Luke’s gospel is heavily designed around Jesus’ portrayal as both a Messianic prophet (White, 331), as well as a Martyred Sage. The reworking and repositioning of the sinful women’s anointing exemplifies this, in that Luke arranges the story to fall closely after the Sermon on the Plain- epitomizing or narrating much of the overall message of the Sermon through Christ himself as the example of what a true believer’s actions should look like.
The sermon on the Plain is heavily based around the ideas of mercy (6:36), humility (6:20-22, 24-26), and the deeds that should flow out of the heart and life of someone who has adequately built their foundation on Christ (6:48-49). In the subsequent story of the anointing of Jesus’ feet by the sinful women at the house of the Pharisee, most all of the ideas of the Sermon on the Plain come to personify themselves through this narrative. The Pharisee, reminiscent of much of the woes (rich, full, spoken well of) mentioned in the Luke’s sermon, reacts to the women much in the same way that Jesus teaches not to do in the Sermon on the Plain- seeking to condemn the women for the speck in her eye, when his judging and merciless demeanor deem him as having a log in his own.
The women, on the other hand, is reminiscent of many of the “blessed” features of the sermon; poor, hungry, weeping (literally), hated (as evidenced by the Pharisee mentioned above). In her open portrayal of her brokenness, Jesus grants her all of the promises he mentioned in the “blessed” section of the sermon on the mount. In Jesus forgiving her of her sins, he grants her the kingdom of Heaven, consequently filling her with the life that stems from forgiveness (filling her hunger), giving her “heaven’s great reward,” as a result of her suffering.
Jesus and the Women then unite in order to exemplify what a true Christ follower should look like: unexpectant of anything in return, loving out of the “good treasure that the heart produces,” offering all of oneself, and granting even the most sinful of people mercy.
By rearranging the anointing scene earlier in the gospel, Luke allows for the story to compliment and reflect the Sermon on the Plain, letting Jesus play out and portray the very message he is trying to teach.
Moreover, Luke rearranges the anointing narrative to be directed not as condemning to the always misunderstanding disciples (as was done in Mark), instead Luke directs the message toward a Pharisee, granting authority back to the disciples and possibly even portraying what true discipleship should look like.