Luke 7:50 tells us that a woman who came to Jesus in faith was saved and sent away in peace. Jesus credits her trust in him, not any religious credentials or payment, for her healing and forgiveness. The words are spoken by Jesus himself, directly to the woman who had knelt at his feet in a dinner guest’s home.
He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Luke 7:50 (WEB)
What Luke 7:50 Means
The phrase “Your faith has saved you” places the reason for her salvation in her trust in Jesus. The Greek word for faith here carries the sense of leaning your full weight on someone, not merely agreeing that something is true. She had come into a room where she was not welcome, poured perfume on Jesus’ feet, and wept, and in that act she showed she was depending entirely on him.
“Go in peace” is a dismissal with a blessing. In the Hebrew background of the Gospel, peace (shalom) means wholeness, right relationship with God and others, and being at rest. Jesus is not saying she will never face trouble again. He is sending her out already reconciled, free from the shame that had defined her public life.
The verse does not promise a painless future, a particular outcome for her circumstances, or that all her problems will vanish. It describes a settled standing with God that rests on her trust in Jesus, and it invites her to live from that peace.
The Context of Luke 7:50
Luke’s Gospel was written to a largely Gentile audience, probably in the 80s AD, and traditionally attributed to Luke, a companion of Paul. Luke gives special attention to people on the margins: the poor, women, tax collectors and sinners. This scene, in which an unnamed woman with a bad reputation receives forgiveness at a Pharisee’s table, fits that pattern closely.
Just before verse 50, Jesus explains that she has loved much because she has been forgiven much, and he then declares her sins forgiven (verses 47 and 48). The dinner guests respond by asking who this man is that he can forgive sins. Verse 50 answers their question in a quiet way: the woman’s faith is what connects her to the forgiveness Jesus gives, and she goes out in peace while the guests are left wondering about his identity.
Key Phrases in Luke 7:50
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…
(WEB)
Paul states the same principle of salvation through faith rather than through human effort, which is exactly what Jesus affirms in Luke 7:50 when he credits the woman’s faith for her salvation.
Romans 5:1
Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…
(WEB)
Paul describes the peace with God that comes through faith in Christ, the same peace Jesus sends the woman away with in Luke 7:50.
A Short Prayer From Luke 7:50
Lord Jesus, you received a woman whom others had written off, and you spoke forgiveness to her when she came to you in faith. I bring you my own failures and the shame that keeps me returning to them. Help me to trust you as she did, to rest in the forgiveness you have already given, and to walk out of my fears into the peace that only you can give. Let that peace shape how I treat the people around me today. Amen.
