KBM Love Tears Forgiveness

Today we are continuing our study of the “Life of Christ.” And I hope you have enjoyed this study as much as I have. There is so much we can learn from Jesus’ life while here on this earth, in the flesh. In our text today we are going to be examining Luke 7:36-50 wherein we find here an interesting account of “Love, Tears, and Forgiveness.” Now before we dive in to our study it’s important to remember that Jesus loved to eat and spend time with his creation. We find him eating often with his disciples (Mark 14:14; Luke 22:15), we find him eating with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 5:29-30), and even the Pharisees from time to time (Luke 11:37-54; Luke 14:1-6). In our text today we find Jesus being invited “for the first time” by a Pharisee to eat with him. In Luke 7:36 we find Simon had been “asking” or “requesting” Jesus to eat with him. That word “ask” in the original means to plead and thus tells us this wasn’t the first time he had ask Jesus to come to his home. This time, Jesus agreed to come and “recline at his table.” Jesus, knowing what would happen at Simon’s house decided to go and take the opportunity that had presented its self. Now during this time there were several customs that of the one hosting the get together. First, the host would greet each guest with a kiss on the cheek typically as we see in Genesis 29:13 and Romans 16:16. Secondly, a bowl of water and a towel was given to the guests to wash their feet or a servant of the home would wash there feet. After all they walked everywhere and with only sandals on there feet would get dirty. Lastly, if it was a hot day and one had traveled a bit of a distance to the home in the sun the host would place oil on the head or face to sooth and cool the skin. What happened when Jesus showed up at the Pharisee’s house? We read in Luke 7:44-46…

Luke 7:44–46 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.

As you can see here Simon did not do a single customary greeting to Jesus. Now place yourself in Jesus’ shoes for a second. Simon had asked repeatedly to come eat with him and when he finally agreed to it Simon ignored him and thus insulted him. Have you ever been somewhere where no one says hi to you and ignores you? If so then you know a bit how Jesus felt. Now before we get into the main point of this study, concerning the woman, I want us to consider three things first. One, when the food came out everyone would gather around a table that was only slightly off the floor. Each guest would lay on their left side where there would be a pillow for their left elbow to lean on so they could eat with their right hand. Their feet would be without shoes because they would have been taken off at the entrance to the home. Women could come to these parties but they were not allowed at the table, only the men were allowed there, unless they were serving the food. Secondly, there would be a lot of noise like at any party so it would be loud with all the commotion. Thirdly, there was no actual privacy during these and it was customary for people to walk by and look at what was going on at these events. So we can easily see how an “unwanted guest” could find there way in. So what do we know about this woman? In Luke 7:37-39 we find that this woman known as a public sinner and most likely a prostitute or someone that gets paid for sex. We also know that this woman knew who Jesus was. Thought she might not have every actually spoken to Jesus he must have had an impact on her life. Maybe she had heard Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28-29? Whenever it was that she had heard Jesus we know she was both desperate and brave. Imagine everyone knowing your sin and the hopelessness that made her feel before she heard Jesus’ message of salvation. The dread of each day until that point. Then she hears Jesus preach about love, hope, forgiveness. She had obviously made a change in her life after hearing Jesus but she hadn’t had the opportunity to thank him and this was her chance to do so. So she goes to Simon’s party knowing what most people there think of her and go to the table where Jesus was reclining at. We read in Luke 7:38…

Luke 7:38 ESV

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.

It’s not hard to see the appreciation the woman has for Jesus, but what about Simon’s reaction. His is very different. Simon in verse 39 things “either” Jesus didn’t know who this woman was and had done and thus isn’t a prophet or Jesus did know who she was and wasn’t a good man to allow her to be near him. What Simon didn’t realize is that Jesus knew exactly who she was and what she had done and was at his party specifically for this woman.

Jesus, our Savior, was willing to be humiliated on a grand stage to help this sinner, “sin no more” and get try and get her to spend an eternity with him in heaven. Oh how great it is to have God love us, his creation, so much.