25: Fully Forgiven (Luke 7:36-50)

In the movie Jerry Maguire, Jerry - a sports agent - is more concerned about his job than his wife. Their marriage looks like it’s over until he comes to his senses and goes to talk to his wife. He enters a room full of women that quiets down when he says,

‘Hello. Hello. I’m looking for my wife.” She stands quietly. In front of all these women Jerry says, ‘Okay. Okay. If this is where it has to happen, then this is where it has to happen. I’m not letting you get rid of me. How about that?’

Then Jerry starts to apologize and win her back. But before he can finish his speech, his wife shuts him down & utters what has become a classic movie line…

“You had me at hello. You had me at hello.”

Fully Forgiven. He didn’t have to say all that right words, he just had to step back through the door. Have you ever been forgiven like THAT…when you humbled yourself & walked back through the door? Maybe you were forgiven by a spouse, a friend, or even a former enemy. You humbled yourself, walked back through the door, and experienced what it was like to be Fully Forgiven.

But I have another question…if today were your last day on planet earth, can you trust you would stand before your Creator…Fully Forgiven? How is that even possible? Today we find out as we peek in on one of the most powerful scenes of forgiveness in all the Bible.

I realize that I taught from this same passage in March of last year during the ‘Not a Fan’ series, so I considered skipping this, but I trust that God is going to help us view the same story from a different angle. As some of you have been reading the Gospels this week, I bet you read some things you have read before…but God used it AGAIN in your life. I pray that happens again today.

PRAY

Luke 7:36 (NIV)

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

Context: Last week we read how Jesus said, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” This is the kind of language that Luke mentions coming from the mouths of the religious leaders and it is clear that Jesus wasn’t voted ‘most likely to be the Messiah’ in the Pharisees’ yearbook.

As will become obvious soon, this Pharisee didn’t roll out the red carpet. We don’t know his intentions, but he likely wanted to have a one-on-one discussion about what Jesus had been teaching. Maybe he wanted to set this ‘young buck’ straight or at least try to figure him out.

Luke says they reclined at the table. This was a custom where banquet guests reclined on couches, resting on their left elbows with their feet extended away from the table. This insight will become important in a moment. [Show Pic]

So here Jesus, the Pharisee, and other guests relaxed and talked during the meal. Now I know some child or teenager is going to say, “Let's eat while laying down in the living room...after all..it's Biblical!” Try that with your family and some friends this week.

Now imagine the door bell ringing and uninvited people stepping into your home while you entertain guests. They sit against the wall and listen to the conversation, sometimes entering in. How RUDE - at least for us. But this was the custom in those days.

Dr. Luke spotlights one uninvited person in particular.

Luke 7:37 (NIV)

37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.

First, we don’t KNOW what sin she committed, but it is implied that she wasn’t a godly woman…and everybody knew it. She lived a sinful life. Whatever she had done had deeply damaged her reputation in that community. Although the biblical text does not say, most commentators argue that this woman was either a prostitute or an adulteress. Whatever she had done, she could not erase the stain of her sin within her town.

And because of this sin, I doubt she had ever considered entering this Pharisee’s home before…but TODAY…Jesus was there. And regardless of what it cost her, she wasn’t going to lose this opportunity to see Him.

Dr. Luke notes that she was carrying something with her, an alabaster jar of perfume.

Alabaster was a “very fine-grained, variety of gypsum” used for carved decoration stones, vases, & figures. A perfume jar like this usually “had a long neck which would be broken off in order to use its contents.”

The jar housed perfume. Some women used perfume as a lure to attract men like metal to a magnet. But this perfume would not be used to lure a man to her bed.

I wonder what kind of discussion Jesus, the Pharisee, and the others were having when this sinful woman entered and made a b-line to Jesus. But we quickly see why she had come. Jesus’ feet were at the edge of the couch…

Luke 7:38 (NIV)

38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

She had come to anoint Jesus with perfume in the bottle, but her emotions could no long stay bottled up - and they spilled out of her eyes as she wept at His feet. This word can be translated weep or wail, “with emphasis upon the noise accompanying the weeping.” In other words, this isn’t something the guests could just overlook. This woman’s actions had taken center-stage.

A couple of nights ago Tonya and I were praying in our bedroom as we prayed for families that are being ripped in two. We prayed that men would lead their families & that God would get the glory from the tragic stories that are permeating our community. And as we prayed…I felt my right forearm getting wet and I knew she was either crying on me…or snotting on me - one of the two.

And as her tears drenched the feet of Jesus. She did something considered disgraceful & distasteful for a Jewish woman to do in public - she took time to unbind her hair. This would have been unacceptable…but then she began to wipe the dusty feet of Jesus with it!

Ladies: Can you imagine doing that for a man who is not your husband - even if you KNEW his feet WERE clean? Your hair is important to you…and it was to her as well.

But she wasn’t there to impress others.

This sinful woman was there to pour her love on Jesus, an extravagant display of affection & humble act of expectation.

This woman believes that Jesus - despite her past - regardless of what others think - Jesus will receive her & forgive her. And this woman teaches us a powerful lesson - that…

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

She hasn’t heard the words yet - Fully Forgiven - but she EXPECTS to.

Richard Lenski writes these penetrating words:

The sinner’s head belongs at Jesus’ feet. The hair is woman’s crown and glory. It is often enough abused in vanity and pride but is here used in deepest humility and devotion. Our highest and best belongs in the dust at Jesus’ feet.

What a tender picture of a sinner approaching Jesus humbly & sincerely while Jesus receives this woman’s offering…But that’s NOT what the Pharisee was thinking…

Luke 7:39 (NIV)

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

2 layers to his thought:

If Jesus WAS a prophet, God would let him discern how wicked this woman is.

If he knew how wicked she was, He certainly wouldn’t allow her to touch him like this.

Of course, this Pharisee was wrong on BOTH counts. He knew her past better than ANYBODY did…yet He allowed her to touch him instead of stiff-arming her. Jesus ALSO KNEW what the Pharisee was thinking, which now becomes obvious.

Luke 7:40–43 (NIV)

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

A denarii is 1 days wage so 500 denarii was a year and a half’s worth of wages. That’s a lot of money. This guy will work the next year-and-a-half just to pay this back. The other only owed 50 days of wages - a month and a half.

One owed a lot - the other owed a little

But they both ran into the same problem...they couldn’t pay it back.

Question: Take 2 minutes & answer this question: “Why is Jesus telling this story?”

Jesus tells this story to demonstrate the difference between those who are forgiven & those who are NOT.

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

And now Jesus explains the characters of the story…

Luke 7:44–47 (NIV)

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Which one has been forgiven much & loves much?

Which one has been forgiven little & loves little?

But, Who has really been forgiven little?

If God has forgiven your sins…how many & to what degree? He has forgiven many sins.

If you somehow think others need God’s forgiveness more than you do - you don’t understand the depth of YOUR sin nor the need for a Savior.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with another parent at a baseball game. When I asked what church he was involved with he told me he was not, but assured me he was okay because he was a good guy. Well…what was I to do? I asked a few questions that you should ask others: 1) Have you ever lied? Stolen anything? Committed Adultery?

Until he saw himself as a sinner, he didn’t see HIS need for a Savior. But once he saw what a sinner he was, I began to share what a Savior Jesus is.

THIS lady understood the depth of her sin. She didn’t try to justify her disobedience. Instead she offered her life to Jesus…And then she heard the most beautiful words of all time.

Luke 7:48-50

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

She trusted Jesus WOULD forgive her debt that she could never pay for on her own…she put FAITH in Him. And she walked away with those words engraved in her soul - ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

When you walk out of here today…will YOU have peace with God?

Have you put FAITH in Jesus & offered your life at His feet?

On this Memorial Day weekend we remember those who gave their lives to protect ours.

For the American, it is RIGHT to pause in gratefulness to consider those gave their lives for your freedom on this Memorial Weekend.

For the Christian, it is RIGHT to daily demonstrate thanks to our King. This should be a daily demonstration because...

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven muchBIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

BIG TRUTH: Gratitude is the Attitude of those forgiven much

Stand and Pray

As you examine your own life, does it demonstrate Gratitude?

Are you more like the sinful woman, blown away by the precious offer of forgiveness? Do you see your sin for what it is...something you can never account for?

Or are you more like Simon the Pharisee - thinking your sin is little while spotlighting the sin of others?

If you need help, I'm right here.