Reflections on Luke 7:44-48

“Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.’

Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” (Luke 7:44-48).

The sinful woman’s response to Christ mirrors St. Peter’s words in Luke 5:8: “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Both reveal the proper disposition of the soul when confronted with the reality of Christ: repentance. True repentance is not merely remorse but a transformative acknowledgment of God’s presence and our need for Him.

This repentance is born of a heart wounded by divine love, pierced by the nature of God revealed in the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ. St. Porphyrios describes compunction as “a sacred suffering; you suffer without straining yourself… The root of the word κατάνυξις, ‘compunction,’ is the verb νύττω, ‘to puncture or pierce’…” When used in relation to the soul, it means being wounded repeatedly by the love of God.[1] The sinful woman’s tears and actions embody this sacred suffering, revealing a heart transformed by love and humility.

Her repentance unveils a pattern for true worship, which is a fruit of repentance and love for God. Worship, as Christ teaches, is offered “in spirit and in truth” (J. 4:24). Yet, it is not a private or individual act. True worship is fully realized in the Church, where we participate in the grace of God through Christ. The sinful woman’s actions—standing behind Christ, washing His feet with her tears, and anointing Him with oil—are liturgical in nature, reflecting humility, discipleship, and love.

In contrast, Simon the Pharisee and his guests fail to see Christ’s divinity. Their legalism and external observances blind them to the reality of God’s presence. This tension highlights the transformative power of repentance. The Greek word metanoia denotes a radical change of mind—a reorientation of one’s entire being toward God. It is both a reconciliation and a new beginning, uniting the penitent with Christ and the Church.

Repentance, however, is not sufficient on its own. St. Athanasius explains:  

“Repentance [does not] recall men from what is according to their nature; all that it does is to make them cease from sinning… Repentance could not meet the case. What—or rather Who was it that was needed for such grace and such recall as we required? Who, save the Word of God Himself.”[2]  

The sinful woman’s actions reminds us of our need for a Savior. Neither personal merit nor adherence to the Law can justify us before God. The Law, unable to remit sins, became a tool of power and abuse. In Christ, the Law is fulfilled and surpassed. He prepares His followers for this new reality, declaring “among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Lk. 7:28). St. John’s role as the last prophet signals the fulfillment of the Law in the Incarnate Word.

The Apostle affirms this in his epistle to the Galatians, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). To be “born of women” means being born under the Law and through the Incarnation we are no longer simply born of women. We are born of God, through Christ, we are no longer bound by the limitations of the Law but reborn as children of God (cf. Jn. 1:12-13).

This transformation is symbolized in the Gospel by the raising of the widow’s son (Lk. 7:12-15), a foreshadowing of the new life offered in Christ. As St. Athanasius writes, “By man death has gained its power over men; by the Word made Man death has been destroyed and life raised up anew.”[3]  

The Pharisees, blinded by pride, fail to perceive Christ’s divinity, while the sinful woman, with clarity of vision, offers Him worship in humility and love, her actions fulfill the worship of the patriarchs, who blessed God with altars in the wilderness. As Fr. Alexander Schmemann notes, “To bless is to accept in love, and to move toward what is loved and accepted.”[4] The sinful woman, representing the Gentiles, anoints Christ as Messiah, her tears and love embodying true repentance.

St. Maximos the Confessor writes, “The return to God clearly implies the fullest affirmation of hope in Him, for without this nobody can accept God in any way at all.”[5] Her repentance leads to faith, which unites her to Christ and reveals the fullness of worship in the Church. As St. Ambrose explains, “The Church is justified as already greater than the law, for the law does not know of the forgiveness of offenses… Therefore, what is lacking in the law is perfected in the Gospel.”[6]

Let us, like the sinful woman, approach Christ with humility and self-denial. Let us offer Him our tears of repentance, experiencing the sacred suffering of compunction. May we heed the Church’s call to reconciliation and bless the Lord in all our efforts to unite with Him. Let us pray for clarity of vision, that we may move toward what is loved and accepted in God’s eyes, living not for ourselves or the praise of men for the glory of God. May we cling to His feet and His word, walking in the newness of life offered through Christ Jesus our Lord.  

Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ

---

[1] Wounded by Love: The Life and Wisdom of Saint Porphyrios, ed. Sisters of the Holy Convent of Chrysopigi, trans. Fr. John Raffan (Limni, Evia, Greece: Denise Harvey, 2005), 120.

[2] St. Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, trans. Sister Penelope Lawson (Pantianos Classics, 1944), Ch. 7, 20.

[3] Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Ch. 10, 24.

[4] Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2018), 38.

[5] St. Maximos the Confessor, The Philokalia, Vol. 2, 71, St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarious of Corinth, eds., trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware (New York: Faber and Faber, 1981).

[6] St. Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke, Bk. VI, 23.