A Series on
Living in the Wilderness
The sinful woman
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 7:36-50
[In this series
we’ll be looking at people who lived in the wilderness of life. In fact, there
are times when we all feel like we are living in the wilderness. During those
times, it’s important to remember that the Lord is faithful, that He loves you
and is always with you.]
Pig-Pen accepted the fact that he was dirty. Even
when he tried, he couldn’t stay clean. Once, after bathing and dressing in clean
clothes, he stepped outside and instantaneously became dirty. He then declared
to Charlie Brown, "You know what I am? I'm a dust magnet!"
In the story today, there are three main characters.
A Pharisee who, following synagogue, invited the rising star rabbi for a
banquet at his home. Jesus, who is the up and coming rabbi. And an uninvited
guest… the sinful woman.
In this culture, women were expected to be married. And
if you were married, it was expected that you wore a head covering to show not
only that you weren’t available, but also that you were virtuous. If you didn’t
wear a head covering, you were subject to speculation, gossip and likely
considered promiscuous.
In the case of the sinful woman, who didn’t wear a head
covering, she already had a well-known reputation for being immoral. When she
knelt at Jesus’ feet, weeping and then drying his feet with her hair and
anointing them with expensive perfume, the Pharisee judged them both.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he
said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman
is touching him. She’s a sinner!” NLT
Like Pig-Pen, she was an outcast whose dirty reputation
both preceded and followed her. Both of them lived in a wilderness of dust.
But the sinful woman had heard Jesus speak. She had
heard his words of love and healing. His words of forgiveness and cleansing. His
words of defiance against the religious establishment.
Because of this, she found the courage to break
social norms. To not only walk into a banquet that she wasn’t invited to, nor
wanted, but also to kneel at Jesus’ feet with unbridled emotion and touch him.
She looked in the mirror and saw her dust and wanted
to change. She probably had wanted to change before, but now she believed it
was possible because of the rabbi. By faith, she acted on her newfound hope in Jesus.
The result was life changing.
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are
forgiven.” 50b “Your
faith has saved you; go in peace.” NLT
Notice that Jesus never referred to her as the
sinful woman. With his words of freedom, you can visualize the cloud of dust falling to
her feet and disappearing. He has taken her out of the wilderness and into the
Promised Land.
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