Luke's Sinful Woman

Jesus Anointed By A Sinful Woman

Hosea & Gomer – Story background (Redeeming Love)

Hosea 2:2-13 “Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adulterous look from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts. Otherwise I will strip her naked and make her as bare as on the day she was born; I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst. I will not show my love to her children, because they are the children of adultery. Their mother has been unfaithful and has conceived them in disgrace. She said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.’ Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way. She will chase after lovers but not catch them; she will look for them but not find them. Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my husband as at first, for then I was better off than now. She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold – which they used for Baal. Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready. I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her nakedness. So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands. I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days – all her appointed feasts. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket and wild animals will devour them. I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot,” declares the Lord.

1. Stripped down to state of birth – Digression to nothing

2. Desert, parched, thirsty – Unsatisfied

3. Shown no love – Neglected

4. Blocked path with thornbushes – Bitterness

5. Walled in; cannot find way – Aimless

6. Cannot catch what she chases – Lonely

7. Take away grain and new wine – Fruitless

8. Take away wool and linen for covering – Shame

9. Stop all celebrations; festivals, new moons, Sabbaths – Sorrow

10. Ruin vines and fig trees; turn into a thicket devoured by animals – Loss of Beauty and Lure

Discussion: Inherited Consequences of a Sinful Woman

Luke 7:36-38 “Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.”

Alabaster Jar – For most women it was used as a dowry to pour on oneself as a gift to the husband on the wedding night. Marriage however was customarily preserved for virgins. The alabaster jar for this woman would have symbolized all her broken hopes of a future involving glory and prosperity, instead she was faced with the consequences of sin in shame and rebuke. It symbolized the trap she found herself in with no promise of escape. The alabaster jar mocked her very existence as a woman (not to be confused with Mary of Bethany’s alabaster jar which had different symbolism because of its use and timing).

Luke 7:39-47 “When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to tell you.’ ‘Tell me, teacher,’ he said. ‘Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon replied, ‘I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.’ ‘You have judged correctly,’ Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.’

Discussion: Recognition of grace and the amount of forgiveness given to all – death vs. death. When we view the extent of forgiveness offered we realize that grace is perhaps dependent on the amount of forgiveness we accept.

Luke 7:48-50 “Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The other guests began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ (Amplified) But Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go (enter) into peace [in freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin].”

THIS was unexpected and undeserved mercy. But this is God’s pattern of restoration. How was Jesus able to see beyond this woman’s painful past and present? God never dwells on our sin but instead strives to bring us restoration. He sees us as we were intended to be, the beauty of His original design.

Simon vs. Christ

“I see only what you have done.”

“I see what you were meant to be.”

“I see death and consequence.”

“I see hope.”

“You deserve what you get.”

“I wish to give you the grace you do not deserve.”

“You have no future.”

“I am your future.”

Hosea 2:14-20 “’Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt. In that day,’ declares the Lord, ‘you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master’. I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord.”

Discussion: The Wilderness – It is a place of healing and restoration, a place of preparation, a place of intimacy, consummation of love and creating hope in a future. The wilderness will always follow the consequences but for some we often experience the wilderness simply because God has a special preparation for us. Jesus frequently found himself in the wilderness in preparation for a great task God had for him. Never hate the wilderness, God’s plans in the wilderness are plans to create a hope and a future through His tender touch. If you find yourself in the wilderness do not grumble and complain, but love every minute of God’s tender touch. Can you imagine taking your wife to a solitary, romantic and intimate location with the intent of touching her tenderly and then have her constantly saying to you, “Can you hurry it up here… I have things to do”. Would you feel pain? Or rejection? How do you think God feels when we try to hurry up His plans? Would you feel frustration? Does God feel frustration when we impatiently try and push past His tender touches and demand immediate gratification and productivity?

Hosea 2:21-23 “In that day I will respond,’ declares the Lord—‘I will respond to the skies, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, the new wine and oil, and they will respond to Jezreel. I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one’. I will say to those called ‘Not my people’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

Respond – anah (H): dwell in, sing, utter, speak, cry out, answer

Discussion: The Circle of Sin – can be broken. Christ looks at us tenderly and says, ‘Stop running in your circle and come away with me into the wilderness where there can be healing, restoration, and wholeness. Where I can make you as beautiful as the day you were created. I know you think I cannot see past your sin, but that is a lie—I see all your potential, glory and beauty if only you will come in faith and anoint my feet with your tears. Come to the wilderness with me, so that I may anah-respond (dwell in, sing, utter, speak, cry out, and answer) to you.'

Main Points:

We all have sinned and fallen short. Our view of God’s forgiveness and grace is dependent on our acceptance of His gift. Once you have accepted what Christ offers to you, your sin no longer has the power to define you. What defines you is Christ’s vision of restoration and wholeness. Do not let the Simon’s of the world tell you differently. Listen only to the words of Jesus. “I offer you peace and freedom.”

Journaling: Write what you hear God saying either from the view of the sinful woman or from God’s perspective through Hosea.