The emphasis on Jesus meeting those considered of little value, or worse, by society is continued. Jesus went to the house of a Pharisee for dinner. By the way, this demonstrates the wide variety of Jesus' contacts. He most certainly does not restrict Himself to the respectable people, but nor does He limit Himself to the poor.
A woman who "lived a sinful life" came and stood at His feet weeping, and then poured perfume on his feet. The details of her "sinful life" are not make clear, but it is probable that her sins were of a sexual nature.
Simon, the Pharisee, was shocked, thinking that Jesus should be turning this woman away. Jesus knew what the Pharisee was thinking and proceeds to tell him a parable.
The reason the woman made such a fuss of Jesus was that she knew her sinfulness and that Jesus had forgiven her her sin. Simon, on the other hand, thought he was OK. being a Pharisee he probably thought that he was doing quite well and that God should be pleased with him.
So we see the attitude that we need to have, and it is twofold. We need to be aware of our sin, and we need to know Jesus' forgiveness. So often the church majors on one or the other, and that is a travesty. If we focus on sin without forgiveness we just bind people up in guilt. If we talk about acceptance without acknowledgement of sin we are ignoring the truth. We need both.
Jesus pronounces forgiveness of sins to the woman. He only had the right to do this if He was indeed God.
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