Great Sinner, Great Savior (Luke 7:36-50)

What follows is an adaption of a sermon preached on the text of Luke 7:36-50. This is the story of the Sinful Woman Forgiven. Here we meet a great Savior and two great sinners. One of the great sinners acknowledges her sin and rests in Christ for forgiveness, but one great sinner does not consider himself so bad as the first, and so is still in his sins.

“I know two things”

It was said of him “He defied authority, refused duties, composed rude songs about the captain, blasphemed horribly and mocked Christian crew members.” [1] He was a crew member of a slave ship bound for Sierra Leone, Africa and he himself a “slave to every customary vice.” [2]

Once in Africa, like the Prodigal Son, his own choices brought him into a pit of despair. He worked for a slave trader on a small island. When his employer went away on a trip, he fell out of favor with his boss’ African mistress who abused him terribly and encouraged “her own slaves to pelt him with rubbish.” She would chain him to the end of a dock and let the African sun beat down on him for days at a time. [3] 

He was rescued from these pitiful circumstances by a ship bound for home, but he had yet to be rescued from his sins. When that very ship nearly plunged him and the whole crew into the depths of the ocean during a storm, he was finally humbled to cry out to God to save him. Amazingly, he did! 

Though he had known himself to be a great sinner before, he now knew Christ to be a great Savior. When he was well advanced in years, he would say, “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”

Knowing these two things are precisely what fueled John Newton’s love for his Savior — if you haven’t heard of him, I bet you’ve heard of his hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ — We see in Luke 7:36-50 that it was knowing these two things as well that fueled this sinful woman’s love and service to Christ.

If we would serve Jesus Christ more, then we too must more and more know that there are two necessary ingredients for great love for Christ: knowing yourself to be a great sinner and knowing Jesus to be a great Savior. 

The Great Sinner

She knows she is a sinner

The first necessary ingredient of great love for Christ is knowing yourself to be a great sinner (vv. 36-40). The woman in this story knew this very well. 

She enters the Pharisee’s house from the street, and her reputation is as a woman of the streets. It says that this woman was a “woman of the city, who was a sinner.” Likely, this is a euphemism for a prostitute.

She knows she is a sinner. We can see this in how she abases herself towards Jesus. When it says they reclined at table, picture them lying on their sides, propped up on their elbow, and their feet behind them. She comes and stands at his feet, that is, behind him. She was not willing to meet him in the street face-to-face, but waits until she can stand behind him. 

She lowers herself to serve his feet that were filthy from walking around dusty Palestine in sandals. 

She weeps, perhaps from the mixed emotions of shame for her own sin, but also love for this teacher of grace. It is speculated that this woman would have just heard Christ’s call in Matthew 11:28 which says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

She begins to wash his feet with her tears and wipe his feet with her hair. You can just see her hair in front of her face, as she washes his feet, not willing to show her face. It is clear she knows her reputation is just: she is a sinner. 

Simon knows she is a sinner

Now we see that Simon the Pharisee is keenly aware she is a sinner. Verse 39: “Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this [that this sinful woman was touching Jesus], he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’” [Emphasis mine]. 

To Simon, this woman is a very different sort of person than he is, “for she is a sinner.”

This reminds us of another part of Luke, in Luke 18, we see the contrasting prayers of the Publican and the Pharisee. Remember that the Pharisee there is very thankful to God that he is not “like” the Publican. He considers himself in a different category altogether than “that kind of person.” So here, Simon the Pharisee, sees himself in a totally different category than this “sinner.” 

Do we ever think to ourselves that we are not like “those people”? As our society becomes more and more flagrant in sin (a sign of being given over to our sin as a judgement for our sin, see Romans 1), we must resist the temptation to think of ourselves, apart from Christ’s work in us, as somehow different than those around us. 

With William Bradford the Pilgrim we must say, “but for the grace of God, there goes I.” Ask yourself, when you note the great sin of others, do you thank God you are not like them, or do you remember that you would be just like them but for the grace of God?

See again that Simon thinks of this woman as being a different sort of person than him morally speaking, “for she is a sinner”.  He would not sully himself by letting this kind of woman touch him. If this supposed prophet cared anything about ceremonial cleanliness, Simon thinks, he wouldn’t let this happen either. 

Jesus knows full well who this woman is, but he also knows who He is: the only one who can cleanse her with His touch.

Great Sinner to Great Servant

We can see in this passage, what kind of loving service is brought about when a sinner is humbled to see how great his or her sin really is while also knowing that Jesus has freely forgiven that sin. 

First, we see her love made her willing to give her most precious possessions to Jesus. This alabaster box was a very costly thing. Second, her love produced lavish service to the person of Jesus.

The first point is usually understood easily, but we may struggle to know how to do the second now that the person of Jesus is no longer here with us. So, let us consider what that love for Jesus would look like for us today. 

It does not consist in mere religious duty, for that is what the Pharisees were best at: rather, love and service to Jesus must look like love and service for his people.

In Ephesians 1:22 and 23, we see that the church is identified as the body of Christ. Would you serve Christ by ministering to his bodily needs? Then look around you, and see how He is in need in your local church.  

For a further understanding of this, think of Matthew 25:37-40. This is at the judgement day, “Then the righteous will answer him, saying ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ [eight times they repeat you. They think they have done nothing for Christ, but listen to what He says] And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say unto you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” [Emphasis mine]. 

Would you serve Jesus today? Then serve his brothers and sisters in your church. 

When Jesus was told in Mathew 12:48 that his mother and brothers stood outside, he stretched out his hand towards his disciples and said “Here are my mother and my brothers.” 

There is no end of opportunity for you to serve Christ in any given body of believers. Be willing to do the menial tasks, the dirty tasks. However, don’t do it out of obligation, but out of a full heart, a heart that feels the weight of its sins freely and fully forgiven and is looking for an outlet for grateful love. Do it as this very sinful, but forgiven woman did. 

Now, you may have noticed that I keep assuming that this woman believed her sins were forgiven, but you may ask yourself, how do we know that she knew her sins were forgiven? Maybe she was doing these things hoping that Jesus would see her sincerity and overlook her sin. I think you will see shortly in the text that this is impossible.

The Great Savior

The second necessary ingredient of great love for Christ is knowing Jesus to be a great Savior (vv. 40-50)

See verses 39 through 43, “Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answering said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he answered, ‘Say it, Teacher.’ ‘A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.’”

Right away we see that this story knocks the feet out from under the idea that this woman loved in order to be forgiven. “Which will love…” notice the future tense. The love follows the forgiveness, it does not earn it. God does not say, “love me much and I will forgive you much,” He forgives freely. See Rom. 5:6-8, “… while we were still sinners, Christ died for us….” 

Also notice, “when they could not pay…” Sincerity and service could not pay this woman’s debt. We also cannot pay our debt to God. If we are to be released from our debt, it must be because another has paid. In this illustration, the money lender is in the place of God. We owe him an infinite debt for breaking His law. 

Who bore the cost in this story? The money lender did. So, when God forgives our sin, God bears the cost in the person of the Son on the cross. In the KJV it says he “frankly” forgave both. The debt was paid in full. No strings attached. 

The word for forgiveness here has the connotation of something being taken away. The scapegoat in Lev. 16, picturing Christ, is a beautiful illustration of how our sins are taken away by another. God’s forgiveness is totally free for us, but it is due to the cost being taken by Christ. He pays the debt. You can read about the scapegoat in Leviticus 16:1-34

Many more riches of God’s grace could be mined from this story, but specifically, the point is that when we know we have been forgiven more, we love more. There are two debtors in this story and one has a much larger debt than the other. It almost goes without saying that the one with the larger debt will love the forgiver more. Simon readily affirms this in verse 43. 

Although it is not explicit, implicitly the proportion of love is based on our awareness of how great a debt has been forgiven us. If both of them only thought their debt was fifty denarii, we would expect that their love would be the same. 

What we can conclude from this is our love for God will grow as we see and admit the depth of our sin while at the same time knowing that we are forgiven in Christ. We must have both ingredients. A cookie without sugar or without flower is no cookie (in my opinion). So, love for Christ can’t exist if either of these two things are true: we think we don’t need forgiveness or we doubt God’s grace. 

Perhaps we don’t go to these extremes, but two reasons we can be lacking in love for God are, one, when we don’t believe God has actually forgiven us the “big” sins but only the “little” ones. We even feel pious when we hold certain sins over our heads, doubting that God will readily forgive them. But this is far from pious! It insults God’s grace, but on top of this, as we learn from this illustration, it shortchanges our love for God by not recognizing the enormity of our forgiven sins! 

The second reason we love little, and the one we see in this passage, is when we esteem our own sins as little in comparison to others, then we can only love a little. Jesus brings this home to Simon in the following verses starting in 44. “Then 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. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.’”

Jesus gives three ways Simon failed to show him common curtesy, contrasting this with three ways this woman showed she loved Christ much. The woman’s love was the evidence that she had faith that she was forgiven by Christ, and Simon’s lack of love was an evidence that he was still in his sins. 

Jesus says in verse 47 “Therefore…” that is, he is drawing a conclusion from these contrasting signs, “I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven — for she loved much.” Reading this verse by itself, you might think that her love was the grounds for her forgiveness, but this is why you shouldn’t read verses by themselves, because the context obliterates this misguided notion. Rather, her love, according to Jesus’ illustration of the two debtors, was produced out of gratitude for her debt being forgiven. However, Simon did not think we was in debt at all, so his lovelessness was the evidence that he was yet in his sin. 

Now we have proven that she has faith in Christ for forgiveness and that evidenced by love, yet Jesus turns to her to give her greater assurance in verse 48. 

The most mature Christians know that even when their faith is strongest, it is still mixed with doubt. Knowing this, Jesus graciously says to her “Your sins are forgiven.” If you also believe in Christ, then hear from his lips, “Your sins are forgiven.” 

No one of us has a faith so strong that it does not need constant encouragement. That is why God has given us his Word; that is why God has given us songs to sing, prayers to pray, sermons to hear, and last but not least a body of believers to build one another up in our most holy faith. 

This is not a mere sentimental assurance from Jesus either, for Jesus has the authority to give this assurance. See verse 49. “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” they ask. In another place we read that only God can forgive sins. This is the God-Man, the man Christ Jesus. This is the creditor who will eat the bitter cost of our sin. Who better to assure us of forgiveness than our great savior Jesus Christ?

The Dis-graced Legalist and the En-graced Antinomian

Sinclair Ferguson says of the parable of the prodigal son that from one perspective it is “‘The parable of the Free Grace Savior’; from another, ‘The parable of the En-Graced Antinomian [lawless one]’; and from yet another (and in context perhaps the most pointed), ‘The parable of the Dis-Graced Legalist.’” [4] The same can be said of this anecdote from the life of Christ. It is the story of the Dis-Graced Legalist. That is, Simon, if he did not later repent, missed out on the grace of this Free Grace Savior. Why? Because he relied on his own deeds to distinguish himself from those sinners over there.

A legalist may be defined in many ways, but a definition by example is found in this text. A legalist is one who thinks the term “great sinner” does not properly belong to him. Sadly, a legalist may say all the right things, but their lack of love for Christ and for His people is evidence that they think too highly of themselves. 

You may say, “I believe in the doctrine of Justification by faith alone, I am no Legalist like those Pharisees over there.” But are you contemptuous of those real bad sinners in the world; are you impatient with the weak brother or sister in the church? These are evidences that you think of yourself as being in a different class. If this is characteristic of you, then you may be a legalist and missing out on the grace of this Free Grace Savior. You may be still in your sins. 

Perhaps this is not characteristic, but you often fall into this way of thinking even as a believer. In either case, do not despair, the remedy is in this text. It has two ingredients. Acknowledge that this pride proves that you are a great sinner, but then believe that Jesus saves great sinners!

Do you have any love for Christ? If so, God put it there, to paraphrase RC Sproul. Even if it is small, take courage, your sins are forgiven you. Don’t you want it to grow? I think every Christian can say yes. So if your love is too small, it means you are deficient in at least one of these two ingredients. You either think you are not so bad a sinner or you are still doubting that Christ is really so great a Savior. 

The first deficiency may manifest itself in many ways. It may be that you really think you’re doing all right, and spiritual pride has set in. Another manifestation is that you know you are in sin, but you are trying to rationalize it. You are telling yourself it isn’t that bad a sin. 

But as long as you minimize that sin your love for Christ will be minimized. Only when you agree with God that it is a great sin, but Christ is a great savior that forgives that sin, then you will love Him.

Love is the only fuel for obedience. As Christ said, “If you love me, you will do my commandments.” From the text, we know this love is only produced from one who believes that Christ is a Free Grace Savior. 

How foolish it is to try to clean up our act before we believe that Christ has forgiven us. It is like trying to start a fire with nothing to burn. Acknowledging our sin as forgiven produces love, and love fuels obedience. We must not mess with that order. As 1 John 4:19 puts it, “We love because he first loved us.”

Perhaps our love is lacking because of the other deficiency. We are doubting that Christ is really so great a savior. What reason has Jesus given for you to doubt Him? Did He not say on the cross “It is finished,” “paid in full”? Do not dishonor His sacrifice by believing your sin is too great for Him. He has taken all your sin on His head and borne it off to the grave. There is no room for doubting Him!

I hope that we will be like John Newton and never never forget these two things. Yes, you are a great sinner, never forget it, but also never forget that Christ is a great Savior! 

“Go in peace”

The last verse of the text is a fitting place to stop. If you are a believer, hear it as if it is coming from the mouth of your dear Savior to you. Verse 50: “And he said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” Not by virtue of the strength of our faith, but by virtue of the Savior in whom it is placed, we may also “go in peace” as we go through life because Jesus is so great a Savior!

Notes

[1]-[3] Borrowed from “Lost and Found: The Story of John Newton” by Andy Bannister, access at https://www.andybannister.net/heroes-newton/.

[4] Quoted from The Whole Christ by Sinclair Ferguson, published by Crossway, 2016. Buy here.