In Luke 7, Jesus was invited by a Pharisee named Simon to eat in his home. While Jesus sat at the table, “a woman in the city” entered the scene. If it were not for this woman, we may not even have the record of this dinner, for the woman and Simon’s response to her are the whole focus.
First of all, think about what this woman does when she is in the presence of Jesus. She would have known that she was not a welcome guest on this occasion, but nothing was going to stop her from getting to Jesus. She had prepared for this encounter by bringing “an alabaster flask of fragrant oil” (7:37). This was not a chance meeting. She thought ahead.
When she arrived, she “stood at His feet behind Him” (7:38). She was not presumptuous enough to stand in front and make herself the center of attention. Instead, her humility focused on the feet of Jesus, which would have been tucked behind Him as He inclined at the table. This woman desperately wanted to be in the presence of Jesus, but she did not feel worthy to be there.
What did she do at the feet of Jesus? She was “weeping, and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil” (7:38). The verb tenses in this verse denote ongoing action—she kept on weeping, washing, wiping, kissing and anointing. It was not a quick “one-and-done” action but something she kept repeating.
Go back and read the last three paragraphs. Make the application. Could you…Would you have done this?
But, here’s the question. WHY was she doing this? Simon the Pharisee accused her of being (present tense, right now) “a sinner” (7:39). However, the text does not support her still bearing her sins. The Holy Spirit tells us that she “was a sinner”—a past tense verb (7:37). Simon used a present tense, but the Holy Spirit used a past tense. Who are you going to believe? Her sins were in her past.
Jesus emphasized this further when He used a different tense regarding her sins. The Son of God told both Simon and this woman that her sins “are forgiven” (7:47-48). By using the Greek perfect tense, Jesus emphasized that her sins had been forgiven in the past and the result of that forgiveness was still ongoing in the present.
So, back to the question. WHY was this woman doing this? Jesus gives us the reason: Her sins had been forgiven! Brethren, what do we humbly do for and to Jesus as a result of Him forgiving us of our sins? Have we lost sight of how precious and powerful that gift is? May it never be!