WEBVTT 00:00:07.790 --> 00:00:11.130 Luke chapter 7, we'll be reading from verses 00:00:11.130 --> 00:00:16.510 36 to the end of the chapter. Now, one of the 00:00:16.510 --> 00:00:19.489 Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him, 00:00:19.530 --> 00:00:22.710 and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined 00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:25.789 at the table. And there was a woman in the city 00:00:25.789 --> 00:00:28.690 who was a sinner. And when she learned that he 00:00:28.690 --> 00:00:30.690 was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's 00:00:30.690 --> 00:00:33.289 house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume 00:00:33.289 --> 00:00:37.170 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping. 00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:40.799 She began to wet his feet with her tears and 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:43.840 kept wiping them with the hair of her head and 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:46.280 kissing his feet and anointing them with the 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:49.679 perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:53.280 him saw this, he said to himself, if this man 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.780 were a prophet, he would know who and what sort 00:00:55.780 --> 00:00:58.359 of person this woman is who is touching him, 00:00:58.460 --> 00:01:03.000 that she is a sinner. And Jesus answered him, 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:06.750 Simon, I have something to say to you. And he 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:10.670 replied, Say it, teacher. A moneylender had two 00:01:10.670 --> 00:01:14.349 debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. 00:01:15.250 --> 00:01:17.629 When they were unable to repay, he graciously 00:01:17.629 --> 00:01:20.790 forgave them both. So which of them will love 00:01:20.790 --> 00:01:24.109 him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose 00:01:24.109 --> 00:01:27.530 the one whom he forgave more. And he said to 00:01:27.530 --> 00:01:30.650 him, You have judged correctly. Turning toward 00:01:30.650 --> 00:01:32.750 the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this 00:01:32.750 --> 00:01:36.680 woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:39.739 for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her 00:01:39.739 --> 00:01:43.000 tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:46.700 me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, 00:01:46.739 --> 00:01:50.780 has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:54.019 my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:58.040 perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:01.280 which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.500 much, but he who is forgiven little. loves little. 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.840 Then he said to her, your sins have been forgiven. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:13.259 Those who were reclining at the table with him 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:15.919 began to say to themselves, who is this man who 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:19.620 even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, 00:02:19.699 --> 00:02:23.740 your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Let's 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:29.879 pray. Our gracious God and Father, as I was thinking 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.759 through this passage this morning and what I 00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:35.800 hoped that you would accomplish in our midst 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:38.819 through it. The words of the Greeks who came 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:41.740 to Andrew in John 12 just came flooding into 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:46.759 my mind. Sir, we would see Jesus. That's what 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:51.400 we desire. We would see Jesus this morning in 00:02:51.400 --> 00:02:56.500 His magnificent mercy and grace and compassion 00:02:56.500 --> 00:03:02.729 for sinners. But we recognize That we cannot 00:03:02.729 --> 00:03:06.909 see Jesus apart from the aid and power of the 00:03:06.909 --> 00:03:09.330 Holy Spirit. And so that is precisely what we 00:03:09.330 --> 00:03:13.669 ask for. I pray that you would open our eyes 00:03:13.669 --> 00:03:17.669 to behold the glory of Christ manifested in His 00:03:17.669 --> 00:03:22.310 mercy to sinners. And that beholding the glory 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:30.500 of Christ, we may love Him in saving faith. in 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:35.099 transformative repentance, and in effusive worship. 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:42.960 We would see Jesus. Show us Christ. We ask this 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:47.199 in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:50.919 Well, I welcome you this morning in the name 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.800 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I bring you greetings 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:56.740 from your brothers and sisters who are gathered 00:03:56.740 --> 00:03:59.750 right now as we speak at... the First Baptist 00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:03.650 Church in Nixa, Missouri. And although they don't 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:07.389 know you and you don't know them, Kyle and I 00:04:07.389 --> 00:04:11.270 have become friends over the past 18 months through 00:04:11.270 --> 00:04:13.389 our work with the Christian Heritage Center. 00:04:13.969 --> 00:04:19.129 And my earnest hope is that our churches may 00:04:19.129 --> 00:04:23.470 become acquainted in the years to come. And as 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:26.769 Rick Blaine said to Louis Renault as they walked... 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:29.600 Through the fog at the end of Casablanca, I think 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:31.519 this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 00:04:33.779 --> 00:04:36.300 Because not only do Christians need friends, 00:04:36.420 --> 00:04:42.579 churches need friends. And you have been such 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:46.199 friends to myself and my daughter Susanna who 00:04:46.199 --> 00:04:48.060 traveled with me this weekend and all of the 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:51.939 speakers. We have been so blessed by your hospitality, 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:54.540 so blessed by the faithfulness of this church. 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:56.860 Pastor Ray is saying just right here in the middle 00:04:56.860 --> 00:05:01.660 of a cornfield, this vibrant New Testament community. 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:06.240 And I want to thank you for that. I also am committing 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.639 to you in the sight of the Lord to fast for a 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:11.680 few days because I've eaten more over the last 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:13.660 three days than I eat in the course of a week. 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:19.050 You guys have been good to us. Well, I am on 00:05:19.050 --> 00:05:22.569 a semi -sabbatical during the months of June 00:05:22.569 --> 00:05:26.069 and July, and our elders are filling our pulpit 00:05:26.069 --> 00:05:28.589 and getting their reps, as one of our elders 00:05:28.589 --> 00:05:32.889 likes to say. Since January, we have been working 00:05:32.889 --> 00:05:36.050 through the Gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings, 00:05:36.209 --> 00:05:38.490 and this morning I would like to preach one of 00:05:38.490 --> 00:05:42.670 my favorite passages in Luke's Gospel, the story 00:05:42.670 --> 00:05:47.040 of Simon and the sinful woman. This is the first 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:51.819 of three nearly identical stories or parables 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:55.680 in the gospel of Luke that perhaps more than 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.740 any other story or parable in this gospel reveal 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:02.839 the true nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.240 Interestingly, all three of these stories or 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:10.339 parables are found only in Luke's gospel. None 00:06:10.339 --> 00:06:13.740 of them are recorded in Matthew or Mark or John. 00:06:14.540 --> 00:06:18.319 These three stories slash parables are our text 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:20.259 for this morning, Simon and the sinful woman, 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:24.040 the prodigal son and the older brother in Luke 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:27.540 15, and Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:32.980 tax collector in Luke 18. All three of these 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:37.579 stories have a notorious sinner as the protagonist 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:39.980 of the story. The sinful woman in Luke 7, the 00:06:39.980 --> 00:06:42.860 prodigal son in Luke 15, the tax collector in 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:48.060 Luke 18. All three have a Pharisee as the antagonist 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:51.920 of the story. Simon in Luke 7, the older brother 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.939 who represents the Pharisees, if you look at 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:57.139 the beginning of Luke 15, and then the titular 00:06:57.139 --> 00:07:01.500 Pharisee of Jesus' parable in Luke 18. And all 00:07:01.500 --> 00:07:04.660 three end with the notorious sinner receiving 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:07.920 the forgiveness of sins by grace through faith 00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.060 alone, while the self -righteous Pharisee receives 00:07:11.060 --> 00:07:16.230 nothing. From the hand of Christ for all of his 00:07:16.230 --> 00:07:20.410 supposed righteousness. These three stories, 00:07:20.430 --> 00:07:22.629 these three parables seem to have had a special 00:07:22.629 --> 00:07:26.829 significance for Luke, who we will remember was 00:07:26.829 --> 00:07:32.089 a close companion of the Apostle Paul. And this 00:07:32.089 --> 00:07:36.889 makes sense. For Paul seems to have grasped better 00:07:36.889 --> 00:07:41.019 than anyone the nature of... Grace and the danger 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:45.519 of self -righteousness. Perhaps this was because 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.959 Paul was himself a Pharisee at one time who had 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:52.879 imagined himself blameless in the sight of the 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:57.839 law. But that was before he was confronted by 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:01.860 the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. And 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:04.079 it was in the light of Christ's glory that Paul 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:05.939 finally, for the first time in his life, saw 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:09.519 himself as he truly was. And that righteousness 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:13.699 that he thought that he possessed, he then saw 00:08:13.699 --> 00:08:15.980 in the light of Christ as nothing more than filthy 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:20.519 rags. In other words, Paul uniquely understood 00:08:20.519 --> 00:08:23.660 both characters in all three of these stories. 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:26.779 He knew what it was to be the self -righteous 00:08:26.779 --> 00:08:29.879 Pharisee, and he knew what it was to be the notorious 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:33.830 sinner. After his conversion, that's how he viewed 00:08:33.830 --> 00:08:37.529 himself. He was a blasphemer of Christ, a persecutor 00:08:37.529 --> 00:08:41.450 of the church, the chief of sinners. So it's 00:08:41.450 --> 00:08:44.190 not difficult to imagine Paul having heard these 00:08:44.190 --> 00:08:47.950 stories as they were retold by the other apostles, 00:08:47.990 --> 00:08:51.929 latching on to them as descriptive of his own 00:08:51.929 --> 00:08:56.220 experience. and then preaching them repeatedly 00:08:56.220 --> 00:08:59.059 throughout his own gospel ministry. And then 00:08:59.059 --> 00:09:01.899 as Luke accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys, 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.659 he would have heard these stories again and again 00:09:04.659 --> 00:09:07.139 and again, and they would have taken on a special 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:10.779 significance for him. Thus, they find their way 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:14.820 into his gospel. And my prayer this morning is 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:17.200 that this story would have a special significance 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:22.669 for you. These are stories... For two types of 00:09:22.669 --> 00:09:25.970 people that may find their way into a church 00:09:25.970 --> 00:09:29.509 on any given Sunday morning. It's a story for 00:09:29.509 --> 00:09:34.289 both the sinner and the self -righteous. So if 00:09:34.289 --> 00:09:37.090 you find yourself this morning burdened by guilt 00:09:37.090 --> 00:09:41.970 and shame, perhaps feeling unworthy and unclean, 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:46.049 unlovable and unsavable, then I have really, 00:09:46.129 --> 00:09:50.190 really good news for you this morning. You can 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:54.759 be clean. You can be forgiven. You can be washed, 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:58.320 set free from the burden of guilt and shame. 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:02.179 You can be dressed, not in the filthy rags of 00:10:02.179 --> 00:10:05.240 self -righteousness, but in the robes of Christ's 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.879 perfect righteousness and adorned with the seal 00:10:07.879 --> 00:10:12.159 of His sonship. In other words, these stories, 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:15.659 this story in Luke 7, gives you every reason 00:10:15.659 --> 00:10:18.080 this morning to take courage and to come to Christ. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:25.200 He will receive you. Jesus loves to be greatly 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:28.740 loved. And as we will read in this text, those 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:32.320 who have been forgiven much loves much. Therefore, 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:38.440 Jesus loves to forgive much. So your sin, far 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:41.600 from being an impediment to your salvation, is 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.940 actually something of a necessary precursor to 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:47.899 your salvation. So if that's you this morning, 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.259 I want you to listen intently. This story is 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:54.409 for you. But it's also for the self -righteous. 00:10:55.990 --> 00:10:58.029 And there are likely some of those in here as 00:10:58.029 --> 00:11:01.590 well. Maybe you came this morning because that's 00:11:01.590 --> 00:11:05.750 just what you always do. And if you were honest, 00:11:06.049 --> 00:11:08.350 you would say that it makes you feel good to 00:11:08.350 --> 00:11:10.029 know that you're like those people who don't 00:11:10.029 --> 00:11:13.330 go to church, who don't believe the truth, who 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:19.250 don't obey God, who aren't reformed. Now, you're 00:11:19.250 --> 00:11:21.389 in an evangelical church. You're in a Reformed 00:11:21.389 --> 00:11:24.409 church. You've read the Bible before. We read 00:11:24.409 --> 00:11:27.250 it this morning and confessed it in the catechism. 00:11:27.309 --> 00:11:29.850 You know no one is saved by his own righteousness. 00:11:30.110 --> 00:11:32.929 You know that you must believe upon Jesus for 00:11:32.929 --> 00:11:36.830 salvation, and so that's why you did it. Believed 00:11:36.830 --> 00:11:40.389 on Jesus. Because that's what you're supposed 00:11:40.389 --> 00:11:45.110 to do. But if your heart were to be put underneath 00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:49.679 the divine microscope, Would he find love for 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:54.659 Christ? Would he find gratitude for grace? Would 00:11:54.659 --> 00:12:01.840 he find joy for the gift of free mercy? Or, as 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:06.000 I have seen happen so many times, have you turned 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.679 faith into just another work? Something in which 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.720 you can boast, particularly over those who do 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:17.090 not believe the gospel. At the end of the sermon, 00:12:17.169 --> 00:12:19.029 I'm going to ask you to examine your heart by 00:12:19.029 --> 00:12:23.250 asking you a single question. Do you love Jesus 00:12:23.250 --> 00:12:30.330 like this woman loves Jesus? I'm not going to 00:12:30.330 --> 00:12:35.669 ask you, do you believe in Jesus? Because that 00:12:35.669 --> 00:12:37.490 question is not going to get us to the core of 00:12:37.490 --> 00:12:40.169 the issue this morning. Because it is possible 00:12:40.169 --> 00:12:45.120 to believe... facts about Jesus, and even to 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:46.960 have done what you're supposed to do with those 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.200 facts about Jesus, namely pray and ask Jesus 00:12:50.200 --> 00:12:52.399 to forgive you, profess faith through baptism, 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.000 belong to a church. It's possible to do all of 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:01.299 those things and not love Jesus. It's not only 00:13:01.299 --> 00:13:05.620 possible, it's prevalent. But I want you to notice 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:07.720 two points at the beginning, two points to which 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:10.279 I will return later in this sermon. Number one. 00:13:10.990 --> 00:13:15.090 Look at verse 47. I want you to notice that Jesus 00:13:15.090 --> 00:13:20.049 used faith and love interchangeably as though 00:13:20.049 --> 00:13:24.389 they were the same thing. In verse 47, Jesus 00:13:24.389 --> 00:13:26.750 says to Simon, for this reason I say to you, 00:13:26.769 --> 00:13:29.509 her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, 00:13:29.590 --> 00:13:34.309 for she loved much. Then in verse 50, Jesus says 00:13:34.309 --> 00:13:39.759 to the woman, your faith has saved you. Your 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:42.220 love has forgiven you. Your faith has saved you. 00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:45.860 And I suppose that nobody here would disagree 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:48.440 that forgiveness and salvation are being used 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:52.740 as synonyms in this text. But if forgiveness 00:13:52.740 --> 00:13:55.539 and salvation, verse 47 and verse 50, are being 00:13:55.539 --> 00:13:58.740 used as synonyms, then so must love and faith 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:03.259 be used synonymously. For Jesus, then, love is 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:07.049 of the essence of saving faith. Saving faith 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:12.490 is affectionate. A faith without love is just 00:14:12.490 --> 00:14:17.649 as dead as a faith without works. It is a false 00:14:17.649 --> 00:14:22.049 faith that cannot save. The second thing I want 00:14:22.049 --> 00:14:24.190 you to notice here at the very beginning is the 00:14:24.190 --> 00:14:27.730 link between love and forgiveness. Jesus says 00:14:27.730 --> 00:14:30.509 in verse 47, For this reason I say to you, her 00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:34.090 sins which are many have been forgiven, for she 00:14:34.090 --> 00:14:37.740 loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:42.320 little. And Jesus stated it this way because 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:46.000 he had just spoken the parable of the two debtors 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.639 in which one owed 500 denarii and the other owed 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:53.059 50 denarii. Let me tell you what Jesus was not 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:55.519 saying in that parable. He was not saying that 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.740 there are two types of people, those who have 00:14:57.740 --> 00:14:59.899 been forgiven much and those who have been forgiven 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:03.159 little. That's not what he's saying. Any more 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:05.960 than a few chapters earlier in Luke chapter 5 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:08.320 when he said it's not the righteous who need 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:10.500 a physician but the sick. He's not saying that 00:15:10.500 --> 00:15:12.179 there's two types of sinners in the world, two 00:15:12.179 --> 00:15:14.440 types of people in the world. Those who are righteous 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:16.559 and don't need Christ's healing mercy and those 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.799 who are sinners and do need Christ's healing 00:15:18.799 --> 00:15:21.220 mercy. That's not the point. These are figures 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:26.039 of speech. The biblical reality is that there 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:28.000 are two types of people in the world and there 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:30.460 are two types of people in this room. Those who 00:15:30.460 --> 00:15:32.379 have been forgiven much and those who haven't 00:15:32.379 --> 00:15:36.799 been forgiven at all. Therefore, there are two 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.539 types of people in the world and there are two 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:40.960 types of people in this room. Those who love 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:45.840 Jesus much and those who don't love Jesus at 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:50.460 all. So I ask you again, do you love Jesus like 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:55.360 the woman in this text? Love Jesus. Because that 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:57.659 question is going to get us so much closer to 00:15:57.659 --> 00:15:59.779 the answer of whether your sins are forgiven 00:15:59.779 --> 00:16:03.580 than if I simply were to ask you this morning, 00:16:03.620 --> 00:16:07.159 do you believe in Jesus? Have you confessed your 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:10.840 sins, been baptized, and so on and so forth? 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:14.639 So whether you are the sinner or whether you 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.360 are the self -righteous, Whether you're the prodigal 00:16:18.360 --> 00:16:20.240 son or whether you're the older brother, whether 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.139 you're the tax collector or whether you're the 00:16:22.139 --> 00:16:27.659 Pharisee, this story speaks to you. And my prayer 00:16:27.659 --> 00:16:30.379 has been and is that God would use it to ignite 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:35.720 within your heart a love, an extravagant love, 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:41.399 an effusive love for Jesus. I've divided this... 00:16:41.789 --> 00:16:44.889 Text into six sections. So if you're a note taker 00:16:44.889 --> 00:16:48.250 this morning, God bless you, I'm with you. There 00:16:48.250 --> 00:16:50.370 are six sections that you'll want to write. They 00:16:50.370 --> 00:16:52.929 all begin with the letter S because we're Baptists 00:16:52.929 --> 00:16:56.389 here. And I will do my best to give you these 00:16:56.389 --> 00:16:59.610 six pegs on which you can hang your thoughts 00:16:59.610 --> 00:17:02.490 and write your notes as we go along. Then we're 00:17:02.490 --> 00:17:04.170 going to come back and we'll conclude where we 00:17:04.170 --> 00:17:07.910 start with a call to come to this Jesus who forgives 00:17:07.910 --> 00:17:10.950 freely in order that we might love Him fully. 00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:15.450 So first we'll begin with the scene, the scene 00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:20.390 in verse 36. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting 00:17:20.390 --> 00:17:22.869 him to dine with him and he entered the Pharisee's 00:17:22.869 --> 00:17:27.630 house and he reclined at table. Jesus is still 00:17:27.630 --> 00:17:29.730 in the midst of his Galilean ministry, which 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:33.589 demonstrates conclusively that despite the few 00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:37.450 similarities that exist, this is not the same 00:17:37.450 --> 00:17:40.720 anointing. as the one that is recorded in the 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.359 other three Gospels that occurs at the beginning 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:46.519 of the last week of Jesus' life, the anointing 00:17:46.519 --> 00:17:50.079 by Mary of Bethany. There are some similarities 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:53.240 that sometimes confuse readers of the New Testament, 00:17:53.380 --> 00:17:56.039 and that confusion leads to some misinterpretations 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.400 of this text. For instance, both of those anointings 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:01.680 take place at a banquet with a host named Simon. 00:18:02.539 --> 00:18:05.960 Both of them involve an alabaster flask of perfumed 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:10.319 ointment or oil. Both of the anointings of Jesus 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:14.359 are by a woman and both are followed by a rebuke 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:20.339 by someone who is present at the banquet. But 00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:22.839 the differences in these events outweigh the 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:25.359 similarities. You will note that the location 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:28.119 is different. This anointing occurs in Galilee, 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:32.049 not Bethany in Judea. The timing is different. 00:18:32.089 --> 00:18:34.490 This anointing occurs in the midst of Jesus' 00:18:34.730 --> 00:18:37.130 Galilean ministry rather than at the beginning 00:18:37.130 --> 00:18:41.049 of that final Passover week. The host is different, 00:18:41.130 --> 00:18:43.809 even though they're both named Simon. Simon of 00:18:43.809 --> 00:18:46.349 Bethany was a leper. This Simon is a Pharisee. 00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:49.890 The woman is different. In Luke's account, she 00:18:49.890 --> 00:18:53.589 is repeatedly called a sinner. And in the other 00:18:53.589 --> 00:18:56.250 anointing, there is no mention of Mary's sin. 00:18:57.609 --> 00:19:00.130 The objection is different. In Luke, Simon objects 00:19:00.130 --> 00:19:03.750 to the woman's sinfulness. And in the other anointings, 00:19:03.750 --> 00:19:06.430 the disciples object to the extravagant cost 00:19:06.430 --> 00:19:10.869 of the ointment or the oil. The value of the 00:19:10.869 --> 00:19:14.690 oil in this text is nowhere mentioned. The anointing 00:19:14.690 --> 00:19:17.569 itself differs. In Luke, the woman anoints Jesus' 00:19:17.730 --> 00:19:21.329 feet. In the synoptics, Mary anoints Jesus' head. 00:19:22.109 --> 00:19:25.089 And finally, the purpose is... is different. 00:19:25.210 --> 00:19:27.869 In Luke, the anointing is an act of love and 00:19:27.869 --> 00:19:30.650 gratitude. And in the synoptics, Mary anoints 00:19:30.650 --> 00:19:33.769 Jesus specifically in preparation for his burial. 00:19:33.869 --> 00:19:39.150 So these are clearly two different events. One 00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.309 of the Pharisees, we find out in verse 40 that 00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.589 his name is Simon, invited Jesus to a banquet 00:19:44.589 --> 00:19:48.079 at his home. This was a formal occasion. The 00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:50.359 formality of the occasion is demonstrated by 00:19:50.359 --> 00:19:53.160 the posture that the guests adopted. Luke writes 00:19:53.160 --> 00:19:57.440 that Jesus reclined at table. So in those days 00:19:57.440 --> 00:20:00.339 at a formal banquet, there would be couches set 00:20:00.339 --> 00:20:03.500 aside or set around a low table and they would 00:20:03.500 --> 00:20:06.619 recline leaning on their left elbow with their 00:20:06.619 --> 00:20:09.319 head towards the table, their right hand free 00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:12.779 to eat and to drink with their feet extending 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:16.609 away from the table. The banquet would likely 00:20:16.609 --> 00:20:20.250 have taken place in the afternoon in the courtyard 00:20:20.250 --> 00:20:24.609 of a first century home where these dining events 00:20:24.609 --> 00:20:27.809 were held. And one commentator notes that the 00:20:27.809 --> 00:20:29.869 meal would have been a semi -public occasion. 00:20:29.970 --> 00:20:31.730 It would have been more like a block party than 00:20:31.730 --> 00:20:34.349 a private dinner. In other words, it would not 00:20:34.349 --> 00:20:37.029 have been difficult or strange for this woman 00:20:37.029 --> 00:20:40.650 to have gained access to the courtyard and to 00:20:40.650 --> 00:20:44.809 gain access to Jesus. The last note that I want 00:20:44.809 --> 00:20:47.869 to make about the scene of this story is that 00:20:47.869 --> 00:20:49.930 first century Jewish banquets were occasions 00:20:49.930 --> 00:20:52.630 of high honor and they were regulated by strict 00:20:52.630 --> 00:20:56.950 social customs. People were seated in order of 00:20:56.950 --> 00:21:00.170 importance with the seats of highest honor being 00:21:00.170 --> 00:21:05.309 at the left and the right hand of the host. Luke 00:21:05.309 --> 00:21:07.589 doesn't tell us where Jesus was seated on this 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:10.470 occasion, but it would seem strange. if Simon 00:21:10.470 --> 00:21:12.829 seated him in the place of honor, because in 00:21:12.829 --> 00:21:16.569 every other way he dishonored him. He did not 00:21:16.569 --> 00:21:20.289 afford him all of the customary honors that a 00:21:20.289 --> 00:21:22.490 host would have given to a distinguished guest. 00:21:22.710 --> 00:21:25.009 He failed to give him water to wash his feet. 00:21:25.049 --> 00:21:27.609 He did not anoint his head with oil. He did not 00:21:27.609 --> 00:21:31.869 greet him with a kiss. And Jesus, for his part, 00:21:31.930 --> 00:21:34.890 violated social protocol by publicly rebuking 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:40.250 his host. Kenneth Bailey, in a 2008 study of 00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:43.289 first century Middle Eastern culture as it pertains 00:21:43.289 --> 00:21:46.509 to the Gospels, he writes this, never in my life 00:21:46.509 --> 00:21:50.089 in any culture anywhere in the world have I participated 00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:52.630 in a banquet where the guest attacked the quality 00:21:52.630 --> 00:21:57.369 of the hospitality. In other words, from beginning 00:21:57.369 --> 00:22:00.750 to end, this banquet is fraught with social volatility 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:04.609 and we should feel the tension in this room. 00:22:06.580 --> 00:22:10.980 Secondly, then we move to the sinner. We're going 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:12.859 to meet the two primary characters. So point 00:22:12.859 --> 00:22:14.460 number two is the sinner. Point number three 00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:16.900 is the self -righteous. First, let's meet the 00:22:16.900 --> 00:22:20.460 woman whom Luke calls a woman in the city who 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:24.299 was a sinner. Tradition has identified this woman 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:28.859 as Mary Magdalene, but that is doubtful. In fact, 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.500 we know where this tradition began. A fourth 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:34.059 century church father named Ephraim of Syrian 00:22:34.059 --> 00:22:37.599 mistakenly conflated This sinful woman in Luke 00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:41.819 7 with the Mary who anointed Jesus at Bethany. 00:22:41.900 --> 00:22:44.619 And so he said this woman's name was Mary. And 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:46.339 then he looked at the beginning of chapter 8 00:22:46.339 --> 00:22:48.380 where we're introduced to Mary Magdalene from 00:22:48.380 --> 00:22:52.259 whom seven demons were driven out. And he conflated 00:22:52.259 --> 00:22:55.079 all of these stories together. And this sinful 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:59.019 woman got identified with Mary. That's probably 00:22:59.019 --> 00:23:03.819 not the case. But what probably is the case is 00:23:03.819 --> 00:23:06.279 that this woman, as she has traditionally been 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:10.880 identified, was a prostitute. The fact that Luke 00:23:10.880 --> 00:23:13.700 emphasizes over and over her sinfulness points 00:23:13.700 --> 00:23:16.799 in the direction of prostitution. First in verse 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:19.740 47, Luke identifies her as a sinner. Then in 00:23:19.740 --> 00:23:23.640 verse 39, Simon says if Jesus were really a prophet, 00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:27.519 he would know who and what sort of woman this 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:31.069 is who was touching him. And I can't think of 00:23:31.069 --> 00:23:33.549 what other kind of woman would be referred to 00:23:33.549 --> 00:23:36.089 in this way, whose touch would be thought to 00:23:36.089 --> 00:23:40.690 be so defiling. Then in verse 47, Jesus says 00:23:40.690 --> 00:23:44.029 to Simon, I tell you, her sins, which are many, 00:23:44.250 --> 00:23:49.170 have been forgiven. So the most reasonable explanation 00:23:49.170 --> 00:23:51.710 is that this woman was a prostitute and a notorious 00:23:51.710 --> 00:23:56.029 one at that, for Simon recognized her as such, 00:23:56.029 --> 00:23:58.490 whether by the way she was dressed or by reputation. 00:23:59.819 --> 00:24:02.339 So the protagonist in this story is an unnamed 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:06.000 prostitute whom Luke simply identifies as the 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:09.380 sinner. Well, then we move to the antagonist 00:24:09.380 --> 00:24:12.859 of this story, the self -righteous Simon, the 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:15.920 Pharisee. And again, Luke provides us with no 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.500 biographical details other than his religious 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:22.799 persuasion. Already in Luke's gospel, Pharisees 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:25.160 have appeared four times and they will appear 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:28.740 again repeatedly. And in every one of those occurrences, 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:32.480 Luke shows them in a negative light. In fact, 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:34.740 as I mentioned at the beginning, Pharisees are 00:24:34.740 --> 00:24:38.119 the antagonists in all three of these nearly 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:40.900 identical stories or parables that are unique 00:24:40.900 --> 00:24:44.299 to Luke's gospel. So who were the Pharisees? 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:48.220 Well, the Pharisees were a Jewish sect, which... 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:52.859 likely emerged out of a group known as the Hasidim. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:54.960 And we're beginning to get this tinge of self 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:57.279 -righteousness. They were known literally in 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.400 Hebrew as the pious ones. They're the holy ones. 00:25:02.119 --> 00:25:05.920 And they appeared in the 2nd century BC in the 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:10.680 aftermath of the Maccabean revolt. And they resisted, 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:13.759 the Pharisees resisted what they saw as cultural, 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.769 moral, and theological compromise. that had come 00:25:17.769 --> 00:25:20.609 upon Israel as a result of their Greco -Roman 00:25:20.609 --> 00:25:25.150 rule. And their aim was to reform Judaism and 00:25:25.150 --> 00:25:28.869 bring it back to Torah. They were a reformed 00:25:28.869 --> 00:25:34.109 bunch. And to bring them back to covenant faithfulness. 00:25:34.450 --> 00:25:38.309 There's a similarity here. We need to make sure 00:25:38.309 --> 00:25:43.779 that the similarity doesn't go too far. In Hebrew, 00:25:43.900 --> 00:25:47.099 the word Pharisee means separated one or holy 00:25:47.099 --> 00:25:49.900 one, which reflects their utmost concern for 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:53.559 ritual and ceremonial purity. They placed supreme 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:57.380 value upon the Torah, upon the written law of 00:25:57.380 --> 00:25:59.680 Moses, but they also understood that the Torah 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:03.319 had to be interpreted and applied in every generation. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:06.500 And so the Pharisees had accumulated over the 00:26:06.500 --> 00:26:10.519 years a massive amount of oral rabbinical tradition. 00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:14.299 that interpreted and applied the Torah, and which 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:18.200 the Pharisees considered to be of equal weight 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:21.859 and authority with the Torah itself. This is 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:24.500 why Jesus repeatedly condemns them for elevating 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:28.759 the traditions of men over the Word of God. By 00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:31.180 the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were the dominant 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:33.900 religious force in Israel, and they remained 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:37.920 so for centuries after. The Pharisees and their 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:41.710 scribes were universally acknowledged as experts 00:26:41.710 --> 00:26:44.490 in the interpretation and application of the 00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:46.309 scriptures. So if you're thinking of the various 00:26:46.309 --> 00:26:50.990 groups in first century Israel, if the Sadducees 00:26:50.990 --> 00:26:57.089 and the priests ruled the temple and its sacrifices, 00:26:57.309 --> 00:27:00.609 the Pharisees and the scribes, their domain were 00:27:00.609 --> 00:27:04.630 the scriptures and the synagogues. And if you 00:27:04.630 --> 00:27:06.670 want to know what Jesus thought of the Pharisees 00:27:06.670 --> 00:27:08.750 of his day, you don't have to guess. You can 00:27:08.750 --> 00:27:12.480 go to Matthew chapter 23. where Jesus pronounces 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:16.640 seven curses upon the Pharisees. He accuses them 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.019 of hypocrisy and self -righteousness. He calls 00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:24.420 them sons of hell, blind guides. He accuses them 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:28.319 of being greedy and self -indulgent. He refers 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.559 to them as whitewashed tombs, which outwardly 00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:34.000 appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:36.779 men's bones. He calls them serpents and a brood 00:27:36.779 --> 00:27:39.720 of vipers. And he says that they will surely 00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:42.220 murder the prophets and the wise men that he 00:27:42.220 --> 00:27:46.119 will send them. And nothing in this story indicates 00:27:46.119 --> 00:27:49.859 that Simon broke that mold. So we've set the 00:27:49.859 --> 00:27:52.940 scene. We've been introduced to the sinner. We've 00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:55.119 been introduced to the self -righteousness. Let's 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:59.240 move fourthly to the scandal that gave rise to 00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:01.500 the conflict at the center of this story. We'll 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:05.680 pick up again in verse 36. Now one of the Pharisees 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:08.619 was requesting him to dine with him. As he entered 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:11.319 the Pharisee's house and reclined, and he entered 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:13.279 the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:16.400 And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. 00:28:17.099 --> 00:28:19.200 And when she learned that he was reclining at 00:28:19.200 --> 00:28:20.940 the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought 00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:24.539 an alabaster vial of perfume. And standing behind 00:28:24.539 --> 00:28:28.380 him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:30.720 feet with her tears and kept wiping them with 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:33.180 the hair of her head and kissing his feet and 00:28:33.180 --> 00:28:36.359 anointing them with the perfume. Now when the 00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:38.579 Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:41.519 to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:44.400 know who and what sort of person this woman is 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:49.319 who is touching him, that she is a sinner. What 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:54.579 a scene. I want you to try and enter into it 00:28:54.579 --> 00:28:56.960 with me. We're going to put on our sanctified 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:02.039 imagination for a moment. Who knows how long 00:29:02.039 --> 00:29:05.599 this woman had been a prostitute? or why and 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:09.099 how she had entered upon that lifestyle. I doubt 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:12.940 that it was a trade freely chosen, but rather 00:29:12.940 --> 00:29:15.140 was something that had been thrust upon her by 00:29:15.140 --> 00:29:19.680 cruel circumstance. Because no little girl dreams 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:21.779 that this is how their story will go, and no 00:29:21.779 --> 00:29:24.180 loving father would permit it to happen, so I 00:29:24.180 --> 00:29:27.200 surmise that she didn't have one. A loving father, 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:31.140 that is. Whether forced into prostitution through 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:34.380 cruelty or falling into it through poverty, Once 00:29:34.380 --> 00:29:39.279 in it, it seemed impossible to escape. What options 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:42.319 did she have? What opportunities were open to 00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:47.920 someone such as she? Honest employment? She was 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.740 defiled in the eyes of her community. Her very 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:55.019 presence was defiling. No one would enter a shop 00:29:55.019 --> 00:29:59.859 in which she worked. Marriage? Who would have 00:29:59.859 --> 00:30:03.859 her? And after a few years of being shunned by 00:30:03.859 --> 00:30:08.140 the clean people in her town, after a few years 00:30:08.140 --> 00:30:10.579 of seeing people cross the street rather than 00:30:10.579 --> 00:30:14.319 have to walk past her, after a few years of hearing 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:18.160 the whispered insults and the snide remarks from 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:21.180 the women and feeling the leering glances from 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:23.200 the men of her village, she had become hardened. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:29.460 Forget them, she thought. And she embraced her 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:31.839 profession as the only means of maintaining any 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:35.900 shred of dignity or self -respect or self -determination. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:43.200 So what if no one likes me? Men want me, and 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:46.599 they'll pay to have me. And in her mind, that 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:50.500 gave her some semblance of power in a world in 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:55.619 which she had none. Besides, it paid well. Better 00:30:55.619 --> 00:30:57.819 than it should have in a religious community 00:30:57.819 --> 00:31:04.440 like hers. But then Jesus came to town. And she'd 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:06.960 heard the story. She'd heard of how he had healed 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:09.099 the sick and cleansed the lepers and made the 00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:11.940 blind to see and the lame to walk. How he had 00:31:11.940 --> 00:31:14.579 raised the dead and how he had forgiven sins. 00:31:16.059 --> 00:31:19.380 And she'd even gone to hear him teach. Perhaps 00:31:19.380 --> 00:31:22.880 on the hill outside of town, she slunk around 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:25.920 the... the fringe of the crowd, or maybe when 00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:29.140 he was teaching in the synagogue and she stood 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:31.240 outside and listened through an open window. 00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:36.220 But as she listened to his words, something softened 00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:40.519 within her that had long been hardened. Cynicism 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:44.380 melted into conviction and conviction gave rise 00:31:44.380 --> 00:31:47.700 to hope and hope produced a longing and that 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:52.109 longing became more urgent by the hour. So when 00:31:52.109 --> 00:31:54.109 she heard that Jesus had been invited to the 00:31:54.109 --> 00:31:56.369 home of Simon the Pharisee, even though she was 00:31:56.369 --> 00:32:00.589 terrified of Simon, her longing to get to Jesus 00:32:00.589 --> 00:32:04.410 proved irresistible. And so she grabbed the alabaster 00:32:04.410 --> 00:32:06.829 vial of perfumed oil, which was the most precious 00:32:06.829 --> 00:32:09.650 item she owned, and she made her way to the house 00:32:09.650 --> 00:32:14.660 of Simon. The front gate was open. And she could 00:32:14.660 --> 00:32:16.680 hear the noise of the banquet in the courtyard 00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:19.480 within. And as she entered the courtyard, she 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.279 was greeted by that familiar silencing of conversations 00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:26.299 that happened whenever she entered a room. A 00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:28.619 silencing of conversations that was soon replaced 00:32:28.619 --> 00:32:32.160 by scorning whispers. What is she doing here? 00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:37.880 But she didn't care. Her eyes scanned the courtyard 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:41.369 until she saw him. And with singular purpose 00:32:41.369 --> 00:32:43.450 and no small amount of courage, she made her 00:32:43.450 --> 00:32:46.650 way toward him. His back was toward her and it 00:32:46.650 --> 00:32:49.410 took a moment for the silence and the whispers 00:32:49.410 --> 00:32:52.789 to sweep across the courtyard like a wave finally 00:32:52.789 --> 00:32:55.329 arriving at the table. And everything seemed 00:32:55.329 --> 00:32:58.650 to converge in a single moment. Her arrival at 00:32:58.650 --> 00:33:01.789 the feet of Jesus, the dawning awareness of her 00:33:01.789 --> 00:33:05.829 presence by those at the table. And Jesus turned 00:33:05.829 --> 00:33:10.849 and looked at her. And in his eyes was something 00:33:10.849 --> 00:33:16.069 she had not seen in years and maybe ever. He 00:33:16.069 --> 00:33:18.390 looked at her with love and he looked at her 00:33:18.390 --> 00:33:24.250 with compassion. And as his eyes met her, she 00:33:24.250 --> 00:33:29.470 broke into pieces. And years of shame and guilt 00:33:29.470 --> 00:33:35.009 melted beneath his holy gaze. And she was dissolved 00:33:35.009 --> 00:33:39.650 into great heaving sobs. utterly undone by the 00:33:39.650 --> 00:33:43.970 grace of Christ. Casting off all convention, 00:33:44.210 --> 00:33:47.509 she fell to her knees and she pressed her face 00:33:47.509 --> 00:33:51.930 to his feet. And the sobs would not stop and 00:33:51.930 --> 00:33:54.349 the great tears began to soak his feet and she 00:33:54.349 --> 00:33:56.769 felt embarrassed and so she fumbled about with 00:33:56.769 --> 00:34:00.089 her hair and tried to dry them as best as she 00:34:00.089 --> 00:34:05.029 could. She was so overcome that she found herself 00:34:05.029 --> 00:34:07.769 alternating between wiping his feet and kissing 00:34:07.769 --> 00:34:11.030 them. Luke uses an imperfect tense here that 00:34:11.030 --> 00:34:16.230 speaks to a repeated activity. Then she remembered 00:34:16.230 --> 00:34:18.690 the alabaster vial of perfumed oil that she had 00:34:18.690 --> 00:34:21.869 brought with her. She had intended to present 00:34:21.869 --> 00:34:23.949 it to him as a gift. She assumed that's what 00:34:23.949 --> 00:34:26.309 honorable people did when they were in the presence 00:34:26.309 --> 00:34:29.579 of other honorable people. Then in that moment 00:34:29.579 --> 00:34:32.719 of impulse, she broke the vial and she poured 00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:37.400 the ointment upon his dry, cracked feet. And 00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:39.860 everyone looking on was scandalized. Simon certainly 00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:43.539 was. And he's thinking to himself, if this man 00:34:43.539 --> 00:34:46.519 were truly a prophet, he would know who and what 00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:49.000 sort of woman it is that is touching him, for 00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:53.550 she is a sinner. So for Simon, the fact that 00:34:53.550 --> 00:34:56.309 Jesus would even allow this woman to touch him 00:34:56.309 --> 00:34:59.150 was all the evidence that he needed to prove 00:34:59.150 --> 00:35:01.809 what he already suspected, namely that this Jesus 00:35:01.809 --> 00:35:05.730 was not the Messiah. In fact, that he was no 00:35:05.730 --> 00:35:10.869 prophet at all. But Jesus was not scandalized 00:35:10.869 --> 00:35:15.710 by this extravagant display of affection. For 00:35:15.710 --> 00:35:17.889 he had come to seek and to save that which was 00:35:17.889 --> 00:35:20.889 lost, and this is what saving faith looks like. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:26.780 This is what it looks like to be found. It looks 00:35:26.780 --> 00:35:31.360 like extravagant, uninhibited, shameless love. 00:35:33.780 --> 00:35:36.699 At this point, Jesus rose to the woman's defense 00:35:36.699 --> 00:35:39.119 and he told Simon a parable. This will be our 00:35:39.119 --> 00:35:43.880 fifth point, the story. And Jesus answered him, 00:35:43.900 --> 00:35:47.420 Simon, I have something to say to you. And he 00:35:47.420 --> 00:35:51.239 replied, say it, teacher. A moneylender had two 00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:54.920 debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. 00:35:55.340 --> 00:35:58.119 And when they were unable to repay, he graciously 00:35:58.119 --> 00:36:01.760 forgave them both. So which of them will love 00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:08.079 him more? And he said to him, I suppose the one 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:11.900 who was forgiven more. And Jesus said to him, 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:16.829 you have judged correctly. The amounts owed in 00:36:16.829 --> 00:36:21.150 this parable represent two years, 500 denarii, 00:36:21.150 --> 00:36:24.349 and two months, 50 denarii, two years and two 00:36:24.349 --> 00:36:26.889 months wages respectively. A denarius was a day's 00:36:26.889 --> 00:36:30.429 wage for an average laborer. The parable itself 00:36:30.429 --> 00:36:33.010 is easy enough to understand. Even Simon understood 00:36:33.010 --> 00:36:35.969 it, although he was somewhat begrudging in his 00:36:35.969 --> 00:36:40.630 answer. Now again, Jesus' point is not that the 00:36:40.630 --> 00:36:44.090 woman's sins were ten times greater than Simon's 00:36:44.090 --> 00:36:48.409 sins. It would be impossible to justify that 00:36:48.409 --> 00:36:50.949 interpretation based upon what Jesus thought 00:36:50.949 --> 00:36:53.710 of the Pharisees revealed throughout the Gospels, 00:36:53.730 --> 00:36:56.889 especially Matthew 23. Remember, this is a figure 00:36:56.889 --> 00:37:01.269 of speech in the same way as we should understand 00:37:01.269 --> 00:37:04.309 Jesus' words in Luke 5 .32. I have not come to 00:37:04.309 --> 00:37:07.739 call the righteous, but the sinners. to repentance. 00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:10.679 That doesn't imply that the Pharisees to whom 00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:13.659 Jesus was speaking in Luke 5 were righteous and 00:37:13.659 --> 00:37:15.900 did not need salvation like the sinners did. 00:37:16.739 --> 00:37:20.039 The point of the parable is simply that great 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:26.409 forgiveness evokes great love. Jesus is not saying 00:37:26.409 --> 00:37:28.570 that the woman's sin was great, therefore her 00:37:28.570 --> 00:37:30.710 forgiveness was great, therefore her love was 00:37:30.710 --> 00:37:33.269 great, while Simon's sin was little, therefore 00:37:33.269 --> 00:37:35.750 his forgiveness was little, therefore his love 00:37:35.750 --> 00:37:38.769 was little. Rather, Jesus' point is that this 00:37:38.769 --> 00:37:41.389 woman loved much because she had been forgiven 00:37:41.389 --> 00:37:44.309 much, and Simon didn't love him at all because 00:37:44.309 --> 00:37:49.630 he was not forgiven at all. Jesus then applied 00:37:49.630 --> 00:37:52.789 the parable to the case of Simon. And the woman 00:37:52.789 --> 00:37:55.150 and their vastly different responses to him. 00:37:55.170 --> 00:37:58.949 Verse 44, turning toward the woman, he said to 00:37:58.949 --> 00:38:02.429 Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your 00:38:02.429 --> 00:38:06.429 house. You gave me no water for my feet, but 00:38:06.429 --> 00:38:09.250 she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped 00:38:09.250 --> 00:38:13.809 them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but 00:38:13.809 --> 00:38:16.170 she, since the time I came in, has not ceased 00:38:16.170 --> 00:38:20.429 to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with 00:38:20.429 --> 00:38:25.360 oil. but she anointed my feet with perfume. For 00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:28.460 this reason I say to you, her sins, which are 00:38:28.460 --> 00:38:32.559 many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. 00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:36.719 But he who is forgiven little, loves little. 00:38:38.059 --> 00:38:40.679 Their respective responses to Jesus could not 00:38:40.679 --> 00:38:43.360 have been more different. Simon withheld from 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:47.320 Jesus every common courtesy that a host owed 00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:50.389 to an honored guest. The implication is he didn't 00:38:50.389 --> 00:38:54.010 honor Jesus. Simon provided Jesus with neither 00:38:54.010 --> 00:38:57.269 water nor towel that he might wash his own feet. 00:38:58.489 --> 00:39:01.050 This woman washed his feet with her tears and 00:39:01.050 --> 00:39:04.349 dried them with her hair. Simon had not greeted 00:39:04.349 --> 00:39:06.610 Jesus with the kiss of welcome upon his cheek. 00:39:06.789 --> 00:39:12.809 This woman had not ceased to kiss the feet of 00:39:12.809 --> 00:39:17.050 Jesus. And Simon had not anointed Jesus' head. 00:39:17.690 --> 00:39:20.650 With oil, and the word Luke uses is common, that 00:39:20.650 --> 00:39:24.750 is cheap olive oil. But the woman anointed Jesus' 00:39:24.989 --> 00:39:29.090 feet with costly perfume. Could not be more different. 00:39:30.530 --> 00:39:32.969 Therefore I tell you, her sins which are many 00:39:32.969 --> 00:39:35.769 are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who 00:39:35.769 --> 00:39:41.949 is forgiven little loves little. Their vastly 00:39:41.949 --> 00:39:45.010 different responses to Jesus reveal their vastly 00:39:45.010 --> 00:39:51.489 different relationships. Finally, this brings 00:39:51.489 --> 00:39:55.289 us to the Savior, who for the first time in this 00:39:55.289 --> 00:39:57.469 narrative addresses the woman directly. Verse 00:39:57.469 --> 00:40:02.210 48, Then He said to her, Your sins have been 00:40:02.210 --> 00:40:05.889 forgiven. Those who were reclining at table with 00:40:05.889 --> 00:40:08.050 Him began to say to themselves, Who is this man 00:40:08.050 --> 00:40:11.369 who even forgives sins? And He said to the woman, 00:40:11.429 --> 00:40:16.519 Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Jesus' 00:40:16.519 --> 00:40:19.440 authoritative declaration, your sins are forgiven, 00:40:19.579 --> 00:40:24.960 had two effects in that room. First, his authoritative 00:40:24.960 --> 00:40:28.559 proclamation immediately, irrevocably, and absolutely 00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:34.199 altered her status. Now, I'm not suggesting that 00:40:34.199 --> 00:40:38.940 the world would recognize her new status. They 00:40:38.940 --> 00:40:44.400 would still regard her as a whore, unclean, defiling. 00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:50.900 an outcast. No, Jesus had immediately irrevocably 00:40:50.900 --> 00:40:53.920 and absolutely altered her status in his kingdom. 00:40:54.280 --> 00:40:59.340 In his kingdom, she is now forgiven, clean, new, 00:40:59.679 --> 00:41:03.380 virginal. She is the citizen with every right 00:41:03.380 --> 00:41:06.679 and every privilege enjoyed by every other citizen 00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:10.719 of Jesus's kingdom with no distinction whatsoever. 00:41:12.010 --> 00:41:16.190 In the world, this woman may still be received 00:41:16.190 --> 00:41:19.190 with snide remarks and sidelong glances, but 00:41:19.190 --> 00:41:24.030 in the church, she must be received as a treasured 00:41:24.030 --> 00:41:27.389 and precious sheep of the good shepherd. She 00:41:27.389 --> 00:41:31.750 must be permitted to go forth in the church in 00:41:31.750 --> 00:41:34.929 peace. And there is application to the church 00:41:34.929 --> 00:41:39.559 here, and I wonder if you see it. When Jesus 00:41:39.559 --> 00:41:44.179 pronounces someone forgiven, regardless of who 00:41:44.179 --> 00:41:48.059 they've been or what they've done, who are we 00:41:48.059 --> 00:41:52.679 to object? Who are we to make distinctions where 00:41:52.679 --> 00:41:56.179 Jesus has obliterated all such distinctions? 00:41:56.679 --> 00:42:00.380 In the church, which is the visible kingdom of 00:42:00.380 --> 00:42:02.820 God, the kingdom of God made visible upon the 00:42:02.820 --> 00:42:06.400 earth, we must judge people according to the 00:42:06.400 --> 00:42:10.650 pronouncements of the king. There are no second 00:42:10.650 --> 00:42:14.210 -class citizens in his kingdom. There are only 00:42:14.210 --> 00:42:16.909 those who have been forgiven much and who love 00:42:16.909 --> 00:42:22.110 much. Second, Jesus' authoritative pronouncement 00:42:22.110 --> 00:42:24.389 revealed his identity, at least for those who 00:42:24.389 --> 00:42:27.409 were there with eyes to see. This is a nearly 00:42:27.409 --> 00:42:30.110 identical reaction to that of the scribes and 00:42:30.110 --> 00:42:33.409 the Pharisees. to Jesus' identical pronouncement 00:42:33.409 --> 00:42:35.489 back in Luke chapter 5 when He had healed the 00:42:35.489 --> 00:42:38.170 paralytic. Remember the men bring the paralytic 00:42:38.170 --> 00:42:39.730 and they drop him through the roof and Jesus 00:42:39.730 --> 00:42:42.650 sees him and He says, Son, your sins are forgiven. 00:42:42.869 --> 00:42:45.090 And immediately the scribes and Pharisees in 00:42:45.090 --> 00:42:47.170 the audience are asking amongst themselves, who 00:42:47.170 --> 00:42:52.030 is this guy? Who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:42:53.929 --> 00:42:59.849 Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? And I 00:42:59.849 --> 00:43:02.070 would say exactly, who can forgive sins but God 00:43:02.070 --> 00:43:06.010 alone? And yet Jesus forgave this woman's sins, 00:43:06.150 --> 00:43:13.289 and Luke is asking us to do the math. When I 00:43:13.289 --> 00:43:17.130 was a kid, my dad owned several cassette tapes, 00:43:17.170 --> 00:43:20.289 and I realize I'm dating myself there. He owned 00:43:20.289 --> 00:43:24.110 several cassette tapes of a guy named Don Francisco, 00:43:24.170 --> 00:43:26.690 who was an ex -hippie who had gone through the 00:43:26.690 --> 00:43:30.050 Jesus movement. shaggy hair, beard, and he was 00:43:30.050 --> 00:43:32.989 trying to make rock and roll Christian. And I 00:43:32.989 --> 00:43:38.170 don't know, my dad, my dad liked him. And so 00:43:38.170 --> 00:43:41.030 this is in the late seventies, early eighties. 00:43:41.090 --> 00:43:44.010 And Don Francisco was a singer songwriter in 00:43:44.010 --> 00:43:48.190 the style of Jim Croce or Don McLean. My dad 00:43:48.190 --> 00:43:51.530 didn't own a lot of cassette tapes. And so the 00:43:51.530 --> 00:43:53.809 ones that we owned were the soundtrack of my 00:43:53.809 --> 00:43:59.019 childhood. and road trips in our 1983 Chevrolet 00:43:59.019 --> 00:44:02.960 Celebrity. Don Francisco's specialty was taking 00:44:02.960 --> 00:44:05.260 biblical narratives, especially gospel narratives, 00:44:05.539 --> 00:44:08.840 and turning them into songs. And so anytime, 00:44:09.119 --> 00:44:13.400 it happens all the time, anytime that I am preaching 00:44:13.400 --> 00:44:16.320 through a passage, preparing to preach a passage 00:44:16.320 --> 00:44:19.559 from the gospels, a passage that Don Francisco 00:44:19.559 --> 00:44:21.780 turned into a song, I can't get it out of my 00:44:21.780 --> 00:44:25.519 head. It just rolls like a soundtrack. All week 00:44:25.519 --> 00:44:27.900 long. And that was the case as I was writing 00:44:27.900 --> 00:44:32.239 this sermon. He wrote a song on this particular 00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:36.000 text. It appeared on his 1981 The Traveler album. 00:44:36.579 --> 00:44:39.019 And so I thought I would close this morning by 00:44:39.019 --> 00:44:44.539 reading the words from Beautiful to Me. The crowds 00:44:44.539 --> 00:44:47.099 were in the streets that day when Jesus came 00:44:47.099 --> 00:44:50.500 to town. All the synagogue was there and more 00:44:50.500 --> 00:44:53.940 from miles around. So I asked him home to dinner 00:44:53.940 --> 00:44:57.440 just to see what I could see of this famous local 00:44:57.440 --> 00:45:01.639 prophet from here in Galilee. I don't know just 00:45:01.639 --> 00:45:04.800 how that woman got into the room, but you couldn't 00:45:04.800 --> 00:45:07.360 miss her gaudy clothes and her strong and sweet 00:45:07.360 --> 00:45:10.900 perfume. She went straight to Jesus' feet and 00:45:10.900 --> 00:45:13.639 stopped and stood right there and then cried 00:45:13.639 --> 00:45:16.800 and wet his feet with tears and dried them with 00:45:16.800 --> 00:45:20.460 her hair. Now of all the women in my town, none 00:45:20.460 --> 00:45:23.860 was more well known. for the flagrant sin she'd 00:45:23.860 --> 00:45:27.099 lived in and the wickedness she'd sown. But he 00:45:27.099 --> 00:45:29.480 didn't move to stop her. It seemed this prophet 00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:32.880 couldn't tell that the woman who was touching 00:45:32.880 --> 00:45:37.239 him was the kind they buy and sell. And I had 00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:40.719 no idea just what this Jesus planned to do when 00:45:40.719 --> 00:45:44.159 he said, Simon, there's something I need to say 00:45:44.159 --> 00:45:46.440 to you. So I said, teacher, if it's on your mind, 00:45:46.539 --> 00:45:50.289 tell me what you will. But as he began to speak 00:45:50.289 --> 00:45:54.349 to me, the room grew quickly still. He said, 00:45:54.389 --> 00:45:56.530 take a good look at this woman now, in spite 00:45:56.530 --> 00:46:00.389 of all her fears. She's kissed me and anointed 00:46:00.389 --> 00:46:04.349 me and washed my feet with tears. She's honored 00:46:04.349 --> 00:46:06.590 me while you've been only rude to me instead. 00:46:07.210 --> 00:46:10.570 You gave no kiss of greeting, no anointing for 00:46:10.570 --> 00:46:15.070 my head. And her sins were red as scarlet, but 00:46:15.070 --> 00:46:17.829 now they're washed away. The love and faith she's 00:46:17.829 --> 00:46:21.469 shown is all the price she has to pay. For the 00:46:21.469 --> 00:46:24.590 depth of God's forgiveness is more than you can 00:46:24.590 --> 00:46:27.829 see. And in spite of what you think of her, she's 00:46:27.829 --> 00:46:32.250 beautiful to me. My anger flamed to hatred and 00:46:32.250 --> 00:46:35.190 I wanted nothing more than to take this prophet 00:46:35.190 --> 00:46:38.809 by the throat and throw him out the door to act 00:46:38.809 --> 00:46:41.510 like God forgiving sins and then speak so to 00:46:41.510 --> 00:46:45.170 me. This itinerant from Nazareth and backwoods 00:46:45.170 --> 00:46:50.309 Galilee. But instead I sat and trembled, shaken 00:46:50.309 --> 00:46:53.829 to the core. The woman still was weeping as she 00:46:53.829 --> 00:46:56.989 knelt there on the floor. And Jesus turned to 00:46:56.989 --> 00:46:59.329 her and said, Your chains have been released. 00:47:00.070 --> 00:47:03.170 Your faith has saved you from your sins. Rise, 00:47:03.429 --> 00:47:08.429 walk in peace. Your sins were red as scarlet, 00:47:08.429 --> 00:47:12.170 but now they're washed away. The love and faith 00:47:12.170 --> 00:47:14.409 you've shown is all the price you have to pay. 00:47:15.119 --> 00:47:17.980 For the depth of God's forgiveness is deeper 00:47:17.980 --> 00:47:20.960 than the sea. And no matter what the world may 00:47:20.960 --> 00:47:27.219 think, you're beautiful to me. Are your sins 00:47:27.219 --> 00:47:35.239 red as scarlet? They can be washed away. Are 00:47:35.239 --> 00:47:38.559 you shackled in guilt and in bondage to shame? 00:47:39.760 --> 00:47:43.530 Your chains can be broken. Did you come in here 00:47:43.530 --> 00:47:48.210 this morning feeling defiled, like you didn't 00:47:48.210 --> 00:47:54.650 belong? You can be clean. The effect of this 00:47:54.650 --> 00:47:56.969 text is that you should take courage and you 00:47:56.969 --> 00:48:01.869 should come to Jesus. He will receive you. He 00:48:01.869 --> 00:48:05.409 will cleanse you. He will set you free. He will 00:48:05.409 --> 00:48:08.590 heal you. He will forgive you. He will save you. 00:48:09.269 --> 00:48:15.030 He will alter. Forever your status in His everlasting 00:48:15.030 --> 00:48:20.110 kingdom. Why? Why? Why does Jesus do this? Because 00:48:20.110 --> 00:48:27.909 Jesus loves to be loved much. And those who have 00:48:27.909 --> 00:48:32.070 been forgiven much, love much. Therefore, Jesus 00:48:32.070 --> 00:48:38.690 loves to forgive much. Do you have much to forgive? 00:48:41.039 --> 00:48:46.360 Jesus has much forgiveness. So go to Him today. 00:48:47.019 --> 00:48:52.619 Go to Him now. Call upon His name in prayer. 00:48:52.719 --> 00:48:56.460 Cast yourself at His feet for His mercy and trust 00:48:56.460 --> 00:49:03.360 in His grace and just love Him. And if you have 00:49:03.360 --> 00:49:07.739 trouble identifying with the woman in this story, 00:49:08.969 --> 00:49:12.349 then may I suggest that maybe you're the Pharisee 00:49:12.349 --> 00:49:17.210 in this story? If that's the case, I hope that 00:49:17.210 --> 00:49:19.849 you've been shaken to the core by Jesus' words. 00:49:20.849 --> 00:49:26.269 He who is forgiven much, loves much. So I ask 00:49:26.269 --> 00:49:28.050 you again the question I asked at the beginning. 00:49:28.150 --> 00:49:33.269 Do you love Jesus like this woman loved Jesus? 00:49:34.920 --> 00:49:39.219 If you cannot fathom this woman's effusive affections 00:49:39.219 --> 00:49:43.000 and her extravagant actions, then you would do 00:49:43.000 --> 00:49:45.699 well to examine whether your sins are actually 00:49:45.699 --> 00:49:50.300 forgiven. Because this is how forgiven people 00:49:50.300 --> 00:49:52.400 worship Jesus.