Christmas at the TableSample

Table Stories | The Story of the Forgiven: The Sinful Woman

This week we are telling the story of the sinful woman. If she was asked what Christmas means to her, she would tell the story of being unclean, rejected, and despised, and through worship and one encounter with Jesus, she was forgiven and loved.

This incredible moment in the gospel of Luke is during Luke's quest to show anyone that Jesus was all about the "outcasts and marginalised" of society. Anyone the religious rejected, Jesus had dinner with them and allowed them to touch him even though they were "defiled." He loved the sinner, forgave them, and set their life on a new course.

The story of the "sinful woman" is in the middle of three redemptive stories: the healing of the Centurion's servant (Luke 7:1-5), the dead being raised (Luke 7:14-17 and the sinner being forgiven (Luke 7:36-50). The statement “Behold” interrupts the Greek symposium-style meal, where certain decorum and rules of hospitality apply. Jesus is a friend of sinners, and the word ‘sinner’ is repeated throughout the gospel. The woman is not named, doesn’t say anything, and is known only as a sinner. She acts of her own volition, takes risks, and upstages the host of the feast, Simon the Pharisee. Those considered to be ‘sinners’ could include those who jeopardize cultic purity and, as used throughout the New Testament, those considered to be ‘outsiders’ or ‘non-Israelites.’ She has entered the house in contradiction to Pharisaic purity law because Jesus is a “friend of sinners.” She is the ‘poor’ to which Luke has referenced, a woman perhaps forced into the marketplace by her lack of attachment to a man, who has to prostitute herself in order to live.

Imagine her faith entering a room filled with people she knew hated her. She was an outcast, despised, and labelled “unclean,” but her interest, love, and need for Jesus compelled her to go beyond their labels, beyond her own courage, and go to this dinner table in need of forgiveness, love, and acceptance. She is rewarded for her worship, love, faith, and boldness in the declaration of Jesus “go in peace” he declares not just ‘spiritual’ well-being but restoration to wholeness, including restoration to the full social interaction from which she has been excluded. Through her encounter with Christ, this woman was saved, loved, and restored to community. An all-in-one dining experience.

Scripture: Luke 7:36-50

Prayer Point: Lord, we thank you for forgiving sins and restoring peace in our lives. We thank you for the story of the Sinful Woman and her boldness and faith to enter a room filled with people that despised her to forgiveness of sins that have given us the ability to live in peace where there was no way before.