A Sinful Woman, a hard heart, and Jesus’s Love!
Luke 7:36-50
Where is Jesus in all this?
(Part 3)
Where is Jesus in all this?
Luke 7:36 (ESV)
36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table.
· Jesus
o We know He is there
o He is at the table
o You have to wonder what is He thinking?
o Or does He already know what was about to go down
o We know He is fully God and fully man
o Sometimes I have more questions than answers
§ Do you ever feel that way?
§ Like, as we look at it after the fact, and say to ourselves, we just have a lot of unanswered questions here
o Because I have way more questions about this situation than I have answers
It’s all good until she shows up!
Luke 7:37 (ESV)
37And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment,
· A woman of the city inters the picture
o A sinner
o Jesus likes sinners
o He is known to hang out with them
o Break bread with them
o Heck, He called 12 of them to be His disciples
o Maybe, just maybe, that’s why the “religious” Folks don’t like Him
o He didn’t ask them for help
o He didn’t ask them to be His band of 12
· That brings on more questions for me
o Why didn’t He?
o It would have been much easier on Him if He had.
· But Jesus chose the people no one else would have asked
o They were the ones that were always picked last to be on the team in gym class!
· And this woman was no different, she was the worst of the worst
· A filthy sinner
· And Jesus was watching this all go down
Please remember her
And she hears Jesus is at this man’s home, so she is going to do the unthinkable.
I need you to see her. She’s going to get an alabaster flask of perfume, and she is going to walk to the Pharisee’s house. She is going to walk to the religious meal, she walks thru the door, Can you see her? I’m assuming she’s nervous, ashamed, not wanting to make eye contact, wondering what will be said or done to her or about her. She may even be shaking. She walks into a room filled with men, not just men, “holy” men, “devout” men, “religious” men, they all know her. They all know her reputation. She’s the only woman in the room, and she’s uninvited. And you don’t do this. You don’t walk into someone’s home. You don’t walk into their meal as an uninvited guest, as the only woman, as the quote, unquote, “unholy” woman among the holy men. Please keep that in mind!
Then it all just gets a little weird!
Luke 7:38 (ESV)
38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.
· Before I go any farther can you feel her pain?
o Can you feel her suffering?
o Can you feel her guilt and shame?
· Because Jesus does
o He feels it all
o He feels all of our pain, our guilt, our shame
o That’s why He went to the cross!
· But let’s not forget about Simon and his friends
o He is just the opposite
o He is angry and frustrated with her
o He is talking about her
o Making fun of her
o He is the one with all the right answers
o All the right stuff
· And Jesus hears and sees what all of them are doing
o He not only sees what they’re doing, He hears what they are saying
o He hears their thoughts as well
§ And I can only imagine what those thoughts were!
Let’s use our imagination again for a minute
· Let’s try and get inside Jesus's head during all this
o He is feeling all of her pain and suffering
o He is tenderhearted
o He has a passion for lost and broken people
o He has to be almost overwhelmed with emotion
· And at the same time
o He hears everything the “holy” men are saying
o He sees them ridiculing her
o And He can even hear what they are thinking
Here is my question, and what I struggled with
· How in the world did He keep it together?
· How did He not stand up and give them a good old fashion what for?
· Why didn’t He Stop this madness!!
o It’s all getting messy
o It’s all getting out of hand
o And He has the power to stop it all!
Remember in the beginning we said there were 3 people
· The sinful woman
· The hard heart
· And Jesus
· There are some lessons to be learned from all three
o We have talked about the lessons from the sinful woman
o And the hard-hearted Pharisee
o Now, what can we learn from Jesus!
So, what can we learn from Jesus?
· First, why didn’t Jesus stop it all and defend her
o Because there is no defense for her
o Jesus never has and never will defend or condone our sin
o His heart breaks for it
o He went to the cross because of it
o But He still hates SIN
o So never, ever get it twisted, Jesus will never defend your sin
o He will forgive
o Once we repent of it
Matthew 4:17 (ESV)
17From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
· Second, we can never be like Him
o I could not have sat there while all that went on
o I would have wanted to get up and defend her
o Or at worst leave because I would have felt I was the cause of it all
o And I would have become just another version of them (the Pharisees)
o Even though He felt all her pain
o He also knows what awaits them as well
o So, He has compassion for both
o We just chose sides
o That’s why He gave us a mission
o To love
Matthew 22:37–40 (ESV)
37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
I will leave you with this
1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (ESV)
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
· I want you to go home and put your name in the place of love
· And pray on that!
· And next week we get the lesson Jesus has for us all!!
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