Adapted from a Greg Nance sermon https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/5-do-you-see-this-woman-greg-nance-sermon-on-lordship-of-christ-65767?ref=SermonSeriesDetails

2. In order to truly see others as they are we must
first see Jesus for who He is and ourselves for
who we are.
Blindness is prevalent among the religious.

3. Luke 7:36 NIV When one of the Pharisees
invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went
to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the
table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a
sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the
Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an
alabaster jar of perfume. 38 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.

4. 39 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.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have
something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

5. 41 “Two people owed money to a certain
moneylender. One owed him five hundred
denarii and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them
had the money to pay him back, so he forgave
the debts of both. Now which of them will love
him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had
the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

6. 44 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. 45 You did not give me
a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered,
has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not
put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume
on my feet.

7. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been
forgiven—as her great love has shown. But
whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are
forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among
themselves, “Who is this who even forgives
sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has
saved you; go in peace.”

8. Jesus’ ministry is impacting many people. His
reputation as a healer continues to spread just
as His clash with the religious leadership grows.
He has crossed the line by forgiving sins,
healing on the Sabbath and spending time with
the wrong kind of people.
He appears to be a radical, but He backs up
what He says with powerful healings.
The Pharisees just can’t quite figure Jesus out.

9. Chapter 7 begins by showing us that Jesus’
healing reputation has spread beyond the
Jewish people. A gentile centurion calls on Him
to heal his sick servant, but this gentile
demonstrates faith beyond anything Jesus has
seen so far, and Jesus expresses surprise.
Next, He raises a widow’s son from the dead
which shocks all the witnesses and has
everyone talking about God’s presence in Him.

10. Thirdly, Luke gives us an inside look at John the
Baptist’s message from Jail to Jesus.
It looks like John is struggling with
understanding just who Jesus is.
Are you the One?
Do we need to wait for someone else?
These words tell us that even John needed
confirmation. Jesus supplied confirmation to
John with works and words that demonstrated
that He is the One!

11. Then Jesus affirms John’s work and witness.
Luke 7:27 NIV This is the one about whom it is
written: “ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of
you, who will prepare your way before you.’ 28 I
tell you, among those born of women there is no
one greater than John; yet the one who is least
in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

12. Luke points something out in verses 29-30 that
serve as a setting for our lesson from verses 36-
50.
Luke 7:29 NIV (All the people, even the tax
collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words,
acknowledged that God’s way was right,
because they had been baptized by John. 30 But
the Pharisees and the experts in the law
rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because
they had not been baptized by John.)

13. Notice the distinction between all the people
including the tax collectors, and the Pharisees
and lawyers.
How did the people and tax collectors show that
they acknowledged God’s justice? They saw
John, the forerunner of Jesus, believed & were
baptized. What did the Pharisees and lawyers
do? How did they reject God’s purpose for
themselves? They refused to see & believe in
the one John was proclaiming & were not
baptized.

14. Ok… all that in place, we see a great
case-in-point of this in verses 36-50.
Let’s study this together:
Here we encounter three main characters:
a Pharisee named Simon, a sinful woman, and
Jesus.
Watch how Luke unfolds the event for us and
think about what each character experiences
and reacts.
The set up is this…

15. Simon, a Pharisee has Jesus over for dinner.
He is obviously interested in Jesus.
He not only invites Jesus to come, but there are
others there too, maybe as witnesses or maybe
to evaluate Jesus.

16. I can almost imagine them thinking:
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how does Jesus rate.
Do we like Him or not.
Does He pass all of our tests or not.
If so, maybe we can make use of Him.
If not, we will have to figure out how to eliminate
Him and disrupt His influence.”

17. The meal is under way.
Jesus has reclined at the table of Simon with
the other dinner guests when it happens.
An unexpected guest enters the room.
This isn’t just any guest, it’s a woman.
And not just any woman, it’s her!
The woman everyone in town knows about.
The sinful one.

18. Now every woman in that town was a sinner, but
this woman was not just a regular old sinner.
She’s a sinner with a capitol “S”.
Even Simon knows about her. But look closely
at verse 37. A woman in that town who lived a
sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the
Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an
alabaster jar of perfume.

19. She somehow found out where Jesus was,
and what did she do?
She came to see Him and she brought a gift.
Was she invited? No.
Was she wanted? No.

20. I’m not even sure just how she got in there, but
she did. And she has brought something to give
to Jesus.
She enters, she is standing behind Jesus
weeping. Her tears hit His feet. She sees it. She
stoops down to the floor and takes her hair and
begins to wipe Jesus’ feet and to kiss His feet
and pour perfume on them.
Freeze frame!
Have you got this picture in your mind?

21. What an amazing sight!
Wow!
This is both very amazing and also very
uncomfortable.
Just think of it!
Wouldn’t you be uncomfortable?
How does one react to something like this?
This is not your everyday event in the life of a
Pharisee.

22. Simon is getting his eyes full of something that
demands a decision.
This is something he must evaluate and react
to!
His reaction will reveal his heart.
This is also something Jesus will react to.
And we see His heart as well.

23. Simon’s reaction is swift and decisive.
It is captured in verse 39.
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.”

24. Let’s look at Simon for a minute.
He has a cautious curiosity about Jesus’
identity.
Simon has fixed ideas about rules of
relationships.
Now not all his rules are wrong, but, let’s face it,
Simon is very careful about what kind of people
he associates with and when he sees this
woman doing all this to Jesus, he just knows
that Jesus can’t be a holy man!

25. No holy man or prophet would allow such a
display!
This is shameful.
It’s not right!
Jesus has just failed the sinful woman test!
He must not be a prophet of God.
No prophet of God would participate here and
allow this kind of person to love on His feet like
this!

26. Well? How would you feel if a known prostitute
came in and acted like that with our guest
speaker at one of our potluck dinners?
Is there any of Simon in any of us?
I’m afraid I would have to confess that affection
like that could make me wonder.

27. I’m afraid if I were there at Simon’s house I
might not do much better than he did.
Why did Simon make such a judgment?
Simon’s measurements were based on what he
was looking at and what he thought he was
seeing.
Jesus is about to offer a better focus for him.

28. Simon has no idea that the Son of God is setting
at his table and eating this meal with him.
He has no clue as to the magnitude of the
moment.
On the other hand, look at the sinful woman.
This woman demonstrates much better
perception and a much more proper response to
who Jesus is than Simon.

29. She has seen something Simon is blind to.
She recognizes the majesty of Jesus and pours
out passionate appreciation and affection
toward Him in the only way she knows how,
by the only means she can.
Simon is careful about his associations with
sinners.
This woman has had plenty of association with
all kinds of sinners who care nothing for her.

30. They only come for what she can do for them.
Jesus is the first person perhaps in her memory
that looks past what she does.
Jesus somehow sees her.
Jesus tells a parable to Simon which turns
Simon’s judgment in the right direction.
The parable has three characters in it.
A lender, and two borrowers.

31. 41 “Two people owed money to a certain
moneylender. One owed him five hundred
denarii and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them
had the money to pay him back, so he forgave
the debts of both. Now which of them will love
him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had
the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

32. Now Jesus speaks words designed to open
Simon’s eyes.
Listen to Jesus words to Simon again in verses
44-47.

33. 44 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. 45 You did not give me
a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered,
has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not
put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume
on my feet.

34. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been
forgiven—as her great love has shown. But
whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
What did Jesus ask Simon here?
Do you see this woman?
Simon, you are looking at all the wrong things.
You can’t evaluate what is going on here
because you can’t see!

35. Simon can’t see Jesus for who He is,
but this woman can!
She’s acting like Simon ought to act,
if he could only see!
Simon is so blind in his self-righteousness that
he had the creator of the universe over for
dinner and didn’t even greet him at the door!

36. He’s so blind he didn’t even offer to hang His
coat up!
Whose treatment of Jesus is really the shameful
one here?
Whose treatment of Jesus actually fits the
reality of who Jesus is and who we are in His
presence?

37. Who showed Jesus love and who missed the
golden opportunity of a lifetime?
Don’t you know that on the day of judgment,
when Jesus returns, Simon will wish he had
traded places with this sinful woman?

38. Let me finish our lesson by presenting the
lesson Jesus did.
Jesus tells us plainly here that our love for Him
is directly related to the forgiveness we receive
from Him.
Jesus is actually very gracious toward Simon.
He accepts Simon’s limited love and comes for
dinner.

39. But when Simon casts stones at what this
woman is doing and judges Jesus in the
process, Jesus rises and defends her.
More than that, Jesus publicly blesses her with
forgiveness of her sins before them all.

40. She has risked much to come show her love to
Jesus and He will not let her be put to shame.
In fact, Jesus announcement of her forgiveness
includes an announcement of her salvation and
peace.

41. What about us?
Are you and I more concerned with what others
think and do, or are we willing to fall down at the
feet of Jesus and worship and adore Him in love
for forgiving us for our sins?

42. Do you see this woman?
She was lost in her love for her Lord and poured
out herself to Him.
Do you see this woman?
She received eternal blessings for her response
to her Lord.
Do you see this woman?
Will you respond to the Lord like she did and
receive the blessings she received?
Jesus is watching