She Didn't Ask to Be Forgiven

Do you remember the story of Jesus in Simon the Pharisee’s house (Luke 7:36-50)? 

A Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner. While they were at the table a woman who was well-known for her promiscuity interrupted the meal by standing behind Jesus and weeping. Her tears fell on His feet and she proceeded to wipe them off with her hair. Simon thought it proved Jesus wasn’t a prophet as He would have known “what sort of woman this is who is touching him…” Jesus pointed out that though her sins were many she was truly repentant while Simon’s sins were apparently nonexistent in the Pharisee’s mind. Jesus then publicly forgave her sins (7:47-48). It caused quite a stir:

Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?” (Luke 7:49) 

It is obvious what was so bothersome to those who were mumbling their consternation about the scene. First, the woman didn’t ask Jesus to forgive her sins. Second, He forgave her as if she had sinned against Him personally.

Does that seem odd? If it does then your concept of forgiveness has probably been shaped more by secular and even religious culture than Scripture.

Let’s face it. Most of us have a very narcissistic view of forgiveness. We usually forgive because it is in our best interest to do it. After all, Jesus said “if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:15). I certainly want my sins forgiven so just to make sure that they are, I will forgive you. In other words, I’m not going to let you send me to hell because of what you did to me, so I forgive you. Is that anywhere in the ballpark? If it is, are we sure it is really even forgiveness? If our forgiveness is only offered as an act of self-preservation it begs the question of authenticity.

It is true that we have been warned of the consequences of failing to forgive others (Matthew 6:14-15; 18:35). But fearing hell is not the best reason for obeying God. Obeying God as a last resort is questionable obedience. It’s the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. Forgiving others because of what the consequence will be if you don’t is not really what I believe Jesus had in mind about what is at the heart of the matter.

When Jesus forgave the immoral woman of her sins it certainly wasn’t because He wanted to make sure His own sins were forgiven! There was really no obvious benefit to Him when He forgave her of her sins. Actually, forgiving her sins made His life more difficult because doing so offended everyone who was within earshot of His words (and they ended up using those acts of forgiving others as the foundation of their charge of blasphemy against Him). 

Then why did He do it?

Two reasons. First, because forgiving sins is the hub on the wheel of why God sent His Son into the world in the first place. 

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).

Second, because He knows that forgiveness benefits the offender. The immoral woman was identified by her sins:

If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him (Luke 7:39).

To Simon, she wasn’t a woman. She was a “sort of woman.” The Pharisee refused to see past her sins to her obvious brokenness and contrition. Being forgiven was more than being set right with God. It was restoring her standing in society (whether it was accepted by Simon and his buddies or not).

Her sins (in Simon’s eyes) were not so much what she did but who she had become. She wasn’t a woman who sinned. Rather, she is a sinner (Luke 7:39). Either Simon’s sins didn’t produce the same result or (more likely) he believed he had never sinned in the first place. Sin was her identity but not his. It may be that this is exactly why she didn’t ask for forgiveness. Metaphorically, she had unlawfully touched a leper and had herself become leprous. It was too late. She was a leper. Still metaphorically, Simon was the guy who crossed the street to avoid the man lying in the gutter. So he had no sins to be forgiven of…supposedly. (Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan?)

When Jesus forgave her publicly, it was a reorientation of her being. And that offended Simon and his friends.

Seeing forgiveness in that light is truly a life altering game-changer. Many people who are painfully burdened with their sins will never ask for forgiveness because they see those sins as representations of who they are. They feel there is no forgiveness available for who they are. In their minds, forgiveness for what has been done has little to no effect on who (they think) they have become.

What they don’t realize is that all the good people around them (the Simon the Pharisees) are just as laden with sin as they are. The Simons have learned to put sin(s) on a grading scale and they never fail. They may occasionally acknowledge their small little “mistakes” but they don’t they don’t for a second believe their sins linger. (Look carefully at the little parable Jesus told Simon in Luke 7:41-43)

The promiscuous woman of Luke 7:36-50 didn’t know that God wanted to change who she was. She knew exactly each sin she had committed but thought they were mere proofs of who she already was and would always be. Yet she still came to Jesus with a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). But how do you ask for forgiveness for who you believe you are (or at least have been told by others)?

Even though she didn’t ask for it she still heard those life changing words: “Your sins are forgiven.” Her presence before Jesus and her actions cried out for forgiveness. Others were offended because their lives were identified in a false sense of self-righteousness. It’s not likely that their sins were ever forgiven because they never believed sin was a part of who they were. How ironic. She who was certain that her identity was entangled with sin was forgiven. Those who were certain sin was just an occasional misstep and had nothing to do with who they were sighed and rolled their eyes.

When Jesus told the apostles in John 20:23 that if they forgave the sins of any they would be forgiven, He was empowering them to do the same as He had done for the immoral woman. Set those weighed down by their sinful identities free. Let the sins of those who believe they're inherently good be retained.

Forgiving others may, in fact, keep you out of hell. But the real reason for doing it is not for the benefit you get. It’s for the release and renewal that the forgiven get. You (and me) have both the authority and power to set other human beings free from their self-identification (and therefore self-loathing) with sin. That’s why we forgive. Not because it’s asked for or deserved. Simply because God wants us to and we can.