Daily Word: Luke 7:36-50 – The Woman Who Loved Much | Thursday, Sept 17

Luke 7:36-50 (Thursday of the 24th Week in Ordinary Time)

“So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” (Luke 7:47)

Simon the Pharisee has invited Jesus to dinner. It is a gesture of respect, perhaps even of curiosity. Simon is a man of standing, a keeper of the Law, a man who has spent his life measuring righteousness. He wants to observe this prophet from Galilee.

But the dinner is interrupted. A woman enters — a woman known in the town as a sinner. Luke does not tell us her sin, but the reaction of the guests makes clear it was public and shameful. She does not come to argue, to explain, or to defend herself. She comes carrying an alabaster jar of perfumed oil — costly, extravagant, the possession of someone who had something to give.

She kneels behind Jesus at His feet. And she begins to weep.

The Woman Who Wept: Klaiousa and Dakryō (v. 38)

The Greek text says she began klaiousa — weeping, wailing, mourning. This is not a tear of sentiment. It is the grief of a soul that has been broken open. It is the sorrow of a woman who has carried her sin for years and has finally found the One who can release her from it.

Her tears fall on Jesus' feet. She does not have a towel; she uses her hair — the very thing that, in her former life, may have been part of her shame. She kisses His feet — the Greek verb is kataphileō, an intensive form meaning to kiss again and again, fervently, repeatedly. She anoints them with the perfume.

Every gesture is an act of love. Every gesture is an act of worship. She does not speak a word. She does not need to. Her tears speak. Her hair speaks. Her perfume speaks. Her silence speaks.

The Pharisee's Judgment: Diakrinō and Prophētēs (v. 39)

Simon watches. And he thinks: “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

The Greek verb for “know” here is ginōskō — to know by experience, to perceive, to recognize. Simon assumes that true prophecy consists in knowing facts — knowing who people are, knowing their sins, keeping accurate records.

The Greek word for “sinner” is hamartōlos — one who misses the mark, one who has fallen short. Simon uses the word as a label, a category, a permanent identity. To him, she is not a person; she is a case. She is a contaminant. She is a problem.

Simon does not see a woman weeping. He sees a category violation. He is more concerned with the ritual purity of his dinner than with the miraculous possibility of a soul being saved.

The Parable of the Two Debtors: Daneistēs and Echarisato (v. 41-43)

Jesus responds not with anger, but with a parable. Two debtors owe a money-lender. One owes five hundred denarii — roughly two years' wages. The other owes fifty denarii — about two months' wages. Neither can repay. So the money-lender echarisato — graciously forgave them both.

The Greek verb is charizomai — a form of charis, grace. It does not mean "cancelled the debt." It means freely graced them. It means gave them a gift they did not deserve. It is the language of pure mercy.

Then Jesus asks: “Which of them will love him more?” Simon answers correctly: “The one to whom he forgave more.”

And Jesus turns the parable on him. Simon is the debtor who owed little. He does not see himself as a great sinner. He does not see himself as needing much mercy. And so he loves little. Because love is born of gratitude, and gratitude is born of the awareness of having been forgiven.

The Sentence: Blepeis and Aphēsontai (v. 44-47)

Jesus turns to the woman, but He speaks to Simon: “Do you see this woman?”

The Greek verb is blepeis — do you look? do you perceive? do you actually see her? Simon had looked at her with contempt. Jesus commands him to look again, to see her not as a category but as a person.

Then Jesus lists what she has done that Simon has not:

• Water for His feet: Simon did not give it. She washed them with her tears.

• A kiss of greeting: Simon did not give it. She kissed His feet continuously.

• Oil for His head: Simon did not give it. She anointed His feet with costly perfume.

The contrast is not between a good woman and a bad woman. It is between a self-righteous man who thinks he needs little, and a repentant woman who knows she needs everything.

“So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love.”

Note the order. Forgiveness comes first. Love follows. Jesus does not say she was forgiven because she loved; He says she loved because she was forgiven. Grace is always the origin. Love is always the response.

The Greek verb is aphēsontai — they have been sent away, released, dismissed. Her sins are not merely pardoned; they are removed. They are no longer attached to her. The record is closed. She walks out of Simon's house a different woman.

The Scandal of Forgiveness: Ephē and Sōzō (v. 48-50)

Then Jesus speaks directly to the woman: “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests are scandalized: “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

They are right to be scandalized. Only God forgives sins. And Jesus does not correct them. He does not say, "I am only a delegate." He acts with the authority of God. He does not merely announce forgiveness; He grants it.

Then He speaks the final word: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

The Greek verb for “saved” is sōzō — the same verb used for physical healing. It means to rescue, to preserve, to make whole. The woman does not merely receive forgiveness; she receives wholeness. She is not only pardoned; she is restored.

The Greek word for “peace” is eirēnē — the Hebrew shalom. It is not merely the absence of conflict. It is the presence of fullness, the wholeness that comes from being reconciled with God.

The woman does not leave with her shame. She leaves with her peace. She came as a sinner; she departs as a daughter.

What This Means for Your Thursday

Today, the Gospel places two figures before you: Simon and the woman.

• Which one are you? Do you stand at a distance, measuring, judging, cataloguing the sins of others? Or do you kneel, broken and weeping, at the feet of Christ?

• Do you see the woman? Jesus said to Simon, “Do you see this woman?” Simon had looked at her many times. But he had never truly seen her. Do you see the people around you, or do you see only their categories? Their sins? Their usefulness to you?

• Do you know what you have been forgiven? If you think you have been forgiven little, you will love little. If you know the depth of your own sin, you will love much. The measure of your love is the measure of your awareness of mercy.

• Do you accept the forgiveness Jesus gives? Or do you keep returning to your sin, holding onto your guilt, refusing to believe that the record is closed? The woman went in peace. Will you?

A Short Prayer

Lord Jesus, You allowed a sinful woman to touch Your feet, to wash them with her tears, to anoint them with costly oil. You did not push her away. You did not recoil. You received her love and You gave her peace. Forgive me for the times I have been Simon — standing at a distance, judging, measuring, refusing to see. Give me the humility of the woman — the honesty to weep, the courage to kneel, the love that spills over in silence. Let me know how much I have been forgiven, so that I may love much. And let me hear Your voice: "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." Amen.

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