One Sinful Woman Series

“ONE SINFUL WOMAN” Luke 7:36-50

CWBC – 1/27/19

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Casey Hathaway – 3 yr.-old boy. Playing w/ 2 other children in his grandmother’s NC backyard when he wandered away by himself. He was lost for 2 days until a search & rescue team found him in the woods about a quarter of a mile away from where he disappeared. Bad weather, cold temperatures, & treacherous terrain hampered the search efforts, but the searchers persisted until Capt. Shane Grier of the county emergency medical services found him tangled up in some briers. What a joyful moment when one lost child was found!!!

Reminds me of what Jesus said in Luke 15 – “There is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents” (v. 10). Love the way The Message puts it: “…That’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”

EXPLANATION – Open your Bible or your Bible app to Luke 7:36-50 (page 864 in pew Bible). Look at the 2 main characters in this story: THE UNNAMED, SINFUL WOMAN, & SIMON, THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS PHARISEE.

Simon was the name of this Pharisee who invited Jesus to his home to have dinner. Don’t know details about why he invited Jesus to come to his home. What we do know is that he was rude to Jesus in that he didn’t extend to Him the common courtesies normally afforded to guests in the home – didn’t wash His feet, didn’t greet Him w/ a kiss, didn’t offer Him any refreshing oil after travelling in the hot sun – all normal courtesies given to a guest in one’s home.

Another thing we do know about Simon is that he wasn’t sure Jesus was a prophet, much less the promised Messiah – v. 39.

Best speculation about why Simon invited Jesus to his home is that he may have done it b/c he enjoyed the company of celebrities, & had heard so much about Jesus that he wanted to meet & talk w/ Him on an informal & friendly basis. May have wanted to impress his colleagues & his community by having this celebrity in his home. It was common in that day for a rich person to allow the public to stand around the open courtyard of the home to listen in on the discussions happening there, especially if there was a celebrity or dignitary who was the chief guest in the home.

Or it may have been out of hostility that Simon invited Jesus. G. Campbell Morgan wrote that Simon invited Jesus into his home to see if could catch Him doing something that he could seize upon. And, sure enough, Jesus did. He let a sinful woman touch Him, something a prophet was not “supposed” to do.

Then we have the unnamed woman. She was known in the town as being a sinful woman, probably a well-known local prostitute. Everything she did in this encounter w/ Jesus was totally & completely & amazingly scandalous, which is what makes this story so powerful & so poignant.

- She came from the slums to the suburbs. She represented the red light district; he represented the country club crowd.

- She barged into the home as an uninvited guest.

- She touched Jesus & cried her tears onto His feet.

- She loosened & unwound her hair – forbidden in public.

- She gave up her most prized possession – the alabaster jar of perfume.

She was deep in sin – He was deep in his own self-righteousness.

She was desperate for forgiveness, & knew it – He was desperate for forgiveness, too, but he didn’t know it.

- 2 Cor. 4:4 tells us that Satan has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel.

- At this point in his life, Simon was still blind to the Light of the Gospel that was standing right in front of him.

She was determined to see Jesus – He was determined to look good to others.

APPLICATION – This sinful woman gives us a beautiful picture of what it takes to come to Jesus & be saved.

- This is what every person needs to do to be saved. Some of us have already done this. Some of us need to do this today.

- This is what you “1” needs to do to be saved.

- So encouraging, & even convicting when some of you send me texts or tell me that you’ve witnessed to your “1.” Had someone tell me this past week that their “1” gave his life to Christ at a retreat, so now they’re going after another “1.” Convicts me & keeps m on my toes in the area of personal witnessing in my life! Keep it up!