Luke 7:36-50

4. The anointing by a sinful woman 7:36-50

This incident, appearing only in Luke’s Gospel, illustrates the truth just expressed in Luke 7:35. Here is a case in point of what Jesus had just described happening (Luke 7:34). Jesus reached out to a sinner only to receive criticism from a fastidious Pharisee. The love that the woman lavished on Jesus contrasts with Simon the Pharisee’s lack of love for Him. The motif of Jesus’ identity is also significant in this story since Jesus had forgiven the woman’s sins, and this raised a question about His authority. Again Luke featured a woman in his narrative showing Jesus’ concern for women. There are some similarities between this story and the one about Mary anointing Jesus’ feet in Simon the leper’s house, but that was a different incident (cf. Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8).

". . . the story of the sinful woman in the Pharisee’s house reminds us of the previous conflict over Jesus’ authority to release sins, suggesting that this is a continuing conflict. This reminder may also help readers to recall Jesus’ basic claim of authority to release sins in Luke 5:24." [Note: Tannehill, 1:106.]