She Loved Much

Scripture Texts

Luke 7:47

Luke 7

Me

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In the Chinese language, the symbol for crisis and opportunity is the same. Meaning that when there is crisis there is also opportunity.

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In the Washington D.C. area, people are encouraged to stay at home, especially those who are in a vulnerable population groups. Marilyn Salenger, being 75 years, was in one of those vulnerable population groups.

Marilyn amongst others were stuck inside their homes. One day, Marilyn discovered hope. Via social media, Marilyn heard about Kathleen Borgueta, who was offering to pick up groceries for anyone who needed it.

This was a huge blessing for Marilyn! Not only was Marilyn stuck at home, but she also lived alone. But now she had someone who was looking out for her.

The Chinese are right. Crisis brings opportunity.

We

You may have no cases of the Corona Virus in your community, but we often experience crises.

Today we are going to lean into crisis because crises produce the one thing churches need: opportunity.

We are going to attempt to answer one critical opportunity question:

How can we grasp opportunity and not miss it?

There have been many times where I have missed an opportunity, but how can we grasp those opportunities and not let them fly by?

God

The story of Jesus being anointed by a woman is recorded in all four gospel accounts. But the gospel in Luke is the one account that sticks out. It sticks out for a number of reasons:

The timing is different.

Luke’s account is much earlier in Jesus’s ministry than the other accounts.

The location is different.

Luke’s story happens in Capernaum while the other accounts happen in Bethany.

The woman isn’t given a name.

In Matthew, Mark, and John, the woman is Mary the sister of Lazarus, but in Luke, she is referred to as a sinful woman. She isn’t named. It is unlikely this woman is Mary Magdalene, she first pops up in the next chapter.

The context is different.

The conversation between the Pharisee and Jesus is different from the other accounts.

That’s the background behind the story, but lets get into it!

This story takes place in

Luke 7:36–38 ESV

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 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.

Luke 7:36-

In this story, Jesus isn’t the central figure. The central character is the woman. She is the oddity, but also the most important person in the story, because she gets the story going.

Jesus and others are invited to a Pharisee’s house for a meal. Pharisees were known for keeping themselves among excellent company and only excellent company. There were places that Pharisees didn’t go because of the type of people who would be there. So it is reasonable to say that the people Simon the Pharisee invited to his home would only be people of high quality.

But suddenly in the story a woman appears. A woman who shouldn’t be there at all. It is not her place, but she is there nonetheless.

The woman is known throughout the city as a sinner. We aren’t told what kind of a sinner she is, but we are told we is a well known sinner.

Because she is a well known sinner, she would have been shunned by her community, including the synagogue. Jesus is the only person who would accept her in all society.

You

She knows that she doesn’t deserve to be there, but she needs to be there. Because Jesus is her last hope. She doesn’t come happy, but she comes weeping and with a gift for Jesus.

The ointment that the woman uses to anoint Jesus’ feet was not cheap, but rather an expensive one. She might have been saving this for a special occasion or had used up all her savings to purchase such a gift.

So I want you to really picture this:

She is putting herself at risk.

She

She is in a place where we is not welcome because of her reputation.

She has poured all her finances into this meeting with Jesus.

She is emotional because she is hurting.

This woman is dealing with:

social pain

emotional pain

financial pain

spiritual pain

No Pharisee can help her. No Pharisee will help her. But she has heard about Jesus, and she knows that He is the only one who can help her, so she puts all into this meeting.

Do you take your meetings with Jesus seriously?

Luke 7:39 ESV

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.”

Luke 7:

The Pharisee’s reaction to the event is evident of his heart. He is appalled by the situation, but Jesus knows that actions as well as words paint a picture of the heart.

To illustrate this Jesus tells a short story.

Luke 7:41–43 ESV

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Luke 7:41-

Jesus is trying to tie love and forgiveness together. This sinful and forgotten woman is pouring her entire self into Jesus because she needs great forgiveness. Her yearning for forgiveness is evident by her great love for Jesus.

Jesus knows this best, not because He needs forgiveness but because Jesus knows that forgiveness flows out of love.

The power to forgive comes from the power to love.

Jesus preaches this way better than I could ever preach so lets listen in to Jesus.

Luke 7:44–48 ESV

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. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Luke 7:44-

I absolutely love verse 47.

Luke 7:47 ESV

47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Jesus knows this from experience.

Those who are grateful are not the high and mighty religious leaders who claim to have no sin and live the best life. Its those who have experienced pain. Those who have experienced loss.

Those also possess the highest capacity to love and forgive, because they have been forgiven as well.

You

You might be feeling like the sinful woman at Jesus’ feet. Perhaps you can’t seem to get it right. No one can help you. Life seems hopeless.

It might seem that way, but that is not reality. Reality is there is a man who knows your pain all too well.

He knows how hard it is to just get out of bed in the morning with all the

emotional

anxiety

physical

spiritual

baggage that has been holding you down.

You are not strong enough to hold that many bags.

But Jesus has big shoulders. He has held many sins before, he can hold yours too.

We

Crises and troubles do bring opportunities. Opportunities for us to come to Jesus but it also brings opportunities to bring others to Christ.

Look for ways that you can bring a little Jesus to those around you.

Maybe you know someone who needs help getting groceries.

Maybe you know someone who has been stuck at their home and is perhaps lonely. Give them a call.

Check in with those around you.

It could be life saving.

Be what Jesus has been to you.

Life saving.