Luke 7 – The Woman Who Found Forgiveness of Sins

This article is adapted from a message preached on September 22, 2025. Watch the full sermon on YouTube.

Reading from Luke 7

We begin in Luke 7:36–50, a well-known and deeply moving account. Many of us have read this passage hundreds of times, yet it never loses its power.

A Pharisee invited the Lord Jesus into his house for a meal. While Jesus sat there, a woman from the city entered—described plainly and repeatedly as a sinner. She brought an alabaster flask of ointment, stood behind Him weeping, washed His feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair, kissed His feet, and anointed them.

Simon the Pharisee said within himself that if Jesus were truly a prophet, He would know what kind of woman this was. But Jesus answered his thoughts. He spoke of two debtors—one owing much, the other little—and asked which would love the creditor more when both were forgiven. Simon answered correctly: the one forgiven most.

Then Jesus turned toward the woman, but spoke to Simon.

A Woman Known for Her Sin

The Spirit of God makes something unmistakably clear.

• God says she was a sinner.

• Simon knew she was a sinner.

• Jesus said, “her sins, which are many.”

When God repeats something three times in four verses, He wants us to understand the point. She came because she was a sinner.

That was her problem—and she knew it.

Perhaps there was someone listening that night who also knew they were a sinner. Perhaps their sin troubled them when they lay awake at night. That is exactly where this woman was. She was not pretending. She was not excusing herself. She came because she needed forgiveness.

Why Did She Come?

She came because she knew Jesus was in the house.

She had heard about Him. She may not have known Him personally yet, but she knew enough to believe this: here is the One who can forgive sins. That belief was not without cost. The house was filled with religious people—people who looked down on her. But none of that mattered.

If forgiveness could be found, she would endure their looks, their thoughts, and their judgment.

Forgiveness Is Found in Christ Alone

Just chapters earlier, another sinner had come to Jesus—a paralyzed man lowered through a roof. The Lord’s first words to him were not about healing, but forgiveness: “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20, NKJV). To prove His authority to forgive sins, Jesus then healed the man.

Word spread everywhere.

Now a woman hears that same Jesus is nearby. She is not paralysed in body—but she is burdened by sin. If Christ could forgive that man, perhaps He could forgive her.

And He did.

As the message makes clear, the only way your sins will ever be forgiven is if the Lord Jesus forgives them.

Facing the Reality of Sin

Jesus did not minimize her sin. He said plainly, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven.”

Forgiveness begins with honesty. No one is forgiven without first facing the truth: I am the sinner. Sin is the problem—not God. God is not pushing people toward destruction; He is standing in the way, calling them to stop and be saved.

If the problem of sin could be dealt with, salvation would be possible.

And that is exactly what Christ came to do.

“Thy Faith Has Saved Thee”

The woman did nothing to earn forgiveness. She did not bargain. She did not promise change. She simply came to Christ—and believed Him.

Jesus said to her:

• “Your sins are forgiven.”

• “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” (Luke 7:48–50)

Her assurance rested on one thing alone: His word.

If you had asked her on the way home how she knew her sins were forgiven, the answer would have been simple: “He told me.” And that was enough.

A Greater Privilege for Us Today

When this woman believed Christ, the cross was still ahead. He had not yet paid the price of sin.

We stand on this side of Calvary.

We can look back and say with certainty: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The work is finished. The payment has been made.

That makes it easier today to be saved—not because sin is lighter, but because the evidence is complete.

Have You Been Forgiven?

Every person is the same in one way: all have sinned. The only difference is this: some are forgiven, and some are not.

This woman entered the house known as a sinner. She left forgiven, saved, and at peace.

That same forgiveness is found in Christ alone.