Please turn with me in the Word of God to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 7, taking up our reading at verse 34, and that's on page 1099 in the Pew Bible, page 1099 in the Pew Bible, Luke chapter 7, beginning at verse 34, let us hear God's own word. We begin where Jesus is speaking. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, look at him, a glutton and a Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. And 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. 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 ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him. For she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, say it, teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed him 500 denarii and the other 50. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more? Simon answered, the one, I suppose, for whom he counseled the larger debt. And Jesus said to him, you have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. Then those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, your faith has saved you, go in peace. So far the reading of God's Word. This is an incident in the life of Jesus that only Luke records, and yet it is a relatively familiar story. And as is often the case with familiar stories, we don't always let them surprise us. Maybe if we were not familiar with this story, we'd say, this is kind of a weird story. Now, we're probably too pious to say that about any story in the Bible, but it is a kind of weird story. As moderns, we might read this story and say, well, there are several lessons to be learned from this story. First of all, Simon clearly needs better security in his house. Don't want people just wandering in off the street. and somebody ought to help this poor woman. She's clearly crazy. Crying and carrying on. She needs psychological counseling. She needs economic counseling. She spent all this money on ointment and just pouring it out. Even bought a nice container, an alabaster flask. She needs moral counseling. She's introduced as a sinner. This is a somewhat surprising story. What's going on? What is Luke teaching us? What is Jesus doing here in this story? Well, he's really showing us the very heart of Jesus and the heart of Jesus' ministry here. There's hardly a more important story in the Gospels than this one. It's a powerful, a powerful presentation of the very heart of Jesus. and what his ministry is really all about. And it should be full of surprises for us. And so we're going to look at four elements of this story. And each of those elements has something of a surprise. The first element is the meal itself. We've just been told in the previous section that Jesus is criticized for being a glutton and a drunkard, for eating too much and drinking too much, for being a friend of sinners. And then we grow right on to a story of a meal. Jesus is offered a free meal and he accepts. Both the offer and the acceptance really are somewhat surprising. Jesus in his ministry has regularly criticized the Pharisees, this strict legalistic party among the Jews, and yet this Pharisee invites him to dinner. That's kind of surprising that the Pharisee would invite him. And Jesus accepts the invitation. That's kind of surprising too. Even more than that, there seems to be some kind of relationship between Jesus and this Pharisee. Jesus calls him by his first name. That shows some kind of friendliness, some kind of knowledge, the one with the other. The Pharisee calls Jesus a teacher, which is a complementary title, and even appears to be wondering in his heart whether Jesus is, in fact, a prophet, as many have been saying. Maybe Jesus thinks in his heart, they say, I eat with sinners. And so I am, because Simon the Pharisee, whether he knows it or not, is a sinner. And Simon has invited him not just to a casual meal, but to a rather fancy meal. It's only at banquets, at fancy meals in those days, that people reclined on a couch to eat. At informal meals, they would sit at a table in chairs. And at such a banquet that was being put on, where it's not just Jesus and Simon who are the guests, as we see, but others as well, it was the practice to leave the door open so that people could come in and observe the banquet standing around on the walls of the house. So actually the presence of this woman is not a sign that she's a stalker, it's not a sign that Simon should have had better security, but it's a sign that this was an open, fancy dinner that people were allowed to attend. And so Jesus is showing something of the heart of his ministry that he'll reach out to anyone who reaches out to him. That's what we see here in this meal that's being held. And then, of course, the most surprising thing in some ways is this meeting that Jesus has with the woman who is there. This woman, it's interesting, she's clearly not invited, although with the open door she was free to walk in. We're never told her name. She never says a word in the story. And yet her presence is so very powerful, so very touching, so very amazing. She knows Jesus. We're not told how she knows Jesus or how she knows of him. She must have heard him because she comes as one who's responding to him, one who has affection for him, one who is devoted to him. She's come prepared with her alabaster flask of ointment to honor him. This is not a chance meeting, this is not a surprise meeting in that sense. The surprise is the drama of the meeting, the emotional extravagance of the meeting. Because these couches on which they reclined were positioned in such a way that everyone's head was pointed in towards the circle and the feet were pointed out. So standing by the wall, she can stand by Jesus' feet. And she comes to those feet, and what does she do? She weeps over those feet. weeps so much that they become wet and she dries them with her own hair. And then she anoints his feet, kisses his feet. This is really extravagant. It's almost bizarre. It's emotional. Think about how many tears you need to wet somebody's feet. She must have been sobbing. She is deeply affected by being in the presence of Jesus. These actions are extraordinary. And it's also extraordinary that Jesus accepts them. He doesn't say, oh, no, no, no, you don't need to do that. He doesn't say, what are you doing and what are you thinking about? He seems to know this woman's heart. It's not at all clear that they've actually met before. But he accepts this extravagance, both in her emotional reaction and in her physical actions of washing his feet and anointing them. Somebody at that table probably was tempted to say, put her out. She's interrupting the whole dinner. Put her out. This is over the top. Jesus doesn't regard it as over the top, does he? He doesn't say that everybody has to react this way, but he doesn't criticize her for her reaction. Some of you will know the name of the great 18th century revivalist preacher George Whitefield. And when George Whitefield preached, some people have said he was the greatest preacher in the history of the church. When George Whitefield would preach, it was not infrequent that people would pass out, or people would scream, or people would burst into tears. And people would sometimes come to George Whitefield and say to him, you have to stop all this emotional reaction. It's undignified. It's inappropriate. Maybe those critics were Dutch. let's be proper here. Let's keep our emotions under control. And George Whitefield responded by saying, have you ever been to a funeral? Have you ever seen people emotionally react at a funeral? He said, these people who are hearing me preach are facing the death of their souls. And it's perfectly appropriate that they would weep. It's perfectly appropriate that they would emotionally respond. And that seems to be exactly what Jesus is saying by his silence here. There's nothing inappropriate in what this woman is doing. Her devotion, her extravagant devotion is not inappropriate. This is a meeting that Jesus approves of because it shows his love and the response of those who have listened to him. We have, in earlier chapters of Luke's gospel, records of several of Jesus' sermons. And one of the things he said, recorded for us in Luke chapter 5, is, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Maybe this woman was there when he preached that sermon. Maybe she heard him. Maybe she realized then for the first time how much she was a sinner, how much she was in need. And maybe it was there where she responded with such joy to hear that preachers don't just condemn sinners, but that Jesus as the Son of God comes to call sinners, to call them to repentance. And this whole story reflects that she has already recognized who she is. She has already recognized Jesus for who he is. She has already trusted him and put her faith in him. And now she comes to want to show her devotion to him by these actions. Extraordinary meeting here. a meeting that the host of the dinner is not very approving of. If he were a prophet, see, here's where Simon seems to have been wondering if he was a prophet. If he were a prophet, notice the subjunctive mood, if he were a prophet, he would know who it is that's touching him. Now, the text doesn't tell us clearly what kind of sinner this woman was. Some have assumed that she was a prostitute from the city and perhaps by her clothes showed that she was a sinner. We don't know that for sure, but we do know that everyone knew she was a sinner. And Simon is critical that Jesus has allowed such a person to touch him. You know, in the Jewish world at that time, touching was important. If you touched something unclean, you became unclean. We saw that remarkably when Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain from the dead. He touched the bier, the stretcher on which the body was laid out. Touching a dead body made you ritually unclean. And here he's allowing this unclean woman to touch him. And Simon is wondering, what's going on? Doesn't this man know who she is? And it's that reaction in the heart of Simon that leads Jesus to enter into a conversation with Simon. Again, Jesus never really evokes words from the woman, but he does from Simon. And in that conversation, Jesus reveals that he is indeed a prophet because he not only knows who the woman is, but he knows what's in Simon's heart. He knows the question Simon is asking. And so he confronts Simon. And Jesus begins indirectly with a parable. You see that in verse 41. A certain moneylender. I can almost hear Simon sniff. A moneylender. That's as bad as this woman. It's going from bad to worse at this dinner party. A moneylender. Do we have to talk about moneylenders? A moneylender had lent money to two debtors. 50 denarii to one and 500 denarii to another. Now that translates roughly into about two months' wages for a daily worker or a soldier. And a year and a half's wages for that same person. So, this is a fair amount of money for the average person. So, the moneylender has lent this money to two debtors, and then verse 42, when they could not pay. It's not that they would not pay. They could not pay. They didn't have anything to pay with. When they could not pay, the moneylender forgave the two debts. Now there's another surprise in this text that is not characteristic of moneylenders, that they forgive debts. And so Simon is thinking about this sort of weird story Jesus is telling, and then Jesus asks him a question. Now which of them will love him more? Which of them will love him more? Well, Simon might have thought, nobody loves a moneylender whatever they do. But putting that aside, Simon says, well, I suppose, he doesn't seem fully engaged in this, well, I suppose, the one he forgave more. And Jesus responds, you have judged rightly. Now, I don't know if this is ironic. The Pharisees were very good at judging. And I don't know if Jesus is tweaking them a little bit in this response. We don't usually think of Jesus as being ironic, but I think he is from time to time. You've judged rightly. You've judged rightly. And we see this, Jesus is saying, playing out in this woman. Her sins, which are many, have been forgiven. And the result is, she loves extravagant. I knew exactly who she is, Simon. I know where she's come from. I know who she's been. I know what she's doing. And I know what it means. For those who have been forgiven much, love much. It's a very profound thought, a very deep thought, a very important thought that expresses the very heart of what Jesus' ministry is all about. And that's why he says to Simon here, do you see this woman? And what he means by that, have you really thought about this woman? Have you really noticed this woman? Have you focused on who she is and what she has done? Have you noticed the contrast between the way you treated me, Simon, and the way this woman has treated me? Now, he's not criticizing Simon as if Simon had been rude or intentionally discourteous. But he's pointing out to Simon that you just welcomed me as a guest and that was fine. But there was nothing special about your welcome. There was nothing dramatic about your welcome. There was nothing in your welcome that indicated you had any extravagant regard for me. She's done all these things to me. She's washed my feet with her tears. She's dried my feet with her hair. She's kissed my feet and anointed them with valuable ointment. And what does that say to us? It says she loves much. She loves extravagantly because she's been forgiven much. And then he says to Simon, he who's been forgiven little loves little. And then finally, he turns to the woman. Verse 47, first words he's spoken to the woman. Well, actually, verse 47 is his concluding words to Simon. And they're important in the way they're put. In English, we translate it, therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. But in Greek, the emphasis is slightly different. In Greek, literally it reads, forgiven are her sins, which are many. Jesus is underscoring the importance of forgiveness in his ministry. It's at the heart of what he's about. And that's why when he does turn to the woman, the next verse, verse 48, it's exactly the same. Jesus says there to her, literally, forgiven are your sins. forgiven are your sins. That's what Jesus wants to assure her. Now, we can misread this text and conclude that what Jesus is saying here is, she's loved a lot, and therefore I forgive her. Or we can conclude she's never been forgiven until Jesus speaks these words, forgiven are your sins. I don't think either of those approaches are anywhere near the truth. Her love shows she's been forgiven. It doesn't earn forgiveness. And I think she's been long forgiven by Jesus. And his words to her are reassuring, are comforting, are underscoring the ministry of Jesus to her. It doesn't begin her relationship with him. It underscores his relationship with him, with her relationship with him. It's the same for us Sunday by Sunday when we ordinarily read the law instead of the preparatory form. At the end, there's some word of assurance given that those who repent of their sins will surely be forgiven of their sins. And that word of assurance is not beginning a new relationship, but it's underscoring, comforting, assuring people. that those who know themselves to be sinners and worry about God's reaction to sinners can be assured that God forgives sinners who come to him. Forgiven are your sins. And really, in a profound sense, this verse is at the very heart of what the Reformation was all about. Because Jesus then continues with her and says, Your faith has saved you. Your faith has saved you. And what he means by that is, you were a sinner who turned to me and trusted me, and because you have trusted me to be the forgiver of sins, you are saved. And out of that salvation comes a life of love. She is not saved by the virtue of faith. She's saved by trusting Jesus. And Jesus is not commending the virtue of love, although he does that other places, but he's commending loving him. That's what this woman has done. That's what this woman has displayed. That's why this woman has heard these wonderful words from the Savior. And what she has experienced, you see, is the very heart of the ministry of Jesus in this world. He comes to save sinners. He comes to save those who recognize they are in need. He comes for those who cannot save themselves. And he speaks words of comfort and forgiveness. And in that, he shows himself utterly unlike the Pharisees. Because what we discover is that we see his ministry in the meal, in the meeting, in the message. And then we also see it in the murmuring that takes place at the table in response to what he's done. Verse 49. Then those who are at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? They're muttering. They're complaining. They're rejecting. They don't have the courage to face him with their questions, but they're muttering just amongst themselves. And again, the word order is sort of fascinating. What they really say is, who is this who even sins forgives? Jesus highlights the forgiveness. They want to highlight the sins and the complaint against him. Complaining against the very heart and core and substance of his ministry. They have no real interest in the woman or her needs. They have no real interest in Jesus and who he is. Their only interest is in maintaining their own point of view. And so what happens at the end of this meal? Well, what happens at the end of every meal? Everybody leaves the table. Jesus leaves to continue his ministry. The woman leaves with the words of Jesus, go in peace. She leaves in peace, knowing she's reconciled with God, comforted with that assurance. How does Simon leave? We don't really know, do we? We don't really know, do we? The last word of Jesus to Simon was, he who is forgiven a little, loves a little. Was Simon forgiven a little? Did Simon love a little? We don't really know. And I think the story ends deliberately, leaving us wondering. And I think the purpose of the story is that we would then wonder, how are we leaving? We don't know how Simon left, but we can know how we're leaving. Are we leaving as those who have recognized that we're sinners? And recognize that only Jesus saves sinners? Recognizing our need of forgiveness and hearing the comforting words of our Savior, your sins are forgiven. It's good, I think, in this week as we prepare to come to the Lord's table next week to think about this woman and her great love for Jesus. And to take a good look at our own lives. Have we recognized our sinfulness? Have we turned to Jesus as our Savior? Is there love in our hearts for Jesus and for his people? Have we ever shed a single tear for sin? Have we ever been so confronted with the reality of the meaning of having offended God that we've had an emotional reaction to it? We are not reconciled to God by our tears. or by our love, or even by the virtue of our faith. We're only reconciled to God by Jesus. And the call to each of us this week is to ask, so how is it with my soul? And am I ready to come to the table and meet with Jesus and hear him say those wonderful words? Forgiven are your sins. May God grant that blessing to each one of us. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we are so thankful for your word and for the way in which it comes to us and confronts us, the way in which it calls us and comforts us. And we pray, especially in this week of self-examination and reflection, that you will help us to see our need and to see our Savior. So bless us, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.