FAITH LEADS TO PEACE
And Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peaceG1515.”
Luke 7:50
Each of the Gospel authors recount a story of Jesus being anointed by a woman, but they are not all about the same incident.
All four gospels present an account of Jesus being anointed by a woman with a costly jar of perfume (Matthew 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9; Luke 7:36–50; John 12:1–8). Matthew and Mark relate the same event but do not give the woman’s name; Luke tells of a different woman, also anonymous, on an earlier occasion; and, in yet another event, the woman in John is identified as Mary of Bethany (John 11:2), sister to Martha and Lazarus. (49)
You may read the entire article at: https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-anointed.html
Another good article on this topic is found at: https://bible.org/seriespage/wordless-worship-unnamed-woman-luke-736-50
The occasion in the Gospel of Luke is a dinner at Simon the Pharisee’s house. Apparently, Jesus was an invited guest. As the woman began washing Jesus’s feet with her tears and anointing them with costly perfume, Simon wondered to himself whether Jesus could be a true prophet because, he reasoned, a prophet would have known what kind of woman she was and shunned her. However, he underestimated the Lord’s ability to “know” about people because Jesus revealed that He knew what Simon was thinking! He then pointed out Simon’s failure to even treat Him as a guest by greeting Him with a kiss and having a servant wash His feet. Simon had not even fulfilled the reasonable expectations of hospitality during biblical times. However, the woman had continually kissed Jesus’s dirty, smelly feet, washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair and then anointing them with the perfume. Jesus then puts Simon in the hot seat by telling a brief parable and asking Simon a question regarding it:
Luke 7:41-42“Two men were debtors to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay him, he forgave both of them. Which one, then, will love him more?”
Luke 7:43“I suppose the one who was forgiven more,” Simon replied.
Jesus then revealed Simon’s failures as a host and praised the woman’s tender care of Him, tending to His needs after a journey by foot wearing sandals and anointing Him with perfume. He then said:
Luke 7:47 “. . . Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, for she has loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
When Jesus turns to the woman and tells her that her sins have been forgiven, the guests are all pondering what right He has to forgive sins. They may have been flabbergasted and incensed because they saw Him as a prophet but not yet as the Messiah. While they are all stuck in those thoughts, Jesus tells the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Jesus knew the unnamed woman’s heart. He knew her love for Him and that she realized her need of Him. She could “go in peace” because she now had peace with God because of her faith that Jesus was sent from God, and she received the forgiveness He offered. She could now embrace the result of that forgiveness which was peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with others as her life was being changed from the inside out.
We may not have had a “reputation” of sinfulness, but we have all been forgiven much. When sinfulness is defined as “falling short of the mark,” we must all admit we miss the mark on a regular basis because the “mark” is sinless perfection. In God’s economy there are no “little sins.” All sin is an afront to a Holy God. The “little white lie”, cheating on an exam or taxes, gossiping, are just as dire as murder. When we look at how much we have been forgiven, how strongly should we demonstrate our love for our Savior who died to pay the penalty of those sins. How can we express our love for Jesus today?
Father, we thank You for extending grace to us by sending Your Son to die in our place. We thank You that we can confess our sins daily and be forgiven and made new (1 John 1:9). We show our love for You in praise and worship but also in obeying Your command to love others and forgive them as You have forgiven us. Help us never to take that forgiveness lightly. Let us pour out our love in service to You!
Worship Experience: “Broken and Spilled Out” sung by Allison Durham Speer