Jesus was ground zero in a scandal in Luke 7 when a sinful woman anointed his feet as he was dining in the home of a prominent Pharisee, but what was a sinful woman doing in a uber-righteous Pharisee’s home anyway?
It was a social norm in first century Palestine for the “outcasts” of society to be invited into a feast. These, the untouchables of their day, would then sit quietly along the wall while the good and upright of society dined. At the end of the feast, the host would make an elaborate show of having the despised and rejected fed to demonstrate the overwhelming nature of his nobility.
The sinful woman in Luke 7 was in the room because she was a disdained prop in another man’s social pageantry. Is it any wonder that she wept in gratitude over the feet of a Savior who received her gently, granted her dignity, and ultimately protected her from the scorn of the “upright” men in the room?
