Joyful Moments in Christ

This Bible study lesson is for people who are learning English (ELL or ESL students). It is made for advanced beginner and intermediate English learners. Children who speak English or adults who prefer easy English may also enjoy it and learn from it.

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Lesson Icebreaker Question

Have you ever given someone a special gift or done something kind to show you care? What did you do?

Lesson Highlight

In this lesson, we will hear a story about a woman who showed great love to Jesus. We will see how Jesus forgave her and how people around him reacted. This lesson will teach us about love, forgiveness, and faith.

Vocabulary List (GNT)

1. Alabaster Jar — A small, pretty container made from smooth, white stone.
2. Answer — To give a reply to a question.
3. Both — Two people or things together.
4. Cancel — To stop something from happening or being owed.
5. Cover — To put something over or on something else.
6. Cry — To let tears fall from your eyes when you are sad or happy.
7. Debt — Money that you owe to someone.
8. Dinner — The main meal of the day, usually in the evening.
9. Dried — Made something wet become dry.
10. Eat — To put food in your mouth, chew it, and swallow it.
11. Faith — Trust in God and believing what he says is true.
12. Feet — The bottom parts of your legs that you stand on.
13. Forgave — Chose to stop being angry about something bad someone did.
14. Forgiven — When someone is no longer blamed or punished for something wrong.
15. Give — To hand something to another person.
16. Go In Peace — Leave feeling calm and with no fear.
17. Great — Very big, important, or wonderful.
18. Hair — The strands that grow on your head.
19. Have Dinner — To eat the evening meal.
20. Head — The top part of your body where your face is.
21. Home — The place where a person lives.
22. Invite — To ask someone kindly to come.
23. Kiss — To touch with your lips to show love or respect.
24. Know — To understand or be sure about something.
25. Love — A strong, kind feeling you have for someone.
26. Many — A large number of something.
27. Money — Coins or paper people use to buy things.
28. Moneylender — A person who lets others borrow money.
29. Neither — Not one or the other.
30. Olive Oil — A kind of oil made from olives, used for food or care.
31. Owe — To need to pay back money or a favor to someone.
32. Perfume — A sweet-smelling liquid people put on their skin.
33. Pharisee — A religious leader in Bible times.
34. Pour — To make a liquid flow out of a container.
35. Prove — To show that something is true.
36. Prophet — A person who tells others a message from God.
37. Provide — To give something that is needed.
38. Sat Down — To lower your body onto a chair or the ground.
39. Save — To keep safe or rescue from harm.
40. See — To use your eyes to look at something.
41. Silver Coin — A piece of money made of silver.
42. Sin — Doing something against God’s commands.
43. Sitting — Resting on a chair or the ground.
44. Spoke Up — To speak loudly and clearly.
45. Stand (Stood) — To be on your feet, not sitting.
46. Stop — To make something end.
47. Suppose — To think something is probably true.
48. Table — A piece of furniture with a flat top and legs.
49. Teacher — A person who helps others learn.
50. Tears — Drops of water from the eyes when a person cries.
51. Tell — To give someone information or say something.
52. Town — A place where people live, smaller than a city.
53. Wash — To clean with water.
54. Welcome — To greet someone in a kind way.
55. Wet — Covered with water or another liquid.

Summary of the Passage

This passage tells about a time when Jesus went to eat dinner at the home of a Pharisee named Simon. A Pharisee was a religious leader in those days. At the same time, a woman who had lived a sinful life came to see Jesus. She brought a jar of perfume. She cried, and her tears fell on Jesus’ feet. Then, she wiped his feet with her hair and poured the perfume on them. This woman showed great love and care for Jesus.

Simon, the Pharisee, was surprised. He thought if Jesus were really a prophet from God, he would know what kind of sinful life the woman had lived. Jesus knew what Simon was thinking. So Jesus told a story about two men who owed money. One man owed a little, and the other owed a lot. Both men had their debts forgiven. They no longer needed to pay back their debts. Jesus asked Simon which man would be more thankful. Simon said the one who owed more money. Jesus agreed.

Jesus explained that this woman had shown great love because she had been forgiven much. He said that people who are forgiven a little show only a little love. Then, Jesus told the woman her sins were forgiven and that her faith had saved her. He told her to go in peace.

This passage shows us that Jesus loves to forgive people, no matter what their past is like. It teaches us that when we are forgiven, we can show great love to God and others.

Read The Passage

Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee
36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat.
37 In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee’s house, so she brought an alabaster jar full of perfume
38 and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!”
40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Yes, Teacher,” he said, “tell me.”
41 “There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty.
42 Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?”
43 “I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.”
“You are right,” said Jesus.
44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.
45 You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came.
46 You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume.
47 I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.”
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
50 But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:36-50 (GNT)

Most English learners should use the New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) or the Good News Translation (GNT) because they are easy to read. If you want to try something harder, you can read one of the other Bible versions:

• Very Easy: New International Reader’s Version: Luke 7:36-50 (NIRV)
• Easy: Good News Translation: Luke 7:36-50 (GNT)
• Medium: New Living Translation: Luke 7:36-50 (NLT)
• Hard: New International Version: Luke 7:36-50 (NIV)
• Very Hard: English Standard Version: Luke 7:36-50 (ESV)

Comprehension Questions

1. Where did Jesus go to eat dinner?
2. Who came to see Jesus while he was at the Pharisee’s house?
3. What did the woman bring with her?
4. What did the woman do with her tears and her hair?
5. Why was Simon surprised?
6. What story did Jesus tell Simon?
7. In the story, who loved the moneylender more?
8. What did Jesus say about the woman’s love?
9. What did Jesus tell the woman at the end?
10. What did the other people at the table say about Jesus?

Application Questions

1. Have you ever done something kind for someone because you were thankful? What was it?
2. Why do you think the woman was so loving to Jesus?
3. How does it feel to forgive someone? How does it feel to be forgiven?
4. What can we learn about God’s love from this story?
5. How can you show love and kindness to people around you this week?

Theological Insights

1. God forgives people who have done wrong when they come to him in faith.
2. Jesus is the Son of God who has the power to forgive sins.
3. People who are forgiven much often show great love in return.
4. Faith in Jesus brings peace and a new life.
5. God cares more about our hearts than about our past mistakes.

Closing Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for your great love and forgiveness. Help us to show love to you and to other people. Thank you for giving us peace through Jesus. Amen.

ELL Resources for the Gospel of Luke

More ELL Resources

You can find more Bible lessons for English learners on the main ELL page.

Scripture quotations marked (GNT) are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.