I invite you to turn this morning to Luke chapter 7. We have the privilege of coming to the table of our Lord. And if you're a visitor this morning and you can affirm that you've been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as an infant or as an adult, that you have publicly professed faith in Christ as we witnessed this morning alone for salvation, in agreement with the articles of the Christian faith and outlined in the Apostles' Creed: you're presently a member in good standing of a Protestant congregation that bears the marks of a true and faithful church wherein there are governing elders that assure the pure doctrine of the gospels preached, the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ are maintained in the church, disciplines exercise. You're welcome to join us this morning. If you're not able to affirm those things, please, I'd love to see you and talk with you after the service about your relationship to Christ and his church.
Let's look this morning at Luke chapter 7. As we come to the table, Luke chapter 7 found on page 1027, the well-known passage of the sinful woman forgiven. And we will read verses 36 through 50 of Luke 7: "One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into 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 wipe them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the 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's 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 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 canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, you've 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 table with and 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
And there will end today the reading of God's word.
Well, we have, beloved in the Lord, dear congregation of the Lord, we have the great privilege today to come and to eat and to drink with Christ as our Belgic says to receive the true, proper body and blood of Christ. And what we have before us in this particular passage is probably one of the greatest examinations that I find in the scriptures as to what true forgiveness looks like in somebody's life, to have a certain knowledge and understanding of their forgiveness. This is really beautiful here before us this morning. It's meant to provide a showcase of what that looks like in the life of his children, their forgiveness of sins. And it's wonderful because it puts on display, a beautiful display, the regenerating grace of God What does the regenerating grace of God produce in the heart of his children when he gives a new heart to somebody? This is beautifully captured here in this particular passage.
This is the evidence that flows, that demonstrates forgiveness. There's a demonstration of this today. Jesus says, that "How could we miss it? He who is forgiven much loves much." It's beautiful, and it's important because two very different kinds of hearts and lives are put in contrast. This is what the scriptures do constantly they're they're putting in contrast these things so that we can see clearly. And even in this, I would say, there is a gracious intention expressed here by our Lord for all to receive this. For all To receive this to see what is showcased in this woman, especially as we come to the table, provides us clear evidence of a forgiven life.
And think of the ending of this where he sends her out with shalom peace, true peace. lasting peace Well, we see this this morning in this exhibit of faith by this woman, the explanation of indifference by the Pharisee, and the expose of forgiveness of sins that all are called to receive from Christ. So you notice that here: the explanation the exhibit of faith,
The explanation of indifference, and the expose of forgiveness. The context here is important. If you look back just previous to this, in verse 34, we have one of the chief criticisms of Jesus that was made all throughout his ministry. Something that deeply troubled Israel. And it was that he would come and eat and dine with tax collectors and sinners. You see that there in verse 34. And they criticized him for it: "The son of man has come eating and drinking," and you say, "Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard!" They called him a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He was ripped for this all the time by the religious leaders. They hated that Christ would come into the homes of who they thought were the defiled in their eyes, that he would sit with these people, that he would dine with these people, that he would drink with these people, that he would have wine with these people, that he would eat bread with these people. And in their view, they were the worst people. They were the worst people They did not keep the law of god in their eyes they were categorized as the unclean from leviticus and the Messiah, the supposed messiah which if this man were a prophet if he were genuine if He were real He would know this stuff he would understand this he would he wouldn't be with these kind of people.
And so now comes this great scene for us maybe one of the most powerful in the the gospels of everything the gospel is intending to say to us. Sometimes you get really beautiful passages that really give us a clear presentation of what the whole gospel is about, and we have that here. We have that here. we have
One of the Pharisees then notice asked him to eat in his house. That's an interesting inclusion, right, after the criticism that he's in the house of the tax collectors and the sinners. Now the Pharisee invites him into his house. This is the righteous house, right? This is the clean house. This is the well-to-do house. And so he is invited by the Pharisee to come into his house. And Jesus comes and he takes place at the table. And I think you could kind of stand back at this point when you have this sort of contrast already drawn of this two eating scenes, if you will, that are captured: Who is the greatest sinner? Who really is the greatest sinner? It's a remarkable scene.
I think first because Jesus' willingness to dine with the Pharisee. His willingness to give the gospel without partiality, even to the Pharisee, mercy and grace and the announcement of gospel. We notice here comes into the home, this announcement of a Pharisee. Now we beat up on the Pharisees, but Jesus preached the gospel to the Pharisees too. But it's in this context that a radical contrast is provided for us.
Uh, the disposition of those who dined with him that they criticized the sinners. Here is radically different. Why did this Pharisee even invite him? No, we're not really told clearly. The reasons were entirely different. The whole presentation of them was constantly to try to find some kind of fault with Jesus. Or maybe this Pharisee was really curious about Jesus. Or they wanted to catch Jesus. Or their curiosity so got the best of them with regard to Jesus, that they just wanted to sit and spend time and see and understand a bit. I'm assuming they're watching closely; everything he does is being scrutinized.
So they would enter a home at these times and they would not sit at tables like we sit at tables, like we did at Thanksgiving. They would have couches on these low tables, and the left arm they would rest on, and so their legs would be sort of spread out, and then they would eat with the right hand. It's a really powerful kind of image.
In God's providence, notice what happens? A woman comes in. We're reading verse 37: "Behold, a woman of the city. Notice how concisely Luke captures it here. Who was a sinner. Who was a sinner? When she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment." Who was a sinner? Now, I'm sure the crowds were outside the house. What's astonishing is she wouldn't have been invited in. I'm pretty sure along the way I attended a party once I wasn't invited to. I thought I was. And I went in, and afterward I said to Darcy, "You know, I don't know if we were invited. I probably shouldn't have had the steak." Unwanted guests. It's awkward. It's awkward. This woman knows she's not wanted. Awkward scene all the way through. This is far worse in that culture.
All the men are sitting there. I want you to enter the scene with me for a minute. This is what we should do. This is what we're invited to do. I want you to feel it. I want you to sit there for a minute and sense what's happening and how this must have felt, what this must have been like. It's all there. She walks in, lots of commotion, lots of talking, lots of chatter. And what we read is that she walks up and stands right behind Jesus' feet. She just stands there alone. Can you imagine the awkward silence as everyone's talking and they look up? "What is this?" Everyone in the room knew about this woman. Common interpretation is she was a prostitute. We don't have really an indication of that. She's not the woman in Matthew 26 that's captured the Mary pouring out the alabaster flask too. This is a different woman. Everyone in the room knew her story, at least from among the Pharisees and Jesus. She's not a good woman, for sure. Luke just sweepingly says she's a sinner. Everyone knew what that meant.
But as she sees him, she breaks into weeping. Can you image this? Tears start to flow down her face. And her shaky hands is the one thing she went to get from her house. She obviously along the way had listened to the teaching of Jesus. She had heard his teaching on sin. Jesus took that very seriously. She looked at her life and she was deeply burdened by it. Christ had, along the way, clearly spoken to her of mercy and forgiveness. And she heard it. She believed it. So she goes home. And she had to get something. She goes to her house. She didn't have much. And she grabs the most valuable of all her possessions, which was this very expensive bottle of perfume. It's extremely valuable. These bottles had long necks, sort of a base, and to use it you have to break the glass. So she sort of must have lifted her tresses and bows down, and no woman's supposed to do this. She's in a Pharisee's house. All she can see is him.
In an act of pure courage, text says her tears are so flowing they cover his feet. And then she lowers her head, takes down her hair, she gets on her knees and starts wiping his feet with her tears. And then she puts her lips to his feet in front of them all, bawling. She's kissing them. She takes everything she has of value in this life and she anoints those feet. All she can see is him. This was totally socially inappropriate. This was totally religiously inappropriate. She's not rich. She has nothing. She just came with everything she had. Luther called it "heart water."
Now, if you saw this today, if you saw that, if you saw that today, what would trouble you about it? Well, it's rude to interrupt a dinner like this. It seems kind of showy, doesn't it? We're pious. We don't do that kind of stuff. We don't show our faith, do we? No, no, no, no, no. No, we're very reserved people. What would bother us? Some kind of irritation might enter us. This is extravagant. It's uncomfortable. And what might bother us is this: People don't do this. Nothing would irritate a Pharisee more than to see this kind of response because their own life is lived so contrary to this kind of response. You see? No tears, no value, no desire to humble oneself. This act of piety is completely foreign to them. There is nothing in this action to which the Pharisee can relate. Wasteful, what Judas would say later about the other woman who did it. I mean, this is the kind of going line. I've heard it in churches. "Couldn't that be sold and given to the poor?" Such piety is offensive. And her heart was, "He's done everything for me. He is my greatest value. I don't care." And I think this is meant to challenge everyone who read it all throughout history.
What did she see in herself?
Now comes the contrast the explanation of indifference now the Pharisee who invited him saw this and said notice not out loud he's in his own heart. It's an inward response of disgust: "If this man for a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who's touching him, for she is a sinner." He just allowed this disgusting woman to come in, defiled, and touch him. And the shock of all of it is he's exactly right! He's exactly right! He did know, and he is the prophet! And that should have marveled the Pharisee, but it didn't. That she could come to him like this. she could come to him like this, there's a big point in this isn't there jesus of course reading this man's heart simon i'm reading the hearts of everyone in the room. You know, if a prostitute came off the street right now and wept at the front of the church. Imagine this. Dressed terribly. Shabbily. Roughly. And she starts bowing down up here and crying. Puts every bit of her money in the pot. What would we respond with? Would it bother us?"
"Simon, I've got something to say to you."
"Say it, teacher."
"A certain money lender had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50. One denarii was a day's wage in first century remember When both could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. That's a remarkable thing. We we would at least make that person work it off, right? Pay it off with interest. He just canceled it. Who does that? What kind of person does that?"
Notice the question. He cancels the debt of both. "Which one of them will love him more?" Simon stands back. He says, "Well, I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt." "You're right," says Jesus.
And Jesus turns to the woman and says to Simon, "I want you to study her for a minute. And I want you to contrast your actions here. 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. Not even a greeting. From the time I came in, she's not ceased to stop kissing my feet with her tears. You didn't anoint my head with oil. She's anointed my feet with ointment. My feet."
Now what I wrestled with here is: You know, we're more reserved people. We don't show our faith a lot. I expect a more emotional response from a woman. I just do. Women are made that way. But I thought, does Jesus expect men to respond this way? We have many women responding to Jesus this way. And then I think the question has to first be answered is to get to sort of any answer to that question. The men also have to ask, "What do you need Jesus to do for you?" The extent to which you can answer that question is the extent to which there will be a response.
What has he just pinpointed? This man's totally indifferent to Jesus. There's no response. There's no gratitude. He wouldn't dare respond by giving his treasure to Jesus. He's as cold as could be. There's no response to all this teaching and all this gospel that's been preached by Jesus. And because there's no response, there's no love.
Jesus explains this: "Therefore I tell you, her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved much. The evidence of forgiveness is shown that she sees how great the provision has been given to her and to clear away her great debt to God because of her sins. She's so burdened by this. She's crushed by it. And Jesus follows up: "But he who is forgiven little loves little."
This man doesn't have any real conception of his sin in his life or his predicament before God. And so he doesn't respond at all to God. She had in her eyes the larger... Now think about this. She had in her eyes the larger debt because her sins ruined her. She felt the full weight of the consequences of her sin and failure, but he didn't. Why is that? So who has the larger debt? Who has the larger debt?
I think we're sort of pressed with that here. I think we have to ask, "Is it true she had the larger debt than the Pharisee?" I think that's a fair question in light of this. The people we think who have the larger debts are those whose sins are clear and evident for everyone to see, or those in whom's lives are evident that they've wrecked their lives. They've got to have the larger debt. It's the alcoholic who's ruined his life, right? It's the man in adultery who's ruined his life, right?
I thought this captured it. Russell Crowe was on a podcast recently and he told the story of going to Reno and he hit a streak at the blackjack tables. Won a ton of money. And he says, "Soon after I kept going and I watched it all vanish away at the roulette table. I barely got back home." He's telling the story on a podcast. Now you'd never know that story in Russell Crowe's life if he had never told it. And he's probably not felt a lot of guilt for that, for he's been able to pull himself back up. But then he said he called his mom and told her what happened, and she told him about her grandfather, who was a professional gambler. He lost the whole family home in one bad night. He had to wake up and tell his family in the middle of the night and they had to leave. And that one choice kept his family stuck in poverty for generations.
So one man's sin didn't have the huge consequences in life, but the grandfather's sin had huge consequences because it all got showed and found out. That's what we think about sin. The people who are good at hiding it don't have any real present consequences. They don't think much of it. But you see what happens when people ruin their lives. Who's the greater sinner? Well, in our eyes, of course, it's the professional gambler. We judge outwardly because of whether the consequences are known. Crow never felt the weight of that sin the same way because he didn't lose everything. The Pharisee, by performing outward acts of righteousness, covered him from seeing what was really in his heart. And Jesus pulled that curtain right down.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside you are full of greed and self-indulgence." You'd never know it. You'd never know it, you see. "He who is forgiven little loves little." He was able to convince himself he was good. But the question of the text is: What is true of all of our hearts, beloved? And what is our predicament before God, not men?
And this is a great work of grace in someone's life when they see what's true of themselves. The one who's not forgiven much doesn't see it. Now if you just take the law and you begin to work through it, you could ask questions. This is what the law is intended to do. Truth be told, I've not really gone out like this woman and made a sham of my life, a shame of my life publicly. But if I start to work through the law, I might start seeing some things.
First commandment: you know, I'm really kind of... First commandment says no idolatry. Am I really living for the world and the things in the world? But it's mastered my heart. Second commandment: Have I really given my heart to worship God? Or have I just kind of put on the show for people? Third commandment: Am I really living in a way consistent with my profession? Fourth commandment: Have I really given this day to God? Or have I put family and everything else above it? Fifth commandment: Have I really honored my parents? Sixth commandment: Have I really loved my neighbor? Or have I really, in the course of my life, not forgiven a lot of people and been angry at people and ripped them down? Seventh commandment: Truth be told, if you look over the whole course of my life, is there not a lot of sexual morality that's been in my heart? Maybe I haven't committed outward adultery, but maybe I've been committing it every day. Eighth commandment: No, I haven't stolen anything yet. How much of your life have you wasted in serving yourself? That's theft. Ninth commandment: Well, have I gossiped? Have I slandered people? Have I spoken ill at people? Tenth commandment: Have I not lived my life in want of everything? And not content, and always looking over the fence, and always wanting something better, and always wanting something more, and that drives my heart.
And if there's any sense of sin in your own life, then there's going to be a correspondence to what you see about Jesus and how you respond to your need for him.
I think we have so clearly today as we come to the supper the heart of Jesus Christ put on display. What is he after? Do you think he says this to the Pharisee with no goal? He says this to the Pharisee, and his goal is to turn his heart. Is this really about the woman or is it about the Pharisee? And the sermon showcases the woman, but I believe it's intended to push the Pharisee here to Christ. Oh, we beat up on them. They're just a natural reflection of our natural heart apart from grace. This is how we respond to Christ. But there's a good intention here that we would see the Lord's intention to forgive us all of our sins. That's why this is so gospel-saturated.
Do you know he's willing to forgive all your sins? And then he desires to constantly reassure you of that?
Isn't that how this ends? He looks at the woman before them all, and what does he say? He makes a pronouncement here: "Dear woman, your sins are forgiven." The debt is full and canceled, all of it. That's the gospel. She had already been forgiven. That's why she came. And Jesus wants to keep on saying it to you. He wants to keep on reminding you of this. You come back to him every time and you confess your sins. He's faithful and just to forgive you your sins. And he keeps on reassuring her here. That's the emphasis of his love for her.
And of course, they sit there and say, "Who is this that can even forgive sins?" Yeah, it's God dining with you. But he leaves us with these words today: "Go your way. Your faith has saved you." He wants to emphasize to all of us today: when you come in Jesus with this kind of faith, with sincerity of heart, with a consciousness of your misery, and you believe in him and you understand him and you understand his purpose in coming to the earth and you understand the whole intention of gospel ministry and your need. The evidence is love for him that follows. Because he just announces here again to her, "All her sins are completely canceled." And he leaves us with this: Shalom, peace. Go in peace.
Beloved, that's intended for you today. Everyone here. What is the supper about? We're not inviting him to our dinner here. He's inviting you to his, anticipating what's to come when we do this face-to-face in the kingdom. And he has said, "Come. Let's eat and drink together. But you must believe. You must trust me. You must come as somebody who has a need for me. And when you come believing, I will justify you. I will forgive you."
He wants you to know without any measure of a doubt that he does the same for you today as he did for this woman who come in faith this way. This table is not for the righteous. Stay away if you think you deserve it. This table is for sinners. Listen to me: forgiven are all your sins. Eat and drink now at my table, says the Lord, and go in peace. And we'll do this soon anew in the kingdom.
"Lift up your hearts to me," says the Lord. "Lift them up, and receive in this meal my crucified body and my shed blood for you so that you know that I love you. And if you know you've been loved like that in light of all you've done, then you will respond in love for him. And that's a demonstration that you're forgiven."
Praise God for his wonderful grace in our lives.
Let's pray.
Gracious heavenly Father, thank you for this wonderful text, for showcasing true forgiveness in one's life. We confess our sins together. We are no better than this woman. We confess our idolatry. We confess our sexual morality. We confess our theft, our murder of heart, our gossip, our slander, our lack of contentment, our despising of authority structures, our stealing of time, our dishonoring of your day. And we ask, oh Lord, that we would have faith to see the marvelous provision given for us in Christ and that we would respond in a way that pleases you. Thank you for showcasing true forgiveness today before us in jesus name. Amen.