner.
Look with me at Luke 7:36 Now one of the Pharisees was asking Him to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When we first look at this verse it seems to be a good thing that we see a Pharisee inviting Jesus to eat with him. But we must keep in mind that the Pharisee’s agenda at this point in Jesus’ ministry was never to connect with Jesus or His teachings. Some people try to argue of what about Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, because he said in John 3:2b “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
This looks like that the Pharisees actually believe Jesus is from God at least as a teacher and miracle worker. The fact is no one ever could deny that Jesus’ miracles and teaching was beyond normal, He no doubt was someone that possessed supernatural power like no one had ever seen. Also we have to remember that this conversation with Nicodemus happened early in Jesus’ ministry. So the events of Luke 7 are easily anywhere from 10 months to a year and a couple of months from that time with Nicodemus. At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry it may be true that even the Pharisees were in somewhat of an agreement that Jesus had to be from God because of what He had been doing in those early months that is recorded in John chapters 1 through 4.
By this point in Jesus’ ministry a lot has happened so the agenda to accuse and find fault in Jesus was clear from the Pharisees so often seen in Scripture. We looked at this even in our last chapter. Luke 6:7 says And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He heals on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.
Matthew 12:14 says But going out, the Pharisees took counsel together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
In similar words Mark 3:6 says And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel together with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
Mark 8:11 records And the Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.
There is so many more proofs that show that the longer we get into Jesus’ ministry the deeper the hatred and accusations come from the Pharisees. The only known Pharisee in Jesus’ time that actually appears as if he eventually decided to follow Jesus was Nicodemus but that was not until later on and even after Jesus’ death and resurrection. In fact history tells us that he lost his position as Pharisee, kicked out of the Sanhedrin and lived in poverty after his confession of following Jesus. This is the cost of following Christ.
To get back to our point though, it is clear that this Pharisee was not inviting Jesus over for the right reason and that will be more evident as we look at how he reacts to the woman we will see in our next point. So Jesus goes with this Pharisee even though He knew that his motives were not good. Why did Jesus do this? To teach a lesson once again and this time to a group of Pharisees that had purposely invited him to this dinner. We remember that when people have dinner feasts they invited several people and this would give Jesus the opportunity to teach a lesson once again that we will look deeper into in our next study but for now let’s look at our next point.
2.A sinful woman recognizes her sinfulness.
Look with me at Luke 7:37-38 And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. And when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 And standing behind Him at His feet, crying, she began to wet His feet with her tears. And she kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. It is clear by what we see here that this woman knew who she was and who’s presence she was in. We begin at a look at who this woman is. Many people get confused that this is Mary Magdalene because of her being mentioned in the group of women that is following Jesus listed in Luke 8:2. But if you look at next verse as well you see other women listed also. Look with me at Luke 8:2-3 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.
So no doubt she is following Jesus around just like many other people not listed here. She could have been in a close communication with the 12 but in no way can we say that she is the woman of Luke 7:37-38. Some people try to say that this is Mary of Bethany or otherwise known as the sister of Lazarus because of what John 11:1-2 says, read along with me: Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
Again you can not place this in the chronological or geographic context of Luke 7:37-38. In fact we read the account of Mary of Bethany doing this in John 12. When John wrote this he was simply stating that she was the one that did this as he shows in the next chapter. In fact this took place in the last week of Jesus’ life before His crucifixion and at the house of Simon the leper not a Pharisee’s house as we see in Luke 7 so this is not either of these Mary’s. So who is this woman? Let’s look at the text again and see what it says. Luke 7:37a says And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner.
That is all the information we have which is that this is a sinful woman in the city who was a sinner. Sometimes we try to overcomplicate the simplest things and build theories that goes into movies and shows. We tend to look at that instead of the meaning and purpose of what is happening here. This woman was a sinner just like we all are. But this indication of her being a sinner here is normal terminology that points to her being a prostitute. The word sinner can be applied to all of us and any person other than our Lord from the pages of Scripture but this indicates that she was a sinner of most likely a specific type. Now I do not want to imply something that is not here so we must move along to see this woman’s actions.
Luke 7:38 says And standing behind Him at His feet, crying, she began to wet His feet with her tears. And she kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.
To us this seems rather odd but in that time it was not uncommon for a person to come into a house and greeted with someone that would wash their feet. Obviously they had dirty roads and usually open ended shoes of some sort so their feet were nasty. The common courtesy was to wash someone’s feet. We know that Jesus did this as an example to the disciples of a how to have a servant-leader attitude. It was usually a servants duty to wash the guests feet but this time as we will see in our next study that this did not happen with Jesus. His feet were dirty and in an act of compassion and adoration we see this woman come into a house where she would not have been welcomed, at least not openly, and then starts to wash Jesus’ feet.
This woman had no access to water so therefore she used her own tears. This act of sobbing as she approaches Jesus shows her recognition of her sinfulness as she knows that she is in the presence of the Son of God. Because of the spontaneous act she doesn’t have a towel so she let’s down her hair to wipe off Jesus’ feet. This again was something that women did not do. To let down the hair was a symbol of shame in a sense but this woman knew that she was to be forgiven as she recognizes her sinfulness as she begins to wash and wipe Jesus’ feet. Then she goes a step further and was kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.
Now it was common for woman to wear perfume of some sort but not to carry it around. This is another reason many associate her sinner status to prostituting. The prostitute would have that readily available as an act of luring her clients. Here though she pours out her perfume on His feet in an honorable act of reverence to the Lord.
This recognition of her sinfulness will be seen even more as we look at our next study. But to close I want to look at our last verse that really ties us to what will be why Jesus goes into the parable he speaks in the next section. Look with me at Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, saying, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
This is a derogatory statement from the standpoint of once again accusing Jesus of not knowing who this woman was and therefore He is in no way a prophet of God. This Pharisee thought he had the proof that he was hoping for to accuse Jesus but as we will see, it is he that is condemned not only for his hypocrisy but also for his slander towards a woman that had shown a repentance from her sinfulness. This will be what we dive into next time to finish up chapter 7 of Luke.
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