Sinners: Experience God’s Compassion in Your ShameSýnishorn

Offering God Our Best Even If It Starts a Commotion

The Gospel books of the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are historical narratives or storied accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Each Gospel is from the author's perspective, meaning this story is from Luke’s perspective.

The Luke identified as the author of this Gospel is likely the apostle Paul’s dear friend and doctor from Colossians 4:14. Dr. Luke sequences his stories in a way that highlights several “righteous” sinners—people with exemplary faith that everybody else had already written off.

You’re about to study the story of a woman given one title in Scripture: sinful. We are not told why she carries such a shame-filled reputation, and we don’t need to make assumptions to get the heart of the message.

Her story moves us beyond her past and her peers' perceptions and into an embodied faith that breaks through cultural and religious barriers. This woman’s gumption to worship Jesus invites us to emulate her faith and offer our best to God—even if it disrupts our plans or reputation.

While the crowds Jesus spoke to in the verses before this story were unwilling to repent, the sinful woman responds to Jesus with extravagance. Whatever her previous experience with Jesus, the sinful woman came to him knowing there was only one way she could respond to his presence: to offer worship. She enters the house, ready to shower Jesus with her appreciation and reverence.

Simon needed to see for himself what Jesus was really like. He’d likely heard Jesus teach and seen him healing the sick, but those things hadn’t been enough to satisfy Simon’s questions about whether Jesus was truly a prophet. That’s the irony: The religious man got a close-up of Jesus but didn’t really see things clearly; the sinful woman stepped forward with her exemplary faith despite only seeing Jesus from afar.

The sinful woman’s goal was to worship her Savior. Simon’s goal was to figure out if Jesus was really a prophet. Her faith was evident for all to see, and the people surrounding her could have marveled at her grand gesture. Instead, they were questioning Jesus’ prophetic credentials. And if I’m honest, I relate more closely to the reserved, skeptical mindset of Simon and his dinner guests than the uninvited, sinful woman eager to declare her devotion to Christ. Sometimes, we get so caught up in the to-dos and don’ts of our religion we can miss the Jesus we follow.

We don't know whether Simon was obstinate and resisting hospitable behavior or simply distracted by his suspicions of Jesus. But what I know for sure is that I don’t want to treat Jesus the way Simon did. I’m not sure I have the capacity or courage to approach Jesus with the sinful woman’s unhindered worship, but I want to try.

Prayer: Lord, I confess I am not always quick to worship you. Help me to become more like the woman who did not let shame get in the way of honoring her Savior. Amen.