Do You See This Woman?
Luke 7:36-50 (Part 1)

Baxter T. Exum (#1784)
Four Lakes Church of Christ
Madison, Wisconsin
May 18, 2025

Good morning and welcome to the Four Lakes Church of Christ! We are glad to have you with us this morning, and if you are visiting with us today (either here in person or online or on the phone), we’d like to ask that you fill out a visitor card – either online or on a card from the pew in front of you. And we also invite you to pass along any questions or prayer concerns in this way as well. Concerning our schedule, let’s remember we are meeting out back for a cookout after worship this morning. And even if you did not bring anything, come anyway. We would love to have you join us! We are looking forward to being together for some bonus fellowship this afternoon.

We are here this morning to share the good news that God loves us and sent his only Son to this earth to save us,  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” This is the good news, that Jesus died on the cross in our place, he was buried, and he was raised up on the third day. We obey this good news by believing it, by turning away from sin, by confessing Jesus as the Son of God, and by allowing ourselves to be buried with the Lord in baptism, an immersion in water for the forgiveness of our sins. At this point, we are born into God’s family, and the Christian life begins. And as our custom has been, we are sharing some updates concerning what this actually looks like, and we start today with some news from the North Marshall congregation in Calvert City, Kentucky. They posted this week and they say, “We rejoice with Ava Ruth Boyd who was also baptized into Christ for the remission of sins last week at home!”

This next update comes to us from Chicharito Jose in Nairobi, Kenya. He says, “Praise God, four new souls were added in the church at the Mosa church of Christ at Kitui County. Praise be to God as you help me to welcome them in this kingdom of God.”

This next one comes to us from Benin, a nation in west Africa – Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria – here is this man being baptized beside a barge at a makeshift dock in the Atlantic Ocean. Some of you know French, so I’ll include the original up here, but as translated by Facebook, they say that, “ROMARIC GABIN M. G. is a young Student at the Abomey Calavi University Campus in Benin. He understood that in order to be an heir of God you must first be his son. His determination to get it baptized this May 11, 2025, is flawless. He listened to the Gospel of Christ, he was crucified, he repented and after confessing Christ as the Son of God, he was baptized on the field without delay. Acts 22:16. Remember him in your prayers.”

There are many others, but I’ll close with one more, this one coming to us from Ray Reynolds in Summerville, Alabama. He says that there is, “Nothing better than watching two precious souls surrender to Jesus and be immersed for the remission of sins! Victor and Karla are such a wonderful young couple. We’ve been studying for the past three weeks and they’ll be married on Monday. What a way to begin their marriage in covenant with God and each other. God is good!!!” Amen to that! And we share this as our invitation: If you are ready to obey the gospel, and if we can help with that in any way, we invite you to get in touch. You can send a message to info@fourlakeschurch.org, you can give me a call or send a text to 608-224-0274, or you can simply pull me aside after worship this morning, and we would love to help in any way possible.

Over the past two weeks, we have been looking at “America’s Favorite Verse,” where Jesus says, “Do not judge,” a phrase that is often taken out of context. I’d like to continue with a few more lessons in this first little section in Matthew 7, but last week I said that we’d be taking a slight detour as we consider “a case study in judging.” This morning, then, I want to invite you to be turning with me to an interesting passage in Luke 7. It’s a passage we’ve studied before, and it’s one of my favorite scenes from the life of Jesus – it’s the account of that time when Jesus was invited to dinner in the home of a prominent Pharisee, but a sinful woman comes in and starts washing his feet with her tears. But the account illustrates what it means to judge both improperly and properly. We will get to this in just a moment.

Before we dig in to Luke 7, however, I’d like to note, first of all, that the account in Luke 7 is almost certainly different from three other somewhat similar accounts in Matthew, Mark, and John. And I need to make note of this, because it’s easy to get these mixed up. What helps is to look at this in a Harmony of the Gospels. I have recommended this book many times through the years. If I’m ever stranded on an island, I’d like a copy of the Bible, a concordance, and a Harmony of the Gospels. As you can see, I’m putting a chart up here with some of the similarities and differences between these accounts. Basically, what happens in Luke takes place somewhere in the middle of Jesus’ ministry, and the other three refer to a separate event that happens down near Jerusalem on the week of the crucifixion. But they are similar. Both meals are hosted by a Simon (Simon the Leper vs. Simon the Pharisee). Both scenarios involve a woman anointing Jesus with something. Both scenarios involve somebody objecting (the disciples as opposed to a leading Pharisee). We won’t dig into this any further, but let’s just be aware, going into this, that we are dealing with an account that is separate from these others.

Secondly, though, I also want us to notice that much of Jesus’ ministry in Luke revolves around food, and I love that! But throughout the book of Luke, Jesus is eating with people. It’s so common, in fact, that it leads to an accusation from his enemies. In Luke 7:34, Jesus says (referring to himself) that, “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” So, Jesus always seems to be eating with people, even to the point that they use it against him. And this comes, by the way, just a few verses before the passage that we will consider today. And I love that this comes on a day when we plan on eating together as a congregation! Jesus loves getting together to share a meal, and so do we!

So, let’s jump right into it by looking together at Luke 7:36-50,

36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 And 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 vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “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.”

40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”  41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  42 “When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”   43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  45 “You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.  46 “You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.  47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”   48 Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”  49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”  50 And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

This morning, then, we come to a passage where we have a short parable, but it’s a parable that’s spoken into a situation involving real, live people. The parable has a purpose, and it’s tied to JUDGING. And today, we’ll be focusing in on verses 36-40. Simon, a Pharisee, apparently invites Jesus into his home, not for friendship, but apparently for the purpose of finding fault. Simon, in fact, has already made up his mind. And I say this because of a progression we see in the book of Luke. Back in Luke 5, the Pharisees start thinking that Jesus is blaspheming, because he’s talking about forgiving sins. They are suspicious, and then we come to the passage right before this one. Just a few verses earlier, in Luke 7:30, Jesus is discussing John the Baptist, and he says that, “...the Pharisees and the lawyers [had] rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.” At this point, then, the Pharisees were already locked in on this; they’re just gathering evidence for a trial of some kind. For the most part, they are no longer open-minded, but they have already made a decision. They have judged Jesus as not being a prophet. And Simon is one of these guys. I want us to notice how Luke emphasizes this. In verses 36-37, Simon is referred to as a “Pharisee” not once, not twice, but three times: Pharisee, Pharisee, Pharisee. As we just learned, in the passage Stuart read for us, because Jesus eats and drinks (like a normal human being), they have accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Jesus, then, can do nothing right, and in this context, Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus into his home for a meal. But something completely shocking happens during that meal! A sinful woman shows up with an alabaster vial of perfume, she’s sobbing, and she washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. Today, this would have been a whip-out-your-phone-and-record-it moment. We’ve seen those videos of somebody going berserk on a plane? We’ve seen the videos of somebody stripping down completely going through airport security? We’ve seen the videos of embarrassing behavior? This is it!

This morning, I’d like for us to take a look at SIMON’S ASSESSMENT OF THIS WOMAN (Simon’s judgment of this woman), and next week I’d like for us to take a moment to really think about the LORD’S ASSESSMENT OF THIS WOMAN.

Today, though, let’s focus in on SIMON’S ASSESSMENT OF THIS WOMAN. So again, we start with Simon the Pharisee. The Pharisees were a sect of the Jews. And we need to understand that they did not set out to be self-righteous jerks. No, they started with the best of intentions. The Pharisees got started in those years between the testaments when God’s people were not doing well, and the Pharisees figured (based on Deuteronomy 28) that they were being punished for ignoring God’s Law. And there is some historical basis for this – the Assyrian Captivity in 721 BC, as well as the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BC. God punished the people for ignoring the Law. So, when things weren’t going well, the Pharisees did the best they could to “Make Israel Great Again,” and they did that by putting a renewed focus on the Law, “We will follow the Law of Moses.” And over time, they became separated from the rest of the people. That’s what the word Pharisee means, “the separated ones.” They were different. They were separate. They thought that sin could actually be transferred through physical touch. In fact, when they walked down the street, the Pharisees would actually pick up their robes so that they wouldn’t accidentally brush up against something or someone unclean and end up contaminated themselves. And there is a touch of this in the Law – staying away from lepers, not touching the dead, and so on.

However, over time, the Pharisees focused in so intently on certain aspects of the Law that they missed the big picture. Their hearts weren’t in it. But to be extra super duper sure they didn’t violate the Law, they made these hedges or fences around the Law (their traditions), and they enforced their traditions as if they were the Law. I do find it interesting that Jesus never condemns them for following the Law too closely. He never condemns them for excessive law-keeping. And yet, I’ve found that when people call us Pharisees today, that’s their accusation (that we are too concerned about the Law); but, Jesus never condemns them for that. What he condemns them for is hypocrisy, saying one thing and doing another. He condemns them for missing the point. And part of missing the point is that they were so separated from anything remotely sinful that they could hardly even exist in society. They were so separated that they couldn’t love, which is the main point of the Law: 1.) Love God, and 2.) Love your neighbor. They missed this!

Well, these people hear about Jesus, and they want to know more. Ultimately, though, they don’t like what they hear, and so they start making a case against Jesus. And based on what happens in Luke 7, I think that’s what is happening here. We find out in that second paragraph that Simon has intentionally held back from doing what any host would do for any guest. We will focus on this a bit more next week, because the woman does what Simon refuses to do – he invites Jesus into his home, but he refuses to wash his feet with water, he refuses to kiss him as a standard greeting when he comes in, and he refuses to anoint the Lord’s head with oil (also a standard practice back then). Today, here in Wisconsin, I might compare it to offering to take someone’s coat in the winter. If you come over to our house in January, chances are I would either offer to take your coat, or I would at least tell you where you can put it. Imagine, though, that you come into my home in January, and I allow you to wear your hat, and coat, and gloves all through dinner! Imagine you being bundled up at our dining room table. If I allow that to happen, I would be making a statement. Nobody is so socially dense as to miss this. It must be intentional. Well, so also with Simon’s behavior here. He’s making a point. We might compare it to extending our hand for a handshake, and the other person sees our extended hand and ignores it. Has that ever happened to you? Awkward! But it’s intentional. Or we might imagine someone walking in on a gathering and saying “Hello” to everyone but you. Also awkward, but it’s obviously intentional – it’s obvious to Jesus, but we assume that it must have been obvious to the other guests as well. Simon seems to be making a point of not doing for Jesus what anyone would have done for any guest.

Well, Simon throws this party for the purpose of making a case against the Lord, he refuses to offer the most basic of social gestures, but despite being publicly humiliated by the lack of greeting, Jesus (in verse 36), “enters the Pharisee’s house and reclines at the table.” He’s not welcome, but Jesus makes himself at home. By the way, many of us would never have made it to the table, in my opinion. If I’m dissed like this, there’s a chance I say, “Forget it,” and leave. Jesus, though, has come to save sinners, and ironically, Simon is one of those sinners. Let’s not forget that. He’s come to save not only the “obvious” sinners, but he’s also come to save those who commit more socially acceptable sins. Jesus, then, comes in, and despite the lack of common courtesy, he “reclines at the table.”

We usually don’t recline at tables these days. Today, we have tables and chairs, similar to what we find in DaVinci’s depiction of the Last Supper. I saw a meme a while back, by the way, where Jesus asks for a table for 26. The hostess says, “But there are only 13 of you.” And Jesus says, “Yes, but we only plan on sitting on one side.” That’s DaVinci’s portrayal of the Last Supper. In reality, people back then would “recline at the table.” The table was maybe a foot off the ground and surrounded by cushions, and they would prop themselves up on an elbow, and their feet, instead of being under the table, would be pointed out and away from the table. For a while this week, I was thinking to myself, “It’s sounds uncomfortable to recline when you eat,” but then I realized that I will often eat in my La-Z-Boy! It’s different, but we do at least understand the concept. At a social gathering, the invited guests would gather around that central table, often in an open courtyard, and uninvited guests or passersby would sometimes come in and observe. They could listen in. This was their entertainment. And the poor could then feast on the scraps, on the leftovers.

But, back to the “sinful woman.” Luke has been described as the “gospel of women.” As I understand it, there are more interactions between Jesus and women in Luke than in all of the other gospel accounts put together. Luke includes those who were often excluded, including women, and we see that here in Luke 7. This woman, however, is apparently a notorious “sinner.” In verse 37, Luke says,“And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner.” Based on what Luke says here, many have assumed that this woman is a prostitute. The word “sinner” he uses here doesn’t require this. It’s a word that refers to “missing the mark.” It’s a term we might use at the range. I aim at the target, but I “miss the mark.” And that’s what sin is. We wonder, though, what this woman might have been doing. Everybody’s a sinner, but this woman was known for being a sinner. Was she notorious for cheating on her taxes? Was she known as being some kind of serial killer? Was she well known for her failure to be a good neighbor? I don’t think that makes sense. This woman is a sinner with a capital “S.” This woman was a professional sinner, we might say. She is next-level sinner. Everybody knows about it. She has a reputation. So the more I think about it, the more I think that prostitution might have been the issue here: 1.) She’s a woman, 2.) She is “in the city,” 3.) Prostitution was quite common in those days, and 4.) She is known for this. So, I’m not saying she was, but I do think I would lean in that direction.

If she was a prostitute, I would just point out that prostitution is one of the world’s deadliest professions. Maybe you’ve seen those rankings of the world’s most dangerous jobs. On average, the fatality rate for all jobs is roughly 3.5 deaths for every 100,000 workers. As you can imagine, cops are a little higher than that. For deep sea fishermen, that jumps up to 75 per 100,000, and so on. Roofers are up there, loggers are up there, refuse and recycling collectors are up there (with a high rate of injury). Oil rig operators are up there. We toured an oil rig on our recent trip to New Orleans, and now I understand why drilling for oil in the Gulf can be so dangerous. I have read that for prostitutes, though, that figure is 204 per 100,000. That’s because 95% will be threatened with a gun in their face at some point. Well over half will be assaulted or raped. It’s a terrible and dangerous way to live. But we also know that nobody chooses this. We have human trafficking. We have drug addiction. We have runaways. The statistics tell us that the average age that a woman gets involved in prostitution is between the ages of 12-14. These girls are not choosing this, but they are either forced or coerced out of necessity. It is a dangerous way to live.

Well, this woman shows up, apparently on purpose, and apparently before the Lord – she came there looking for the Lord (we will touch on this next week), and Luke tells us that she brings an “alabaster vial of perfume,” and in verse 38, she was “...standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.”
When I think of Simon seeing this, it’s hard to imagine the shock of a scene like this. Have you heard of someone “clutching their pearls”? It’s the idea of a well-to-do woman who sees something absolutely shocking, and she clutches her pearls, “Oh, it’s too terrible! Oh, my stars! It’s too terrible to even imagine!” Remember: The Pharisees thought that you could catch sin like you could catch a cold. And here is this sinful woman not only touching Jesus, but she is openly sobbing over his feet, wiping his feet with the hair of her head, and kissing his feet. By the way, when Luke says that she began to “wet” Jesus’ feet with her tears, he uses a word that refers to “rain.” Literally, she “rained” tears on Jesus’ feet. I don’t know whether most of us have seen somebody cry like that. People crying make us uncomfortable, especially in public. We don’t know what to do, especially at a social gathering. It’s hard to have fun when somebody’s wailing! There is apparently a Greek word for crying silently, and this is not it. The word Luke uses here refers to sobbing or wailing out loud. 

And then, on top of this, she apparently lets her hair down and begins wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair. Remember: Simon refuses to wash the Lord’s feet, but this woman washes his feet with her hair: Weeping, and rubbing, and wiping, and crying, and kissing his feet, over and over again. What a scene! And let’s not miss that she uses her hair for this. In that culture, as in many parts of the middle east even today, women would normally keep their hair covered. Some of the ancient Jewish writings suggest that for a woman to uncover her hair and to let her hair down in the presence of another man could be considered grounds for divorce. This woman, though, does not care! Her focus here is Jesus. In her mind, it’s only her and Jesus in this room. And in a sense, that should be true of us here this morning, by the way. Yes, we have come together, but we have come here to worship God, and what other people may think of us really doesn’t matter.

While we’re on this, I want to also point out a contrast between this woman’s hair and Jesus’ feet. Did you notice that in verse 38 (in one verse), Luke refers to Jesus’ feet a total of three times? “...and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.” This woman is anointing, not Jesus’ head, but his feet, the lowliest and most humble part of the human body. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul uses the “foot” to illustrate that even seemingly lowly parts of the body still have an important role to play. The “foot,” though, is not an “eye.” The foot is both literally and figuratively a lowly part of the body. But notice: This woman washes Jesus’ feet with her hair. Back in 1 Corinthians 11:15, Paul refers to a woman’s hair as her “glory.” Some of you know that I’ve only been married 32 years as of this past Friday, but as a man one thing I’ve observed over this time is that women seem to care more about their hair than men do (generally speaking, of course). As men, we may use the same product to wash our hair as we do our bodies and as we do clean a carburetor. We don’t care. Women, though, seem to care about their hair in a way that men do not. This woman, though, uses her hair (the most glorious part of her body) to wash Jesus’ feet (the lowliest and dirtiest part of his body). These guys wore sandals on dusty, dirt-covered paths that they also shared with animals. Let that sink in a little bit. This woman, though, doesn’t care. She uses her hair to wash Jesus’ feet. She uses her glory as a common rag.

And then, we also find that she was “kissing  His feet and anointing them with the perfume.” That word for “kissing,” by the way, is also used in Luke 15:20 to refer to the father kissing his son when the son returns from the far off country after squandering the family inheritance. This is repeated kissing and embracing; highly emotional This is loud and awkward. You can’t ignore this.

And Jesus lets this happen! Most of us would have said, “Oh, no, you don’t need to do that! Please stop!” Jesus, though, allows it. He accepts this worship for what it is. This is, in fact, the highest form of worship that any of us could ever offer to the Lord, falling at his feet in appreciation for what he’s done for us. By the way, we have others fall at Jesus’ feet during his time on this earth (Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue in Mark 5:22, the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7:25, the women who came to the tomb in Matthew 28:9). In contrast, though, when Cornelius falls down at Peter’s feet in Acts 10:25, Peter says, “Stand up; I too am just a man.” So also with John trying to worship the angel in Revelation 19:10, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren...worship God.” Jesus, though, accepts this. Because he can.

When he sees this, though, Simon’s conclusion is that, “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.” How interesting! We’re talking about judging, and this is Simon’s judgment. But before we get to what Simon says, can I point out what he doesn’t say? If we have a respected guest speaker at church one day, and if a prostitute comes in and does something like this, and if these two seem to know each other already, what am I assuming? What are you assuming? I’d be jumping to some conclusions! However, Simon doesn’t go there. Here is an enemy of Jesus who doesn’t go there. And that’s amazing to me. The reason, though, is that there is no evidence that Jesus has ever been involved with this woman. Simon’s take on this is that “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.” Simon, then, has already pre-judged that this woman is a sinner, and he has also pre-judged Jesus as not being a prophet, and what he sees here simply confirms this. As a Pharisee, he assumes that no real prophet would ever knowingly allow a woman like this to touch him; therefore, Jesus must not be a prophet. Simon attributes this not to evil behavior on Jesus’ part, but to ignorance. Jesus must not know who this woman is. In Simon’s mind, prophets come from God to tell us what we don’t know, and how can Jesus be a prophet if he doesn’t even know what we know? Jesus, then, must not be from God.

I would also emphasis that Simon says this “to himself.” In other words, Simon doesn’t say this out loud, he doesn’t say this to his fellow Pharisees, he doesn’t say it to Jesus, but he says it “to himself.” And we will get back to this next week, but what we have here is Jesus answering a THOUGHT! So, in his own mind, Simon accuses Jesus of not being a prophet, and this guy he has judged to be a non-prophet now answers what Simon is THINKING!

Conclusion:

We will pause here and continue next week with Jesus’ view of this woman, but for now we have really focused in on Simon’s assessment of this woman: Simon has judged her to be a sinner, and in the process, Simon has also either made or affirmed his judgment that Jesus is not a prophet. As we close, and as we think about what we’ve learned this morning, I would close by asking: Are we more aware of the sins of others (as Simon was), or are we more aware of our own sin (as this woman was)? So, this ties in to our study of judging. But I think a more practical and personal application is tied to worship. This woman worships Jesus as if he is the only other person in the room. Other people are watching, they know she is a sinner, and she doesn’t care. This woman offers Jesus what she has to offer and gives the Lord the most extravagant gift in the process: She pours her heart out before the Lord. And that’s what we’ve come here to do this morning.

By the way, I am so thankful to Josh for leading us in these songs this morning. I asked for songs about Jesus’ feet, and he really came through! We’ve been singing about falling at Jesus’ feet. We’ve been singing about our tears falling before the Lord. In just a moment, we’ll be singing a song that I always imagine singing when I see the Lord for the first time, “Is it For Me, Dear Savior?...My heart is at thy feet.” Certainly a song we hope to sing this woman some day.

Before we sing together, let’s go to God in prayer:

Our Father in Heaven,

Thank you for hearing our prayer this morning, and thank you for accepting our sacrifice of praise. What a blessing! We come to you, asking for your help as we interact with the world around us. Help us to see others just as Jesus sees us.

We come to you today in Jesus’ name. AMEN.

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