Forgiven

20180121 Forgiven Psalm 32:5 (Opening) 5  I acknowledged my sin to you,  and I did not cover my iniquity;  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”  and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Introduction I’m going to ask some rather personal questions to start out with. You don’t need to answer out loud, you can just think your answer. How much money do you owe? In other words, how much are you in debt? Are you in debt to more than one creditor? Do you have credit card debt and bank loans? If you ask a financial manager, your home mortgage doesn’t count as debt because it’s considered an investment, so don’t count that in your answer to yourself. And maybe, just to make things easier, let’s not count car loans on new cars you’ve bought. How bad is it? Don’t answer, just think about it. In Proverbs, Solomon wrote about loans. Proverbs 22:7 7  The rich rules over the poor,  and the borrower is the slave of the lender. Not a pretty picture, really, but if you owe multiple creditors, you’re in good company. Most Americans are in debt. According to USA Today, the average American household carries over $130,000 in debt, but the average household income is less than $60,000 a year. According to Solomon, there are a lot of slaves in the US. The Situation We’ve been studying Jesus’ parables. This week’s parable is a short one, but there’s a lot of context we need to understand. Let me describe the situation that leads to Jesus telling this parable. Luke 7:36 36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. It wasn’t uncommon for influential people to invite traveling rabbis to their house for a meal. This Pharisee invited Jesus to eat at his house. We don’t know the reason. Maybe it was so he could test Jesus and find out more about Him. He had no doubt heard about Him and some of His teachings. It’s possible that this was on a Sabbath, after synagogue, one time when Jesus was asked to speak at a synagogue. We can’t really tell by the larger context, because Luke seems to pull this particular event out and not connect it with the material before it. This meal, whenever it was, would have been a big event. The guests would be invited in to the large guest dining room, and they would recline near the table, as was the custom of the Greeks and Romans of that day. Small meals would be eaten either standing or sitting in a chair, but large, formal meals would be eaten while reclining, resting the left elbow on the table, with their bare feet pointed away from the table, to one side. Luke 7:37-38 37 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, 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. Many people over the centuries have tried to identify this woman. Some have said she was Mary Magdalene. Some have said she was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Luke doesn’t tell us the woman’s name. Maybe he wanted to protect her anonymity. What ever her name, Luke tells us her character; she was a sinner. Again, over the centuries, people have labeled her as a prostitute or an adulterer, but what we see in the text may not support that. All we really know for sure is that she was a sinner. She lived a sinful life. She wasn’t righteous like the Pharisee. We would think it odd, today, if we invited important people over to our house and random people from off the street came in, but that was a common occurrence in the first century. These formal meals were more of a public occasion than a private dinner. It wasn’t uncommon for people to come and go, just to listen to the conversation of these important people who were sharing a meal together. You could compare it to a TV talk show today. This woman heard that Jesus was going to be at Simon’s house for a meal, so she prepared for her visit. She got an alabaster flask of perfumed ointment. It was probably a thick oil-like substance with a fragrance added to it. The Greek word is also used to describe medicinal ointments. The woman came up behind where Jesus was reclining at the table. The easiest thing for her to reach would have been Jesus’ feet. Standing there behind Him, she was weeping openly and the tears fell on Jesus’ feet. The way she dried her tears from Jesus’ feet may be part of why she’s been labeled as a prostitute. Respectable first century women would keep their hair up when they were in public. Taking your hair down was a private thing, but it wasn’t uncommon for prostitutes to have their hair down. This woman used her long hair to dry her tears from Jesus’ feet. As she dried the tears, she kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment she brought with her. I’m sure this woman and what she was doing was quite a spectacle. She obviously got the host’s attention. Luke 7:39 39 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.” Maybe this is Simon’s reason for inviting Jesus to dinner; he wanted to see if He really was a prophet, or if He was just your everyday average traveling rabbi. The Story Jesus knew what Simon was thinking, and He confronted him by telling a parable. It was a combination of confrontation and teachable moment, really. Any good teacher tries to take advantage of those teachable moments, and Jesus, of course, was the perfect teacher. Luke 7:40 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” Simon was a polite host, willing to listen to what this traveling rabbi he invited for dinner had to say. Maybe He would give him some insight into His message, maybe He would share some extra bit of knowledge or wisdom that He had kept from others. After all, Simon was a Pharisee. He deserved special treatment. Jesus begins His story: Luke 7:41 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. It’s still quite common. Maybe too common, like I talked about earlier. For whatever reason, these two average individuals both owed money to a lender, one owed ten times more than the other. A denarius was the average daily wage for a soldier or a skilled worker. So, one person owed almost two month’s pay, and one almost a year and a half’s pay. Both debts were large. It wouldn’t be easy to pay off a debt of two months wages, let alone a year and a half. But the moneylender was benevolent. Luke 7:42 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” What a weight lifted from both people. Did you ever play Monopoly? There was always one card in the Community Chest pile you always wanted to get, right? No, not the second place in the beauty pageant. This one. Bank Error in your Favor The moneylender simply cancelled their debt. He paid it off and accepted the risk of whatever losses he would face. Jesus asks Simon what he though their reaction would be. Which of them will love the moneylender more for cancelling the debt? It’s obvious they would both be excited. The way Jesus words the question is not normal to us. We would refer to someone being thankful or grateful for having their debt cancelled, but not that they would love the moneylender who cancelled their debt. The Hebrew and Aramaic languages don’t have a specific word for thankful or grateful, so they used the same word as love, and it was understood from the context what the definition of the word was. When it was written by Luke in Greek, he simply translated it into Greek, but it flows with the following discussion. There is only one right answer, and it’s obvious. Jesus has Simon in a corner. Simon has to answer the way Jesus wants him to, or he would look like a fool. Luke 7:43 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” But Simon hedges his bets. He answers Jesus almost like a student in a classroom who isn’t sure of his answer. It’s almost like Simon’s answer is a question. Like when you were in school and weren’t overly confident about your answer to the teacher’s question, so you answered like it was a question. “I don’t know, the first one?” I can almost hear Simon’s sigh of relief when Jesus tells him he answered correctly. Then, I’m sure, the wheels started turning in Simon’s mind. “What does this have to do with anything? Why did He tell this story? Did I miss something during synagogue that He talked about? Was I talking to someone else when He said something important? How does this apply to anything?” The Explanation Of course, there was a reason for Jesus telling this parable to Simon, and like all of Jesus’ parables, there’s a twist at the end. This time, the twist is in the explanation. Simon was right, but who was the person who owed the larger debt? Who is the person who loved more? Who was Jesus talking about? Luke 7:44 44 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. I can hear Simon’s thoughts. “Do I see her? Are you kidding? The moment I saw her I wanted to have her thrown out because she is a sinner! I can’t be associated with people like that! Those of us who are pure have to separate ourselves from sinful people!” There are Christians who act like that today. They look down on people who are trying to get their lives together. They look down on people who are struggling, even though those same people are just as much a Christian as anyone else who has been immersed into Christ. To make His point, Jesus points out three ways Simon didn’t show love and respect to Him, but this sinful woman did. He starts with washing His feet. It wasn’t a requirement, but it was common courtesy to have servants available with water and towels to wash the road dirt off the sandaled feet of your guests. Considering when you recline at the table you take off your sandals, clean feet would probably be appreciated by the other people at the table with you. Simon didn’t have his servants offer Jesus water to wash His feet when He arrived. It wasn’t an insult, but it would have shown more appreciation for his guests if he had. This sinful woman washed Jesus feet with her tears and dried them off with her hair. Luke 7:45 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. It was common during this time, and still is in Middle Eastern and Hispanic cultures, to greet your visitors with a kiss on the cheek, or at the very least an air kiss during a hug. Simon didn’t do that. Maybe he was too caught up in making sure everything was ready for Jesus’ visit. Maybe it was an oversight, maybe it was intentional. We don’t know his reasoning, just that Simon didn’t do it, but this sinful woman kept on kissing Jesus’ feet after drying them with her hair. Luke 7:46 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Again, not a requirement, but anointing the head of visitors was a common courtesy for people who were visiting your house. Simon didn’t provide any anointing for his guests, no oil for their heads. This sinful woman anointed the part of Jesus she could reach: His feet. She poured the expensive scented ointment onto His feet. The scent of the ointment probably hung in the air, a reminder to Simon of what he didn’t do when Jesus came to visit him. Luke 7:47 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Her sins are many. She was labeled a sinner. We don’t know what her sins were, but isn’t that how it usually is today, too? We don’t know what anyone’s sins are, unless they’re against us. But what they are isn’t important. Jesus says her sins were forgiven. Now, if you stop with the first sentence here in verse 47, you can easily get confused at what Jesus is saying. In most translations it sounds like Jesus is saying that this woman was forgiven because she showed Jesus the most love, as opposed to Simon. But if you keep reading and get the full context of what Jesus is saying, you realize that her forgiveness isn’t the result of her love; her love is the result of her forgiveness, because the one who is forgiven little only shows a small amount of love. As John wrote in his first letter, 1 John 4:19-20 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. Maybe in this circumstance, we should substitute the word “sister” in verse 20. Simon seems to be showing contempt for this woman, not love. And he really doesn’t show much love for Jesus, either. Just like Jesus says, John shows us the order. Jesus loved us and forgives us, and because of that, we show our love to Him and to others. Those who Jesus says are forgiven little don’t realize how much sin is in their lives, they don’t truly appreciate the forgiveness that is offered to them, and they don’t show as much or any love for God, or for other people. Luke 7:48 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Many places in the Gospels, Jesus tells people their sins are forgiven. This is just one instance. People who were sick, demon possessed, lame, blind. It didn’t matter. He told them their sins were forgiven. That always caused a stir when the Pharisees were around. Luke 7:49 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” They may have been murmuring with each other, or they may have just been saying it in their heads, but they questioned who Jesus was, who He thought He was that He could forgive sins. That was only in God’s purview. Only God could forgive sins. Jesus ignored what they were murmuring or thinking. He just let them wonder. Luke 7: 50 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” This sinful woman had faith that her sins had been forgiven and she expressed her thankfulness in her actions toward Jesus while He was reclined at the table at Simon’s dinner party. Jesus explains how her sins had been forgiven, because of her faith in Him. The last thing Jesus says to the woman is “Go in peace”. That was also a common way for Jesus to dismiss people He had healed. In Hebrew, He would have been wishing them shalom as they departed, the typical Hebrew salutation for both meeting and parting. But there’s more to it, I think. As a sinner, this woman was at odds with God; she was facing God’s wrath. But Jesus told her that her sins were forgiven. With her sins removed, her debt released, she was no longer at odds with God; she no longer faced His wrath. Jesus graciously forgave her sins, and put her at peace with God. Paul wrote about that situation for us in his letter to the congregation in Rome. Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Just like this sinful woman, our sins are forgiven through our faith in Jesus, we are justified by that faith. Because of that, we are no longer at war with God, we’re not on the wrong side anymore, we don’t face His wrath anymore. He graciously forgives us, and because of that we have the eternal hope of salvation. Conclusion Jesus compares sin to debt, and the woman that inspired His parable to Simon was a slave to sin. But when her debt was removed, her sin was forgiven, she was released from that slavery to be at peace with God. We have that same opportunity. We can be free from our sin, through faith in Christ. As immersed believers, we can be free from our sins by confessing them to God and another person. That’s what James tells us. James 5:16 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. To become a Christian, if you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, that He rose again on the third day, and that you willingly turn away from your sins, then you can be immersed in water to wash away your sins and rise from the water as a new person, clean and sinless, released from your debt of sin.  Ephesians 2:8-10 (Closing) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. 13