Loving Jesus – Luke 7:36-50

STUDY GUIDE

Loving Jesus

An Orderly Account: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

Luke 7:36-50

The Text

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table… (Luke 7:36-50)

Introduction

The question this text presses on every one of us is: How do we grow in love for Jesus? Not how do we manufacture more emotion, or try harder to feel passionate, or whip up our zeal through willpower.

And this text says: “What if the secret to loving Jesus more isn’t doing more for him, but instead going back over and over remembering what he has done for you?”

In this passage, a broken woman pours out (quite literally) everything at Jesus’ feet in extravagant love—while the religious expert in the room feels nothing for him. Jesus explains why: she loved much because she was forgiven much.

Summary of the Text

Let’s begin by walking back through the text verse by verse.

As Jesus’ fame grows, he’s invited to dine with a Pharisee. Remember, he was just accused of associating with tax collectors and sinners, so this is an interesting twist. In  first century Jewish culture, people reclined at low tables for meals, feet extended backward, making it possible for someone to approach from the rear. (v. 36)

An uninvited woman, described as a sinner (implying a notorious reputation) enters the house, stands behind Jesus, weeping and wets his feet with her tears, breaks open an alabaster flask of ointment (likely costing a year’s wages) and anoints Jesus feet even as she scrubs her feet with her hair; all of this in violation of every social norm. (v. 37-38)

The Pharisee, Simon, silently judges both the woman and Jesus: she’s a sinner and he’s no prophet. (v. 39)

Jesus then gives us a parable. A man had two debtors who are unable to pay; one owed 500 days wages, the other 50 days wages. He cancels both debts. Which will love him more? Simon hesitates, but gives the correct answer, and Jesus explains: the woman has been forgiven much, therefore she loves much. And those who are forgiven little, love little. (v. 40-47)

Jesus then turns to the woman, declares that her sins are forgiven, and the dinner guests marvel at his boldness. He dismisses the woman, reminding us that it is the woman’s faith that connected her to Jesus, not her works of love. (v. 48-49)

1. 1. The Diagnosis

Look at Simon. He’s not an atheist. He’s not openly hostile. He’s a religious man who invited Jesus to dinner. Yet his love is minimal—polite at best.

• No water for dusty feet (a basic hospitality)
• No kiss when he greeted Jesus
• No anointing for the head.

Why? Because he sees himself as basically good, and he sees Jesus as someone whose presence can make him a little better. In other words, he thinks his debt is small. Sure, he owes God a little here and there, but he’s far better off than this woman, and when you think you’re debt is small, your love stays small. Is that you?

We live in a culture that tells us to believe in ourselves, to affirm our worth, to see ourselves as basically good, and Luke 7 says, “If you want to have any hope of being a loving person, you have to admit you’re hopelessly in debt You’ve broken all God’s commands.”

We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared to believe, and when you forget that, you become like Simon—self-righteous, judgmental, cool toward Jesus.

2. The Remedy

Here’s where the story gets deeply personal—and painful, but if you hang on, it’s full of grace. Simon is silently sitting in judgment over this woman, and over Jesus. And Jesus has two options. Option one: blast Simon with condemnation. But he doesn’t say, “You self-righteous hypocrite!” Instead, he tells Simon a parable to help him see his need, and it helps us see our too.

Notice: in the parable there are two debtors and neither can pay. The lender forgives them both, and Simon answers correctly that the one forgiven more will love more. The beauty of the story is this: if Simon will put himself in the story he’ll realize Jesus is saying, “You see? You’re not debt-free. You have a debt—and it may appear smaller in your eyes, but it’s still unpayable.”

Jesus then forces Simon to look at the woman—but not her sin. He says, “Look at what she’s doing for me. It shows how much she’s knows I have forgiven in her.” In other words, it’s a mirror. “Simon, the reason you gave me so little, is because you think you need little from me.”

I pray you see this: Jesus exposes his self-righteousness not to crush him, but to liberate him.

Now listen – self-righteousness – is a prison of our own making. A self-righteous person reads this passage and instantly starts thinking, “Ok, what can I do to prove my love for Jesus?” Boom, trapped again. A self-righteous person rushes to comparison, “Well, I’m doing better than I was, or I’m doing better than them.”

And the self-righteous person misses the entire point of the parable: you can’t pay the debt. And any attempt to pay off God’s mercy and grace only borrows more. It only drives you deeper into debt.

Listen – this passage isn’t trying first and foremost to give you new rules to follow. It’s offering grace. And self-righteousness always blocks the very grace God is offering.

As long as we think the debt is small, we never fully receive the forgiveness God offers. As long as we think we can earn our forgiveness, we never truly love Jesus as we ought.

And when Jesus exposes this, he’s not trying to humiliate us into despair. He’s breaking the illusion that we can stand on our own righteousness. He’s saying, “Stop pretending you don’t need me as much as she does. Come down to the same level as her—stoop at my feet—and receive what she received.”

That humiliation is liberation. It’s freedom—freedom from the cycle of self-censorship, from the exhausting charade of good works patched over a cold heart.

That kind of freedom says, “Oh Lord, I don’t even know what I’m going to give you. I just see what you’ve given me. I’ve stopped measuring my own debt—because in the end whether large or small, I see that I can’t pay it, and it required you going to the cross to pay it for me. And I just love you. Thank you for the cross.”

The gospel says, “Yes! You are more sinful than you ever dared to believe.” It humbles you into the dust. But, in the next breath the gospel says, “Yet, you are more loved than you ever dared to hope.”

3. The Application

Now – at the risk of offering some works to all you self-righteous people…

1. Daily Remember Your Debt

Not to wallow in it, but to tamp down pride. Confess your sin honestly—not just the mistakes, but also you inability to pay for them. “O my Lord, I’m in just as much debt today as I was yesterday.”

2. Meditate on the Goodness of God

At the root, self-righteousness doubts the grace of God. Pharisee’s don’t obey God because they believe he’s good. They obey because the think he’s calculating. But God isn’t calculating. You can’t give him anything. He overflows in goodness and love. So good that he did not withhold even his own Son for you, but freely gave him up.

3. Meditate on the Cross

The cross is more than a historical event. It’s an act of supreme love. It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.