A Sinner's Great Love for the Saviour
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and 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.
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.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two men 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 canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
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—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
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.”
Introduction
Introduction
One of the key questions that we must ask ourselves as we live out our lives in this world is, is my faith a genuine faith?
And there are two sides to this question. The first is going to be, is my hope and trust truly and fully placed in Jesus Christ? In other words, I am placing no hope whatsoever in my own contribution towards my salvation?
And then also, when I make the claim to believe in Jesus Christ, is my claim substantiated by my actions? In other words, does my full and entire trust in Jesus Christ as my only hope for salvation, lead me to do good works.
It is these questions which are brought to the fore so clearly in this beautiful encounter between Jesus and a sinful woman in the current passage.
As we work through this passage, let us do so with a sober reflection on our own lives, and on our own attitudes and thoughts before God in terms of where our trust is placed.
Before we begin considering this event in the life of our Lord, I think it’s important to point out that this event is in all likelihood a very different one to the event that is recorded in the other Gospels, where Jesus went to the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany.
In that account, Jesus also had is head / feet annointed with perfume, by a woman.
In that other account, Judas was indignant with the woman for allowing such expensive perfume to go to waste, while all he really wanted was to profit himself from the sale of the perfume.
In that account, the name of the host was Simon, as it is in this account. However, in that account Simon was a leper, and in this one, a Pharisee.
In that account, it was Mary, the sister of Lazarus that anointed the head / feet of Jesus, whereas in this one it was an unnamed sinful woman.
In that account, the event took place as Jesus was approaching his crucifixion, whereas that doesn’t appear to be the case in this event.
Importantly, the teaching of Jesus in that account is quite different to the teaching of Jesus in this particular account.
So it’s most likely that they are distinct events.
But that is somewhat of an aside. Let us be clear that even in the event that this is one and the same event that is recorded, it simply means that there was far more teaching in this context than what any singular author conveys.
As we turn then to our passage, we consider firslty...
1. The Sinner’s Expression of Love (vv.36-39)
1. The Sinner’s Expression of Love (vv.36-39)
As we look at our text, we find that the context for this event unfolding is set for us in verse 36, and it really is one that will help to demonstrate the great contrast in terms of the thinking of man and the working of God. Verse 36 reads...
36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
Immediately as we look at this verse, we should be amazed that such an event even takes place. It is odd indeed that a Pharisee invites Jesus to his house.
We know well by this stage in Luke’s Gospel that the Pharisees were hardly the greatest supporters of the ministry of Christ.
In Luke 5:21, the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had accused Jesus of Blasphemy, as he had forgiven the sins of the paralytic.
In Luke 6:7, we find that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal the man with the whithered hand on the Sabbath. And in verse 11 of that text, after Jesus did in fact heal the man, we are told that those teachers of the law and Pharisees were furious with Jesus, and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
And what this means, quite simply, is that they went out and started making plans to have Jesus put to death.
And so, by this point, the Pharisees, as a general principle, did not have a very positive perspective on Jesus. We might ask, as Jesus himself may have asked, why this invitation?! But whatever the motive, we find this Pharisee invites Jesus for a meal.
If that it is somewhat surprising, so too is the fact that Jesus accepts the invitation!!
Despite the animosity that had already been shown towards Jesus by these Pharisees and religious leaders, he goes along to the dinner.
Jesus had no fear of these men. And he certainly didn’t hold any animosity towards the religious leaders to the extent that he refused to go an be entertained by a Pharisee.
The fact that Jesus goes, presents a wonderful opportunity for a particular woman that has obviously heard much about Jesus. We read in verses...
37 When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38 and 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.
Because Jesus was so well-known, and was a public figure of that day, this lady heard that he was at the house of this Pharisee, eating a meal. And so she goes to the house in order to see Jesus.
From a cultural perspective, we must understand that when a person such as this Pharisee invited a public figure to their house, the house would often be open for others to come and go freely, not to share in the meal, but rather to stand around the periphery in order to listen to the discussions and the teaching that took place.
This particular woman, however, doesn’t merely go to the house so much to listen to Jesus, but instead goes there to with the intent of paying honour to Jesus. She takes with her a jar of perfume, and goes up to where Jesus was reclining on a cushion on the floor at the table, with the intention of anointing him with the oil.
But she doesn’t even begin to anoint Jesus, when she is overcome by emotion, and begins to cry, with her tears falling down onto Jesus’ feet. And as she stands there weeping over Jesus’ feet, no doubt drawing a good measure of attention to herself, she sees the feet of Jesus being wet, and so she does what no woman was supposed to do in public. She undid her hair, bent over at Jesus feet, and starts to dry his feet with her hair, all the while continuing to weep. And even as she does this, she bends down low and kisses the feet of Jesus repeatedly. Furthermore, she takes this perfume that she’s brought with her, and pours it out over Jesus’ feet.
What was going on here? What was driving this woman to perform these actions in a very public place? The important point that we should not miss is that this woman was known to be a sinful woman. She had a reputation among the people of that town for a sinful life.
Even the Pharisee, whose name was Simon, was well familiar with this woman and the sinful life that she lived. Her reputation went before her. And it’s this reputation of the sinful woman that leads Simon to his own shocked response in his mind as he watches this event unfold.
The reponse is recorded for us in verse 39...
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.”
Here is the response of a typical Pharisee. He is offended by this lady. He’s also offended by the fact that Jesus would tolerate such a woman. Keep in mind that Jesus has not done anything whatsoever to stop this lady from performing her actions. The crying over his feet. The drying of his feet with her hair. The fact that she was repeatedly kissing his feet. And then pouring perfume over his feet… this didn’t all happen in an instant. It took some measure of time, and Jesus simply sat there patiently, allowing this woman to do this.
And so the question that gets raised in the mind of the Pharisee is that Jesus cannot possibly be a prophet if he’s allowing such a woman to do what she was doing.
A prophet would firstly be able to know what nature of woman this was. God would surely reveal this to Jesus if he were a true prophet.
Keep in mind that many of the crowds of people had already declared Jesus to be a prophet. When Jesus had raised the widows son from the dead, in front of all the large crowds - one that had followed him on his journey, the other that came out with the burial procession - they were amazed at what he did, and declared him to be a great prophet (Luke 7:16).
There were other occassions that people would have stated that he was a prophet. Many people had developed many thoughts about who Jesus was. And hence the deductions being made in the mind of the Pharisee. He simply can’t be a prophet, since a prophet would know that this woman is a terrible sinner, and a true prophet would never allow himself to be defiled and touched by such a sinful, unclean woman.
But while this was the mindset and thinking of the Pharisee, the attitude and the understanding of Jesus was far different from this.
This leads us to consider our second main point...
2. The Saviour’s Commendation of Love (vv.40-46)
2. The Saviour’s Commendation of Love (vv.40-46)
While the Pharisee has nothing but disdain for this woman as a result of her so-called sinful lifestyle, Jesus perceives her in an entirely different way, based on her actions towards him.
In order to address the Pharisee, he will proceed to present him with a very clear and easily understood parable. ..
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
One denarius was equivalent to a day’s wage for the average person. So even the person in this parable that owed 50 Denarii, would have to labour 50 full days - at least 2 months - in order to pay back what he owed… assuming he paid every cent of his pay to this man. If he were going to live, and only pay back a portion, it probably would have taken a good number of years to pay off even his own debt.
The greater debter, however, owed five hundred denarii… This would have been a debt that was extremely high, and extremely difficult to pay off.
But the reality was, that irrespective of the amount of the debt, neither of them were able to afford repayment. Verse 42 says...
42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Before we get to the actual question of Jesus, and the answer given, we must recognise the importance of the statement by Jesus that neither had the money to pay back the master. Irrespective of the size of the debt, they couldn’t afford to pay the moneylender back.
The spiritual truth in this regard should not be missed.
Paul is clear in his letter to the Romans that there is no one righteous before God, and every single person is indebted to God.
10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
But not only are all people debtors to God as a consequence of sin, but we are all unable to pay back the debt that we owe God. Not only do we have this debt, but no amount of good works, no amount of being kind to others, no amount of feeding the poor and needy, will pay that debt, as good as those works are in and of themselves. And no amount of money could buy God’s favour.
The point is, their remains a debt outstanding that we’re not able to pay.
Paul, in writing to the Galatian churches, writes....
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
You see, in order to be declared righteous by doing good, by obedience to the law, you are required to obey every single jot and tittle of that law. And here we have all failed. Every one of us! Because we are all sinful, we have no hope of earning God’s favour, because at the moment of infraction of the law of God, we become inestimable debtors. And let us be sure that our sins are many.
With that in our minds, we can now turn to the question of Jesus, and the response of the Pharisee.
The question that Jesus asks is, “...which of them will love him more…?”
We will expand on this a little later, but this truly is important to keep in our consideration. Which will love more?! In other words, having been forgiven, and having been cleared of their debt to the moneylender, which one of the debtors would respond with a greater love?!
The answer is quite obvious isn’t it? Simon knew the answer immediately, although he didn’t sound all that confident… He says, “I suppose...” But there really is no question. The point is, the greater the debt, the greater the appreciation, and the greater the love...
With Simon now having acknowledged with his own lips which person would have a greater love, the scene is set for Jesus to demonstrate to this Pharisee just how far his own heart is from God.
And he does this by pointing Simon to the love that this woman has shown to Jesus, and how Simon himself had dismally failed to demonstrate any measure of love from his side towards Jesus.
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.
The first demonstration of love is seen in the woman washing Jesus’ feet.
It was customary in those days for a traveller to have their feet washed when they entered someones home as a guest. The dusty roads, combined with wearing open sandals, made a travllers feet extremely dirty.
In Genesis 18:4 - the account of the three visitors to Abraham...
4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
A simple and yet very kind act of hospitality.
Now we need to acknowledge that it was no explicit requirement for Jewish people to do this. There wasn’t a cultural obligation on the host to do this. And so we cannot say here that the Pharisee was abdicating some kind of responsibility. It certainly would have been a kind gesture.
But the reality is that Simon the Pharisee didn’t go beyond any basic act of hospitality. He didn’t make any provisions or arrangements for Jesus to be able to wash his feet, despite the fact that he had himself invited Jesus to be his guest.
On the other hand, this sinful woman had come in and not only washed his feet with water, but had wept over Jesus feet, and washed them with her own tears, and then dried them with her own hair.
Something else that must be kept in mind here is the lowly position that a person took as they washed the feet of another. Recall that Jesus would one day wash the feet of his disciples as an example to them of serving others. It was Peter that refused Jesus to wash his feet, because he recognised that Jesus was performing and act that was for the lowliest of servants.
This demonstrates for us the humility of this sinful woman. She was a lady that humbly bowed herself at the feet of Jesus and washed them.
As we go on, we read further in verse 45...
45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
A welcome kiss would have been an acceptable / appropriate form of greeting in those days. Again, this was not necessarily a requirement among the Jews. But the fact is that it was a particularly meaningful expression of joy upon seeing another person and welcoming them.
But Simon certainly didn’t kiss Jesus at all. There was no expression of delight to have Jesus as a guest.
On the other hand, the sinful woman didn’t stop kissing the feet of Jesus. That was most certainly a hyperbolic statement, but Jesus is saying that this lady demonstrated a deep appreciation for Jesus through her actions.
She showed by her actions that she had a deep love for Jesus.
Thirdly, we read in verse 46...
46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
Another act of hospitality would have been to annoint the head of the guest with olive oil. This was a relatively cheap oil. Again, it wasn’t a specific requirement to do this, but it would have been a demonstration of honour towards the guest. Simon did nothing of the sort.
You see, in every account, Simon was doing the bare minimum in terms of hosting Jesus. He did nothing whatsoever that showed any honour to Jesus. He didn’t intend to honour Jesus.
The sinful woman, on the other hand, poured not just olive oil, but perfume on Jesus’ feet. Very possibly, this was an expensive perfume. But even if it wasn’t, it was the simple and pure act of deep love for Jesus that is being portrayed here.
In all three of these instances, Jesus is demonstrating to Simon that where he has failed to demonstrate love and care, where he has failed to go beyond the mere basic requirements of hospitality, this sinful woman has gone above and beyond, and has demonstrated a genuine love for Christ.
But what must surely impact our own lives and thinking, is the conclusion that Jesus draws from these acts that were unfolding. And this leads us to our third main point...
3. The Forgiveness Resulting in Love (vv.47-50)
3. The Forgiveness Resulting in Love (vv.47-50)
In verse 47 we read...
47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
It’s important that we understand the sense of Jesus’ words here properly. It may be thought here that Jesus is saying that because she has shown such a great love for Jesus, therefore her sins will be forgiven her. But that is not what Jesus is saying. If that were the case, he would be advocating for a works-based rightouesness.
But what is really being said here by Jesus is that all these actions that she has performed are demonstrating a love that issues forth out of faith in Christ. In verse 50 of our text, we read Jesus words, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The critical aspect here is that this sinful woman, through a deep faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, had some concept of the forgiveness of her sins. But her faith in the person and work of Jesus led her to these wonderful expressions of love towards him.
To put this another way / as another example… we could say, “it is light, for the sun has risen.” In other words we can see the light, and therefore conclude that the sun has risen. But we could just as well say, “the sun has risen, for it is light...” In other words, the very fact that it is light outside assumes that the sun has risen.
And so it is here. Because this woman has demonstrated such an extent of great love towards Jesus, the conclusion is that she has a deep faith in Christ, and at the very least a sense of forgiveness received based on her faith in Christ.
This understanding is confirmed in the second half of verse 47, when Jesus says that “he who has been forgiven little, loves little.” Clearly, the Pharisee had not experienced any sense of forgiveness, and thus he lacked love in his treatment of others.
At this point, Jesus turns to the woman and addresses her..
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Now, immediately we ask ourselves, if we’ve just said that her sins were forgiven, and thus she responded in love, why is Jesus only now declaring her sins to be forgiven?!
Quite simply, what the woman already knew in principle, and so acted upon, is now affirmed by Jesus in the presence of the people. In other words, Jesus graciously says to this woman that irrespective of her past life; irrespective of all the sin that she has lived with; irrespective of all the shame and reviling that she has faced from society in terms of her sinful conduct; her sins are indeed forgiven.
Furthermore, here was once again a public declaration by Jesus of the authority that he had to forgive sins. In other words, he had the power and authority to declare a person’s sins forgiven. This is borne out by the fact that the other guests at this function are taken aback...
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
The other guests in this case would most likely have been other Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. That’s typically who Simon would have associated with. And they are once again confronted with the authority of Jesus.
A similar instance was found in the account of the paralytic who was brought to Jesus lying on a mat. He came to Jesus with faith in the person of Jesus, and received forgiveness of sins. And so in this case, the woman came to Jesus with faith in who he was, and his abilities to meet her need, and was blessed through that.
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Application / Conclusion
Application / Conclusion
I want to draw some important points of application that we must take away from this text.In my introduction, I said that we need to ask ourselves the question, is my faith genuine?
From this passage that we’ve considered, the critical manner in which we should seek to identify a faith that is professed is through our love. This sinful woman was said to have a faith in Christ, because it was seen in her actions of love towards Jesus. And this is no different from our own lives.
James makes this very clear when he writes...
14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
The simple reality is that we cannot claim to have a saving faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, if our lives are not marked by the actions that proceed from that faith. And the manner in which that faith is going to be expressed is through a life of love.
In 1 John 4:7-19, the Apostle John outlines this theme of faith expressing itself through love. ni verses 7-9 he writes.
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
And later on in that passage, in verse 20, John writes..
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
We must note from all of these that the love that is spoken of here is a love that is expressed in practical manner. We cannot claim to love someone without the actions of love accompanying that claim.
Jesus himself has made it clear through this account with the sinful woman. Her actions towards Jesus were the evidence of her love for him worked out through a faith in him.
In our case, the evidence of our love for Christ, that flows from our faith in Christ, is seen in how we treat those around us according to their needs. Christ taught on this in Matthew 25:31-46, and his teaching is very appropriate to consider here. He tells the parable of the sheep and the goats. Turn with me there, and we’ll close with this...
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
I would ask again, is your life marked by a deep love for others, because you have been transformed through faith by the love that God has bestowed upon you.
We are all great debtors before God. He says that if we place our faith and trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ, he will remove our sins from us. If we have any sense of the extent of our own sinfulness and unworthiness before God, that will lead us to love much, because we will recognise that we have been forgiven much.
As you leave here today, please ask youself honestly, how well am I loving?
And may the Lord grant us to know his extravagant mercy and grace towards us, such that our love for others would be expressed through humble service.
Amen.