A Sinful Women, a hard heart, and Jesus’s Love!
Luke 7:36-50
A Meal with “Holy” Men
The story begins in Luke 7:36–38
(Read the Text)
Verse 36
·
The Pharisee’s
o Holy men
o Like a Lay Pastor or
Elder
o Were always the villain
in the story of Luke, always opposing Jesus
o Trying to find flaws
in everyone
·
Why Jesus??
o Jesus often dined
with Sinners (tax collectors, prostitutes, and Religious people)
o Were they trying to
set him up??
o Jesus ends up
teaching them!!
·
Reclined at the
table
o Paint the picture
Verse 37
·
A woman of the city
o Women did not get
invited to theological discussions
o Women did not dine
with men in public
·
A Sinner
o Her reputation
negatively precedes her.
o Most commentators
believe that she was, perhaps, even a prostitute.
o She’s done things
that ought not be done.
o Her reputation’s damaged and destroyed because
she’s considered dirty and defiled.
o And she hears Jesus
is at this man’s home, so she is going to do the unthinkable.
Verse 38
·
The Feet
o Jesus was not
treated as an honored guest (she notices)
o It was customary to
provide a servant to wash honored guest feet or at least means to do so
yourself
o They were
inconsiderate to the needs of Jesus, aren’t we sometimes rude spouses,
coworkers, church members
·
The Hair
o It was not right for
a women to show her hair in public
o That was believed to
be the beauty and soul of a woman
·
Weeping (can you see
her?)
o She is probably
o Something happens,
she becomes overwhelmed with her sinfulness
o The closer she gets
to Jesus the more she weeps, and cries so much she can wash his feet!
o It happens to us all….the
closer to Jesus we become the more our sin is apparent! The he becomes holy and
us unholy
o Martin Luther calls
theses tears “Heart Water”
o
A Humble, Repentant,
Generous, and Passionate Worshiper
This
is an act of repentance. This is her publicly acknowledging before the most
judgmental, shaming, condemning, self-righteous, religious men, “Yes, I’m a
sinful woman, and I deeply regret the life I have lived.”
And
she just begins balling. Her eyes are filled with so many tears. They’re coming
down her cheeks. There’s snot in her nose. There’s a quiver in her voice. Her
make-up is coming down over her dress. There’s so much water flowing out of her
eyes that it wets Jesus’ feet sufficiently to clean them. That’s a broken,
humble, repentant, devastated, grieved sinner. That’s an act of repentance.
Some
of you have never shed a tear for your sin. She may have never shed a tear
until that moment, and she shed a tear for, perhaps, every sin. And I believe
she was not anticipating that she would become so emotional. Had she
anticipated becoming that emotional, she would have brought a towel. She didn’t
have a towel to dry Jesus’ feet, and so instead she used her hair. She let her
long hair down. Paul says elsewhere that a woman’s hair is her glory. She takes
that which is glorious, and she uses it to clean Jesus’ dirty feet.
Have
you been there, can you see her? Have you been so broken, so repentant, so
close to Jesus that you simply break down? She did and maybe so should you!
An Act of Worship!
When
she falls at his feet, when she is acknowledging her sin, when she is shedding
her tears, when she is cleaning his feet, when she is anointing his feet, when
she is kissing his feet, this is an act of worship.
One
of the ways of worship in the Bible is to fall down on your face at the feet of
Jesus. That’s what she’s doing. She’s worshiping Jesus passionately, humbly,
publicly, repentantly, generously. She’s giving her best. She’s giving all that
she has. She’s giving all that she is in love to Jesus as her Lord.
Two kinds of People (Jesus Sees the Heart)
Luke 7:39-40
Read Text
·
Jesus says, “Simon,
not only am I a prophet, I’ll prove it to you. I know your thoughts and her
sins.”
·
This is one of the
many great errors of religion. There are two kinds of people: unholy people and
holy people.
Religious
people see others’ sin, not their own, they are aware of others’ sin, not their
own. They’re filled with pride, smugness, self-righteousness, judgmentalism,
holier-than-thou-ism. Religious people tend to live in their heads, and think,
and quietly criticize others who are serving Jesus. This woman is serving
Jesus. She’s doing the thing that Simon should have done, and Simon didn’t
serve Jesus, and he’s going to judge the way that she serves Jesus.
Some
of you, tragically, you’re like that. You live in your head. You think you’re
holy. You criticize others, and you don’t participate. Jesus knows your
thoughts. It’s amazing, isn’t it?
When
you read this story, don’t think, “Yeah, I’m like that woman.” Think, “Maybe
I’m like that guy.”
And Extra Zero
Luke 7:41-43
Read Text
·
I
think Jesus, is playing with him a little bit.
·
Simon
thinks he’s only a little bit in debt to God, where this woman is very much in
debt to God. And what Jesus says is, “But if both your debts are canceled,
wouldn’t she actually be more grateful than you?”
·
Let
me ask you this question: what do you owe God?
·
What
if God sent you that ledger each month of reckoning and accounting?
·
What
if God took an account of all your sin—past, present, future—all your thought,
word, deed, sin of commission and omission, everything you have not done?
Do You Even See Her?
Luke 7:44-46
Read Text
·
I
need you to see this, and I need you to love this Woman, and I need you to feel
her pain.
·
This
is the question: do you even see her? ‘Cause when you look at people through
religious eyes, you don’t see them at all. All you see is someone who is
condemnable, and damnable, and shamed,
·
You
don’t see anyone made in the image and likeness of God.
o You don’t see anyone
who needs to learn about the love, and the grace of God.
o You don’t see
someone whose debt can be canceled, whose life can be transformed.
Jesus sees her in a
way that Simon doesn’t, ‘cause Jesus looks at her through the lens of love, and
Simon looks at her through the reality of religion. Jesus says, “Simon, do you
not even see her?
·
How do you see
her?!?
o When she walks in
this church?!?
o When you pass her on
the street?!?
o When you talk about
her at work?!?
o
·
She
doesn’t need another lecture on sin. She’s devastated.
·
The
Holy Spirit has broken her resistance, She can’t stop crying.
·
She
needs help and a savior. She needs to See Jesus! Can you see her??
Jesus is very stern with religious people, and very
compassionate with broken sinners.
·
Too
often the church has made the mistake of being very tolerant and accommodating
of religious people, and very cruel, and mean, and unloving toward those who
know they’re sinners, and come into the church trying to meet Jesus and get
some help!
o WE WANT TO BE LIKE
JESUS!
A Mind-Bending Example
Read 44-46 again
This is what Jesus is
saying,
·
“Simon,
she’s a worshiper, you’re not.
·
She
repents, you don’t.
·
She serves, you won’t.
·
She
gives generously, and you don’t give at all.
I
love this. Jesus is saying, “She’s a generous, humble, repentant worshiper,
you’re not, Simon.”
·
How
about you individually?
o Have you ever shed a
tear over your sin?
o Have you ever
literally got down on your knees, and put your face on the ground, and shed
tears, and envisioned yourself at the feet of Jesus, like this woman, repenting
of who you are, and what you’ve done?
o Are you generous?
This is a very generous gift of ointment.
o Do you serve? What
have you done in response to what Jesus has done for you?
The
reason this woman is responding so passionately is because she’s loved. She’s
loved by Jesus. She’s loved in a way that no man has ever loved her. She’s
touched a lot of men, but not like this. She’s had a lot of men speak of her,
but not like this. She’s loved, and so she is passionate, and broken, and free,
and generous, and serves.
Her Many Sins Are Forgiven
Luke 7:47-50
Read Text
·
Let
me hammer this point, Jesus deals with her sin. He doesn’t excuse her sin, or
neglect her sin, or shift the blame for her sin.
·
She’s
got a lot of sin.
o The question is:
what are we going to do about it?” They are forgiven—for she loved much
·
I
can see Jesus smiling. I can see the love in his eyes. “You’re forgiven.”
That’s amazing. That’s absolutely amazing. “You’re forgiven.”
·
He
didn’t tell her to do anything. He’s gonna do all the work at the cross.
“You’re forgiven.” That’s it?
·
And
the same is true for you, and it is for me.
They have no faith in Jesus!
·
Then
they sit back and criticize Him
·
They
miss the point, they miss seeing God himself because they wear religious
colored glasses!!
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