Was she there to beg his forgiveness or to worship him for a cleansing already received? 

This was the question that sparked all the Bible study I’ve invested in the subject of Jesus and women over the years. (God may have possibly had something to do with this, as well.) The question was prompted by an ambiguous Bible translation, which resulted in a significant misinterpretation. 

One day back in the mid-1990s, I was preparing to teach a children’s Sunday school lesson on the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7:36-50. I was taken aback by a statement in the teacher’s manual that Jesus forgave this woman because she had demonstrated a sufficient amount of sorrow for her sin. 

In other words, they thought Jesus was saying, “Give her some space, Simon. This woman is working hard at proving to me that she is sorry for her pitiful life. If she grovels long enough and with enough conviction, I’ll forgive her.” 

The teacher’s manual promoted a conclusion similar to the one blogger, Simon Yap, confessed to*: 

1. Jesus forgave the prostitute because she anointed His feet with her perfume.
2. The prostitute anointed Jesus’ feet because she wanted to be forgiven.
3. After she anointed Jesus’ feet Jesus forgave her.
4. She was forgiven because she loved Jesus much.

Was that right? Did she come to Jesus really sorry or really grateful? 

I know where this interpretation came from. If you read only verse 47 in the original New International Version (published in 1984), you find Jesus telling Simon the Pharisee this:

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much…” [italics added for emphasis]

The New American Standard Version, also still commonly in use back in the 90s, reads similarly: 

“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much…” 

This statement certainly leans toward supporting the Sunday school book’s interpretation.

However, it ignores the parable Jesus had just told the Pharisee:

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. (Luke 7:41-43)

Clearly, Jesus’ point was that the love follows the forgiveness; it doesn’t earn the forgiveness. 

Understanding this statement correctly is no trivial matter. We have so much trouble feeling unworthy of Christ’s love—especially when sexual sin is involved—that it’s vital to get this theology straight. We are loved. First. We are forgiven. Already. That’s the grace part. We then respond with gratitude, sorrow—yes—for our sin against such a good God, also repentance, obedience, worship, and praise. 

There’s no groveling and groaning and begging and penance-paying to prove that we regret our sin enough to warrant reprieve. No amount of weeping or self-inflicted punishment or frenzied good deeds would have earned God’s forgiveness for that prostitute, nor will it get me anywhere toward forgiveness of my own sin. Praise God for that! 

The woman who came to Jesus during that dinner party was there to thank Jesus for what had already happened. She was there to worship him and show her love for a gentle Savior who loves every one of his daughters, no matter what they have done or what has been done to them. 

Thankfully, the confusion about Jesus’ meaning is cleared up by the 2011 update of the New International Version, probably because the translators took into account the context of the parable in their translation:

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

The New Living Translation concurs: 

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love… 

Not all Bible translations follow this rendering even now, but read in the context of the parable, it certainly seems more consistent. The thing to remember is that reading a reliable Bible translation—even multiple translations—is really important to understanding the intended meaning of a passage. It’s also so much easier now with digital Bibles like www.biblegateway.com. Yet, paying attention to the full context of a statement is absolutely essential and can often help with your interpretation of an ambiguous or confusing statement. 

I’m really glad some Bible translators have better clarified the meaning of verse 47. Although I’m not happy that people have sometimes misunderstood the point of this passage, there is a silver lining for me personally that they did. Without coming across this misconception I may never have started digging deeper into this story and then into all of Christ’s other encounters with women. What a beautiful blessing I would have missed. 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Titus 3:4-7 

*See “My apologies to a former prostitute! Luke 7:46-47” at His Grace Is Enough blog.

The first-century Middle-Eastern world that Jesus experienced in the flesh was a patriarchal culture several millennia old. Although Jewish patriarchy had been shaped by the Law of Moses early on, its views about women had become distorted over time in its oral traditions, or midrashim, and were often influenced by neighboring cultures such as that of the Greeks.

Women in early first-century Palestine were generally viewed as inherently inferior to men. They were denied a full education, relegated to a secluded life in the household, and ranked just above slaves. Jesus was certainly aware of these cultural values yet did not appear to share them.

My article, “She Is More Than…” appears in the April themed issue of Mutuality on the extreme patriarchy movement in Christianity. Read it on page 12.

Today is Saturday, the day before Easter, and I’m wondering what Saturday was like for the women disciples of Jesus two thousand years ago who had just experienced the unthinkable.

Sunday's coming

Their Lord, this amazing teacher whom they believed was the Messiah (Christ), the Son of God, the Hope of Israel—this man who had healed them, taught them, forgiven them, accepted them, who had treated them as valuable members of his ministry, who had inspired their love and devotion—had been arrested, tried, and sentenced to the cross. Everything they understood about him, all the things they had hoped for because of him, now made no sense. He was gone. How could this have happened?

The Gospel of Luke simply tells us that these women “rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). I bet you can imagine how miserable that Saturday was for them.

The female disciples of Jesus had been deeply affected by the crucifixion of Jesus. Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, Salome, the mother of James and John, Mary the mother of Jesus and her sister were all there. The Gospel of Matthew tells that many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee were there with him in Jerusalem that fateful Friday (Matthew 26:55), and they followed him every step of the way:

On the way to Golgotha
A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. (Luke 23:27-28) 

At the Cross
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.…  Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,and Salome…. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there. (Mark 15:27-41)

At the Burial
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. (Matthew 27:59-61)

These women stood by Jesus to the very end. They went home and grieved their overwhelming loss until Sunday morning. Then, a handful of them went to offer one last act of devotion to their beloved friend.

What they found at first alarmed them—an empty tomb and an angel. They left the tomb “trembling and bewildered” (Mark 16:8). Yet, their burgeoning hope was fulfilled when Jesus appeared to them with the deceptively simple, “Greetings!” (Matthew 28:9), which in Greek carried a connotation of “Rejoice!”

Rejoice they did, no doubt. Relief, delight, elation, renewed hope, light and life all came rushing back at once. 

The Gospel of John tells only of Mary Magdalene’s experience at the tomb. He says her first reaction at seeing the empty tomb was devastation. Not only had their killed her Lord, they had desecrated his body and robbed her of her last opportunity to lavish her adoration upon him. Then, Jesus appears to her, relieves her fears, and gives her an assignment. “Go to my brothers and tell them…” 

I bet she ran all the way back to town with her life changing news: “I have seen the Lord!”

Consider these questions as you reflect on Resurrection this weekend:

 - Can I stick with Jesus to the end, even when all the world hates him?

 - Can I keep serving Jesus, even when he doesn’t do what I thought he would do?

 - Am I convinced about the power of his resurrection and available to tell others?

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatian 2:20

What do the following have in common?

- Reaching out in a crowd to touch a rabbi’s robe, even though it will make him ceremonially unclean.

- Waltzing into a house full of hostile religious leaders who all know about your immoral past.

- Sacrificing a year’s worth of wages to a man who didn’t ask for it.

- Speaking up first to a Jewish man who knows you only as an assertive Gentile woman.

Risk is what these actions share. For women in first century Palestine, these actions were each inherently risky. 

Mary, the sister of Lazarus who poured her extravagantly scented adoration over the head and feet of Jesus, likely knew him well enough to anticipate a positive response. Even then, she had to endure the ire of other dinner guests who went ballistic over her “wastefulness.” Also, there was the off chance that being doused in Chanel No. 5 might actually annoy Jesus. 

The other three women, who had less experience with him, had to be cognizant that they risked rejection and reproof for so blatantly disregarding propriety in their pursuit of Jesus. It could easily have gone badly for them. Simon the Pharisee was certainly ready to show her the door after the prostitute crashed his dinner party. And the disciples with Jesus in Tyre heard the Gentile mother’s pleas for help and suggested Jesus send her away. Risk or not, each of these women forged ahead in faith anyway. 

Because Jesus was the object of their trust, there was no rejection, no humiliation, no “What do you think you’re doing?”and no admonishment for impropriety. 

Instead, Mary received the Savior’s approval for her worship. The woman with chronic bleeding was healed. The prostitute got peace. The daughter of the Gentile mom lost a troublesome demon. Each woman got what she risked herself to pursue, plus a public commendation for good measure: 

“She has done a beautiful thing for me.”
“Daughter, your faith has healed you.”
“Her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown.”
“Woman, you have great faith!”

This isn’t only good news, it’s tremendous news for women!

We can risk going to Jesus with our greatest needs, our worst sins, our most outrageous demands, and our most passionate worship, and we are safe—completely safe—with him. Even when we feel compelled to pursue him outside the boundaries of what is considered secure, proper, traditional, or even feminine in our religious culture, we can trust Jesus to know our hearts and respond with love and grace—and possibly even his hearty approval.

Despite all our best efforts, the number of single adults  in the U.S.  now nearly equals the number of married adults. Just under half of those single people are women.

Women today are single for a variety of reasons. Some are completing their education and getting established in a career before getting married. Some are taking advantage of their freedom to engage in ministry and mission work. The average age of first marriage is closing in on 30, although women are not necessarily waiting that long to co-habitate. This twenty-something group also, of course, includes women who would like to be married but are waiting to find the elusive “Mr. Right.” Not to be disregarded are those women who are uninterested in ever being married, some of whom commendably choose to devote their lives to the service of God and his people. 

On the other side of marriage are a number of women who are now divorced or widowed. Some are still grieving the loss of their relationship and their dreams of a life that may now never be. Single women with children still at home are also probably struggling to stay afloat financially. Many of them are physically and emotionally exhausted and would really like a partner who could help them carry the load. Some women without kids at home are content as they are and in no hurry to return to the altar. 

(In his book Going Solo, Eric Klinenberg says that an increasing number of people are choosing to live alone and are willing to pay a premium for it. Rather than being lonely and isolated, these people actually become more socially active and civically engaged.)

The one thing all of these single women have in common is that they can be alienated by churches and Christians who

(a)    focus myopically on traditional families as their target market and
(b)   lump all single people into a homogenous group of “misfits.”

In her book Table for One, Camerin Courtney notes, “I love the church. I am the church. But there are times when I feel more like its black-sheep spinster aunt than one of its valued daughters.” 

Lauren Winner, author of Real Sex, asks, “Why is it so hard for preachers to illustrate their sermons, just occasionally, with a reference to tension between roommates instead of the challenges of marriage? 

Maybe we Christians could try to be a little more like Jesus in our sensitivity to and appreciation of single women. Jesus seemed willing to accept women regardless of their marital status and responded to them as individuals. When he encountered the widow of Nain mourning the loss of her only son, his heart went out to her, and he returned her son to life. On the other hand, after healing single women like Mary Magdalene and Susanna, he allowed them to travel with him, care for his needs, and support him financially (Luke 8:1-3). The single sisters Mary and Martha were close friends of Jesus and regularly hosted him in Mary’s home. The Gospels never record an instance in which Jesus advised a single woman to go find a husband, nor did any of his teachings reflect this view. He seemed to welcome single women as partners in his ministry. 

Paul had particular concerns about the urgency of advancing the kingdom, but read what he had to say and consider whether his rationale might also be relevant in today’s world:

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. …

But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. … 

I would like you to be free from concern. … An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. …

A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

(I Corinthians 7:8-9, 28, 32-35, 39-40)

Without slighting married women in any way (I’ve been married for nearly 30 years, myself!), I merely suggest that we need to think again about how the church views singleness, especially when single people make up half the population. 

- We need to see single women as whole people just as they are and acknowledge their great value to the kingdom—and not only as babysitters for married people’s children. 

- We need to remember that there are many reasons for being single and consider single women and their needs as individuals. 

- We need to support single women in accepting their current situation, which may or may not change someday. Lauren Winner suggests that we start “asking the single person not only who are you dating? But how is God calling you to be faithful now as you are?” 

- We need to include single women in all aspects of church life and integrate them in mixed communities of people of various ages and life circumstances. 

- We need to support adult single women (and men) in the discipline of chastity. Why do we stop talking to people about biblical abstinence after they graduate from high school? 

Wife and mother are high callings but they aren’t the only callings. You would be hard pressed to find Jesus favoring any marital or parental status in the Gospels. His earthly ministry showed us that in the Kingdom being a daughter of God is reason enough to be valued.

Yesterday, my daughter Jessi and I attended a conference on violence against women at the UVA Nursing School. We learned more about the emotional and physical tolls of abuse on its victims, about interventions to protect victims and aid in their recovery, and about efforts here and abroad aimed at violence prevention.

Consider these staggering U.S. statistics:

- One in four girls and one in six boys is sexually abused before the age of 18.

- More than 600 women every day are raped or sexually assaulted.

- One in five women will experience rape or attempted rape during their college years.

- Women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year.

- There is a $32 billion/year business in commercial sex trafficking of women and children in the U.S. The average age of entry into prostitution is 11 to 14 years old. The U.S. is the second largest destination for trafficked victims of sexual exploitation.

There are many good men who would never think of engaging in this appalling behavior. I definitely don’t think all men are bad, or even most of them. But there are some—too many—who are angry, stressed, or insecure, who have their own histories of violence or abuse, who lack the ability to self-regulate, or whose judgment is impaired by substance abuse.* Some of them are sitting in our church pews. Don’t fool yourself that they’re not.

In my own experience, I have worshipped in two different churches where one of the elders has been discovered to be a child molester. These church leaders were sexual abusers of their own young family members. I also know a woman who over 20 years ago was raped by her youth minister.

We have to stop tiptoeing around these subjects in our churches and behaving as if these problems could never happen in our flock. Here’s a first step. Let’s ask our ministers, teachers, and church leaders periodically to incorporate statements like these in their messages:

- Nothing you could ever do could make you deserving of physical or sexual abuse. You are a precious child of God. Any violence you have endured is the result of the sin of the perpetrator not a just punishment for your failure or a sign that you are in any way less valuable to God.

-In no uncertain terms is anyone ever to coerce sexual acts from anyone, even if the person is your spouse. Sex without consent is never an act of love.

- Any sexual act whatsoever with a child is heinous and criminal and devastatingly traumatic to the child. (Covering up someone else’s act of abuse is also heinous.) Let’s also make sure our church is doing everything possible to protect children and youth from abuse in the church context.

- There is absolutely no biblical justification for slapping, punching, kicking, choking, or using any form of physical violence against a spouse or partner. There is never an acceptable excuse for physical violence against your spouse or your children—not even their disobedience. It’s always wrong.

- Followers of Christ never emotionally or psychologically abuse members of their family. Derogatory words and phrases, like “slut,” “trash,” “worthless,” “no good,” “never amount to anything,” or worse should never cross our lips.

These statements should go without saying in communities of faith where we worship a loving God and a gentle Savior. Yet, violence and abuse do occur among church members, and we need to take a stand. It’s not enough merely to tell people the right and godly way to behave. Mental health professionals Nancy Nason-Clark and Stephen McMullin** provide this advice to ministers and church leaders: “Definining, effectively addressing, and condemning sexual abuse by naming it publicly in a sermon are important ways of disempowering the abuser and providing the victim or survivor with the permission they may feel they need to seek help and safety.”

Even if we never get through to a perpetrator determined to justify his actions, we will at the very least communicate to current and potential victims that this church is a place of safety where they will be protected, defended, believed, listened to, and supported.

I really believe it’s what Jesus would do.

*Yes, sometimes, much less commonly, women are abusers too, and they also need to hear these messages.

** From the chapter “A Charge for Church Leadership” in The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused (WIPF and STOCK Publishers)

I love the whole “Gospel of John the Film,” but my one of my favorite sections is the portrayal of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. It made me see this interaction in a whole new way. Watch it and see what you think:

Don’t you love the actress they chose for this part? What about the way she seems skeptical of Jesus at first? I also really became aware for the first time of her role as an evangelist. She brought her whole village to Jesus! 

For more thoughts on this story, see previous post, “What Do You See in Sychar?”

Accomplishing
Serving
Teaching
Managing
Supporting
Contributing
Working

Do any of these activities contribute to your sense of self-worth? These kinds of action words—and many others like them—validate our beliefs that we are making a difference in other people’s lives. It’s a great feeling to do something and then feel the pride of accomplishment, the exhilaration of other people’s praise, the warm glow of another’s appreciation. 

What if an accident or illness struck, and you physically could not do any of these activities anymore? What if you had no energy to serve or suffered too much pain to work? What if you were paralyzed and could literally do nothing but lie in bed? Could you accept the love of God, or even the love of your family and friends, if you were so physically incapacitated that you could do nothing but say “thank you”?

These questions have touched me deeply because of the plight of beloved family and friends. I have a teenage daughter with chronic fatigue, who has the desire but not the stamina to work and serve in all the ways she wants to. Also, several years ago a very active friend was struck with a brain aneurysm that left him a quadriplegic. Because he had to be intubated, the poor man could not even eat or speak. He lived that way for seven years before he went home to the Lord.

Sometimes infirmity strikes. Other times our bodies or minds just wear out due to age. My 94-year-old friend Virginia has told me many times that she doesn’t know why she’s still living, since she can no longer do much of anything. She clings to her faith that God has a reason for keeping her here, and I continue to thank her for the blessing she has been to me. 

We are left with the question, how do I measure my value when I can no longer do all the things I used to do, still want to do, and everyone else is doing? How do Christians who believe they are called to an active faith understand their worth when chronic pain or illness—even mental illness— rule out the possibilities of being active? These are tough questions that every one needs to consider—healthy or not.

Certainly, we need much more compassion for the people in our communities who struggle not only with physical limitation itself but with its accompanying guilt, frustration, and resentment. They need our recognition that they are fighting battles we’ve never even imagined, and more importantly, they need to know that they are dearly loved. 

We also need to be aware of how Western work-hard-to-earn-your-way, pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps philosophy seeps into our spiritual thinking. Our salvation, of course, is not dependent upon how much we do for God. Neither is our worth to God. He loves us for who we are not what we do. 

If we are able to be very active in our service, we need to be careful that we don’t fool ourselves into thinking those acts of service make us extra special. None of knows when, in an instant, the capability to DO can be taken away. 

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are!
(I John 3:1) 

Therefore we do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
(2 Corinthians 4:16)

Jesus explicitly mentions the faith of only three women in the Gospels. Can you guess who they are? His mother maybe? Mary Magdalene? Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus? 

Nope. These women may have possessed notable faith, but the Gospel writers never mentioned it. The faith Jesus commented on belonged to three women least likely to be commended by his fellow first-century Jews:

 1. A ceremonially unclean woman who had missed worship services for 12 years.

2. A Canaanite woman who was neither an ethnic nor religious Jew.

3. A prostitute. 

Here’s what Jesus said to these women. 

1. To the woman with chronic bleeding who believed Jesus had so much power that it rubbed off on his clothes, he said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.”

2. To the mother who practically demanded that Jesus heal her daughter’s demon possession, he said, “Woman, you have great faith!”

3. To the immoral woman who believed that her “many sins” really could be forgiven, he said, “Your faith has saved you.” 

Granted, these three women aren’t the only people in the Bible whose faith was ever commended. I believe that we can learn something, though, by digging deeper to see what Jesus saw in them. 

The woman with a 12-year bleeding problem had spent all her money trying every medical treatment available to her and had only gotten worse. She knew that most rabbis would refuse physical contact with her because it would make them ceremonially unclean. So in a pressing crowd, she tried a sneak attack from behind, sure that the mere touch of Jesus’ clothes would bring all the healing she needed. She wasn’t asking for his time and attention—just a little miracle on the sly. 

The Canaanite/Greek mother had a daughter who suffered terribly from demon possession. She knew how Jews felt about Gentiles, but the minute she heard Jesus was in town, she ran to him, even though she risked rejection. She cried out to him, ignoring the disciples’ bigotry. She fell at his feet and pleaded for mercy. This was her chance to get her daughter healed, and she would not be denied. She didn’t need the whole loaf of bread; she would take whatever crumbs she could get from Jesus. 

The sinful woman must have encountered Jesus previously. She wasn’t there to plead for mercy; she was there to thank him for it. She actually believed the very thing that many of us have such trouble accepting—that our many sins can really be forgiven. There was no chance she was ever going to earn her way spiritually out of the mess she was in. Her only choice was to trust Jesus when he said he would take care of it all. Because she had been forgiven much, she loved much and totally disregarded self-righteous Simon and his uncharitable thoughts.  

Each of these women was desperate in her own way. Each had challenging circumstances beyond her own ability to fix. Each believed with all her heart that Jesus was the one who could solve her problem. 

So they each decided to take a risk and stepped out…

- With an outstretched arm.
- With swallowed pride.
- With an expensive bottle of perfume.

And with faith.

Faith worth mentioning—out loud so everyone could hear it.

 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

Family is an important topic in the Gospel of Matthew. The book opens with a genealogy, and among the 42 fathers in Jesus’ lineage four notable mothers are also named, plus of course his mother Mary. In fact, the word mother occurs more in Matthew than in any other Gospel.

In Matthew Jesus quoted Mosaic laws about honoring parents and not cursing them. He even rebuked religious leaders for creating loopholes that released them from providing financial support to their parents.

Amongst all this focusing on the family, some other things Jesus said seem almost paradoxical. After speaking on the imminent persecution of his followers, he ended this way. …

Read the rest of my guest post about putting family in its proper perspective on the Kyla Joy blog.