And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
While the words "Your sins are forgiven" sound like a brand-new pronouncement, Jesus is actually confirming something that had already begun in her heart. Her overwhelming love and tears weren't the cause of forgiveness, but the powerful evidence that she already felt forgiven and was responding to God's immense grace.
And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
English Standard Version (ESV)
Jesus is at a dinner hosted by a Pharisee named Simon, where a sinful woman interrupts the meal to anoint Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, wash them with her tears, and kiss them. The Pharisee, offended by Jesus' acceptance of the woman and His apparent ignorance of her sinful past, internally questions Jesus' prophetic status. Jesus then reveals He knows the Pharisee's thoughts and uses a parable about two debtors to expose Simon's flawed judgment, ultimately forgiving the woman's sins directly.
When Jesus spoke to the woman, 'Your sins are forgiven,' he wasn't just offering comfort. He was making a profound declaration of divine authority.
In a world where forgiveness is often sought from human mediators or earned through good deeds, Jesus’ declaration in Luke 7:48 cuts to the heart of His identity.
Jesus' Divine Claim
Why did this woman pour out such extravagant affection on Jesus? It wasn't the of her forgiveness, but the powerful of it.
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The interaction with the sinful woman is often misunderstood. It's easy to assume her tears, kisses, and anointing were acts of earning God's favor. However, Jesus clarifies the true relationship between forgiveness and love.
Love's True Spring
When Jesus said, 'Your sins are forgiven,' was this the moment she received forgiveness, or was it something else?
The wording of Jesus' declaration to the woman is crucial. It points to a deeper understanding of how God's forgiveness works and how we experience it.
Sealing the Deal
This event unfolds during Jesus' public ministry, highlighting the tension between religious elites and marginalized sinners, and revealing Jesus' unique authority to forgive sins, a power understood by His contemporaries as belonging to God alone.
Early 1st century AD
Jesus' Ministry in Galilee
Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching, healing, and interacting with various people, including Pharisees and notorious sinners.
Early 1st century AD— this verse
Jesus Dines with Simon the Pharisee
Jesus accepts an invitation to eat at the home of Simon, a Pharisee, an event that highlights the social and religious divides of the time.
Early 1st century AD
Woman Anoints Jesus' Feet
A woman known in the city for her sinful past enters during the meal, weeps at Jesus' feet, anoints them with oil, and wipes them with her hair.
Early 1st century AD
Jesus Declares Her Sins Forgiven
In response to Simon's internal criticism and the woman's display of devotion, Jesus declares her sins are forgiven, demonstrating His divine authority.
This passage from Isaiah directly echoes the theme of God's willingness to forgive sins, stating 'though your sins are like scarlet, they shall become like white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.' It shows that forgiveness is a divine act, just as Jesus asserts in Luke.
2 Corinthians 5:18Paul writes that 'all this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.' This highlights that the authority and power to forgive sins ultimately comes from God, a truth Jesus demonstrates by exercising this very authority.
Psalm 103:12The psalmist exclaims, 'as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.' This beautifully illustrates the completeness of God's forgiveness, a concept mirrored in Jesus' assurance to the woman that her sins are indeed forgiven.
Matthew 9:2In this parallel account, Jesus tells a paralytic man, 'Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.' This shows that forgiving sins was a repeated and central part of Jesus' ministry, underscoring his divine authority.
1 John 1:9John assures believers that 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' This passage connects the act of forgiveness with confession and cleansing, similar to the woman's humble approach and Jesus' declaration.
barnesLuke 7:48: "And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven."
Thy sins are forgiven - What a gracious assurance to the weeping, loving penitent! How that voice, spoken to the troubled sinner, stills his anguish, allays his troubled feelings, and produces peace to the soul! And how manifest is it that he that could say thus "must" be God! No man has a "right" to forgive sin. No man "can" speak peace to the soul, and give assurance that its transgressions are pardoned: Here, then, Jesus gave indubita…
calvinLuke 7:36-50: "And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat."
- And one of the Pharisees requested him to take food with him; and he entered into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down at table. 37. And, lo, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that he sat at table in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster box of ointment: [236] 38. And sitting at his feet behind him, and weeping, she beg…
While the words "Your sins are forgiven" sound like a brand-new pronouncement, Jesus is actually confirming something that had already begun in her heart. Her overwhelming love and tears weren't the cause of forgiveness, but the powerful evidence that she already felt forgiven and was responding to God's immense grace.
Jesus is at a dinner hosted by a Pharisee named Simon, where a sinful woman interrupts the meal to anoint Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, wash them with her tears, and kiss them. The Pharisee, offended by Jesus' acceptance of the woman and His apparent ignorance of her sinful past, internally questions Jesus' prophetic status. Jesus then reveals He knows the Pharisee's thoughts and uses a parable about two debtors to expose Simon's flawed judgment, ultimately forgiving the woman's sins directly.
Jesus is at a dinner hosted by a Pharisee named Simon, where a sinful woman interrupts the meal to anoint Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, wash them with her tears, and kiss them. The Pharisee, offended by Jesus' acceptance of the woman and His apparent ignorance of her sinful past, internally questions Jesus' prophetic status. Jesus then reveals He knows the Pharisee's thoughts and uses a parable about two debtors to expose Simon's flawed judgment, ultimately forgiving the woman's sins directly.
"And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”" — While the words "Your sins are forgiven" sound like a brand-new pronouncement, Jesus is actually confirming something that had already begun in her heart. Her overwhelming love and tears weren't the…
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Last reviewed October 2026