What Does the Bible Say About God's Grace When You Feel Too Far Gone?

Amazing Scandalous Grace Sermon

What Is Luke 7:36 - 50 About?

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The Two People in Every Church on Sunday

There are two people in Luke 7. There's Simon the Pharisee — religious, respectable, asking the right questions, going through the right motions. And there's a woman of the city — broken, shamed, with nothing to offer except her tears and the perfume bottle she used to make a living.

One of them walks out of that room forgiven. The other walks out the same as he came in.

The difference wasn't their behavior.

It wasn't their morality.

It wasn't even what they believed about Jesus on paper.

"Be very careful sometimes when we have a religious mindset. We come to church on Sunday and we're checking a box… we're just going through the motions because it's time." — Pastor Donnie Rosa

That's the warning sitting underneath this whole story. You can sit in a room with Jesus and miss Him completely.

Who Was This Woman, Really?

The Bible calls her "a woman of the city who was a sinner." In the culture of that day, that language pointed to one thing: she was almost certainly a prostitute.

Sit with that for a moment.

She lived in a body she'd been selling. She carried wounds most of us couldn't imagine. Her self-worth had been traded away, piece by piece. And in a society that prized religious respectability above almost anything else, she was exactly the kind of person who would have been told — explicitly or implicitly — that she was beyond saving.

She heard Jesus was at Simon's house. And she decided: This is my chance.

"Sometimes people will press through our religious systems, press through our religious opinions, and the way we pre-judge them… that's exactly who Jesus went after, and that's exactly who went after Jesus."

Why Did She Approach Jesus From Behind?

Because in that culture, a woman of her reputation couldn't even meet His eyes. Looking a rabbi in the face would have been an additional scandal on top of every other one she carried.

So she came in humility. Behind Him. Hoping just to get close.

And the moment she did — before Jesus said a single word — she broke.

The Bible says she wept so many tears that her tears were what washed His feet. In the Old Testament, tears are a symbol of repentance. She wasn't crying because someone shamed her. She was crying because she was finally in the presence of love that didn't.

One moment in His presence, and the secrets of her heart came out.

Have you ever had that moment? You walked in arrogant, hard, defensive — and one moment in His presence broke something open in you that you didn't even know was locked?

The Four Scandalous Things She Did

Each one of these would have been shocking to the people in that room. Together they painted a picture of total surrender.

1. She touched Him

A prostitute touching a rabbi was, in that culture, a public scandal.

2. She let her hair down

In that time, a woman letting her hair down in public was grounds for divorce. Hair down was for the privacy of her own home with her husband. By doing it in front of everyone, at the feet of Jesus, she was saying: the man I am here for is Him.

3. She wiped His feet with her hair

She used the most intimate part of her appearance to clean the dirtiest part of His body. That's worship.

4. She poured out her perfume

This one is the most powerful detail.

Women in her line of work used perfume to attract clients. That perfume bottle was the tool of her trade — her income, her bondage, her past. When she emptied it onto Jesus' feet, she was saying without words:

"There is nothing left of my old life. There is no perfume left to attract anyone else. He is the only one I belong to now."

She didn't have to announce her conversion. Her actions preached the whole sermon.

What Jesus Said to Simon (And to Us)

While this was happening, Simon was watching — and judging. Jesus knew exactly what he was thinking and asked him a question:

"If two people owed money — one $50, one $5,000 — and a man forgave them both, who would love him more?"

Simon answered correctly: "The one who was forgiven more."

And then Jesus turned the whole table over.

He pointed at the woman and said to Simon:

"I came into your house. You gave me no water for my feet — but she has washed them with her tears. You gave me no kiss — but she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil — but she has anointed my feet with perfume."

Then He looked at her and said the words she came for:

"Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace."

No confession. No conversation. No probation period.

One moment in His presence.

What This Has to Do With You

Here's where it gets uncomfortable for those of us who grew up in church.

We've had the privilege of Jesus walking through our rooms. We've sung the songs. We've heard the sermons. We've come to know the language. And it is possible — terrifyingly possible — to be the most familiar person in the room and still be Simon.

"Jesus can be walking through these aisles, and He can whisper in your ear, 'I've been with you the whole time… and you haven't pressed in past your religion to get to me.'"

The question isn't whether you've been religious enough. The question is whether you've been present enough.

Have you broken open your perfume bottle? Have you given Him the thing your old life uses to keep its grip on you?

Or have you been sitting at the table asking polite questions while a woman behind you is being made new?

How Do I Actually Experience This?

If something in you is stirring right now, be challenged to:

1. Press in a little closer. Not in a religious sense — in a relational one. Spend a few more minutes in honest conversation with Jesus this week. Not reciting. Talking.

2. Stop performing. Drop the Simon mindset. You don't have to figure Jesus out before you meet Him.

3. Bring Him your perfume bottle. What's the thing you've been using to feel okay — the habit, the relationship, the identity, the achievement? Pour it out at His feet.

4. Don't do this alone. As John said in his testimony — "be rooted and planted." Find a church family. We'd love it to be ours.

If this message spoke to you, we would love to hear about it. If you'd like to watch the full sermon, please head to your YouTube page to watch Amazing Scandalous Grace

You're Invited

If this message stirred something in you, the most important next step isn't to read another article. It's to be in a room where the presence of God is real.

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