No name was needed, her reputation preceded her
This series of Bible studies seeks to retell the stories of women who were divinely called and empowered to do great things. Many of them rose to the occasion, and a few very famously did not. Often, the tragedies and triumphs in their lives are missed, and their stories are told from perspectives other than with the honor and dignity they deserve.
After excavating their narratives from millennia of obfuscation, now meet the freshly restored, valiant, vivid (and sometimes villainous) women of the Bible.
Trauma and Drama
We do not know the sinful woman’s backstory at all. A careful reading of her account reveals this is not the same event as when Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus at Simon the Leper’s house, and she is also not Mary Magdalene, who had been possessed by seven spirits. (An early conflation, in 591 CE, of the accounts about these women has since caused much confusion.)
This thirty-page book includes the retelling of the sinful woman’s narrative, a fifteen-question Bible study, and link to a twenty-minute multi-media presentation of the sinful woman’s account. Whatever her growing up story, there must have been trauma and soul wounds.
Faithful and Forgiven
Luke’s Gospel provides no more detail about this woman than that her shady reputation was well-known. Was she young or old? Was she rich, or poor, a pilgrim or a local? Who were her people? And what had she done that was so scandalous? We just don’t know. Some propose she was perhaps the woman who had committed adultery and was forgiven privately by Jesus after everyone had left (John 8:1-11). Maybe! We really have no information on her at all but what is given in this text.
Back in 591 CE, Pope Gregory preached an Easter sermon in which he combined the narratives of Mary the Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the woman in this account, which then gave Mary Magdalene the reputation of being a repentant prostitute or a promiscuous woman.
But, when the passage is read carefully, it becomes clear this is not the same event as when Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus at Simon the Leper’s house. It is also evident the woman in this story is not Mary Magdalene, who had been released from seven spirits in a miraculous healing.
This woman, who had lived a sinful life, was most likely a prostitute: sex trafficking was as common in Jesus’s day as it is today, especially among the destitute, impoverished, and desperate. At the very least, she seemed to have had some notoriety, for she was immediately recognized, though she remains nameless in this account. Whatever her growing up story, there must have been trauma and soul wounds.
And then she met Jesus.
Nearly forty free Bible studies on a woman in the scriptures are available through signing up to the newsletter below. What’s included:
- Access to all the Bible studies that have been made available so far.
- One new study each month.
- Early announcement of new books, published by the author.
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