#58 Lu. 7:36-50  GREAT FORGIVENESS PRODUCING GREAT LOVE

Introduction:

    In our text last Sunday Jesus dealt with an overly critical attitude.
The attitude of the Pharisee in our text today is an example of what Jesus
was talking about.  This particular Pharisee was most definitely overly
critical.  Yet the chief emphasis in this text is not upon the wrong
attitude of the Pharisee, but on the great forgiveness from our Lord and the
great love that this woman who was forgivenhad for Jesus.

I.  Jesus invited into the house of Simon, the Pharisee named Simon

    V. 36, "And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him.
And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat."  One of the
Pharisees invited Jesus to his home for dinner.  There appears to be no
great banquet feast with a great host of people.  Rather it appears that
there was just Jesus with His disciples and a few others who were guests at
this feast.
    We note that Jesus accepted the invitation from the Pharisee and had no
qualms about sitting at the table with him.  Jesus knew that he was a
critical, self-righteous person, but Jesus did not refuse his invitation.
If there was an opportunity of winning this man to salvation, Jesus wanted
to keep the door open.  So Jesus accepted the invitation.

II.  The arrival of an uninvited guest

    V. 37, "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she
knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster
box of ointment...."  Right in the beginning of the meal an uninvited guest
crashed the party.  She marched right into the home of the Pharisee
uninvited.  She was most certainly not the kind of woman that the Pharisee
would invite into his home.  She was well known in the city as a sinful
woman. Luke does not say what kind of a sinner she was, but the implication
that Jesus was there and she was known to be a prostitute.  She did not take
any chances on being turned down by knocking at the door and asking
permission to come in.  The door was open and she just barged right in.
    But the woman did not come empty handed.  She brought an alabaster box
with her.  The box was an expensive box and it contained a very expensive
and sweet smelling oil or ointment.  This was, in all probability, the most
expensive item she owned.  It was probably the only expensive item she
owned.  She surely had originally intended to use this ointment for herself
and yet she brought it to Jesus to use for His benefit.
    V. 38, "And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his
feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed
his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."  Luke said that the woman
stood at the feet of Jesus behind Him while He sat at the table.  Now the
way we sit at a table, it would be hard to stand at someone's feet and at
the same time stand behind him.  But the way they sat, or more literally,
they reclined, it was not hard at all.  According to the customs of that day
each person propped up on his side on his left elbow with his body and legs
extended out sideways.  He is virtually in a reclining position.  This way
the woman could be at the feet of Jesus and at the same time behind Him.
The woman kneeled down or stooped down at the feet of Jesus and broke open
the alabaster box and anointed the feet of Jesus with the oil.  Jesus made
no move to resist or to drive the woman away.

III.  The critical attitude of Simon, the Pharisee

    V. 39, "Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake
within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who
and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner."
The Pharisee, who was the host of Jesus, immediately began to have a
negative reaction.  There is no doubt that he reacted negatively toward the
woman, but what Luke is talking about is that he also reacted negatively
toward Jesus.  He said, "If this man were a prophet, he would know that this
woman is a sinful woman and He would have no dealings with her.  He would
drive her away.  He knew that Jesus was thought of by the people as a
prophet of God.  He, himself, may have given some thought to the possibility
that Jesus just might indeed be a prophet of God.  But now that he saw Jesus
allow this woman to anoint His feet and make no effort to drive her away, he
settled the matter in his mind that Jesus just could not be a prophet of
God.  If He were, surely He would not allow this woman to touch Him.
    But I want to show you something.  He took for granted that Jesus could
not be a prophet of God because he wrongly concluded that Jesus did not know
the kind of woman that she was.  Yet Jesus is about to demonstrate that He
knows the character of the Pharisee and therefore would know the character
of the woman.  He knows not only the character of the Pharisee, He knows
even the thoughts of the Pharisee.  He knows his innermost thoughts.
If that Pharisee had been very alert, he would have caught on that Jesus
understood his very thoughts and that He is, indeed, a prophet of God.

IV.  The illustration about the two debtors

    V. 40-43, "And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to
say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.  There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.  Tell me
therefore, which of them will love him most?  Simon answered and said, I
suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast
rightly judged."  Jesus called to the attention of the Pharisee two men who
both owed money to the same man.  One of the men owed only fifty pence but
the other owed 500 pence.  One owed ten times as much as the other.
However, neither could pay his debt.  When the time came for them to pay up
and neither was able to pay, the creditor just forgave them both.  He just
wrote the debts off.  It was as if they had never borrowed a thing or as if
they had paid the debts in full.  He just wrote them off.
    Jesus asked Simon, "Now which of these two men do you suppose will love
the creditor the most?  Will the man who was forgiven only 50 pence love the
most or will the man who was forgiven 500 pence love the most?"  Simon
answered and said that he supposed the man who was forgiven the most would
love the most and Jesus said, "That is right.  The one who is forgiven the
most would love the most."

V.  The great love the woman had for Jesus

    V. 44-46, "And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou
this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet:
but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her
head.  Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath
not ceased to kiss my feet.  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but
this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment."  Jesus knew the critical
attitude that Simon had of Him for allowing the woman to touch Him.  Jesus
turned to the woman and used her as an object lesson to try to teach Simon a
lesson.  Most of the streets and roads were unpaved.  They were dirt
streets.  Therefore when the guests came into a home their feet were dirty.
It was common courtesy for the host to wash the feet of his guests and to
dry them with a towel or to have a servant do it.  At the very least he
would furnish water so that the guest could wash his own feet.  Simon had
not shown Jesus even common courtesy.  He not washed His feet,  he had not
had a servant to do so, nor had even furnished water for Jesus to wash His
own feet.  Yet this woman, of whom Simon was so very critical, had washed
the feet of Jesus with her tears.  She knelt in gratitude at His feet and
wept so profusely that she washed the dirt from His feet with her tears and
she dried His feet with the hairs of her head.  The question is, "Now, Simon
which of the two do you suppose loves me the most---this woman or you?"  The
answer was obvious.  The woman did.  She had not come to Simon's house to
wash the feet of Jesus.  She came to present Him with a gift, but she was so
moved by a sense of her own unworthiness and of gratitude for His grace
toward her that she had come to present Him with a very expensive gift.  She
not only washed His feet and wiped them dry, but she anointed His feet with
the ointment from the box.  This woman showed more love for Jesus than Simon
did.
    Furthermore, in that day and time it was common courtesy for a host to
greet his guests with a kiss.  Even the men were greeted with a kiss.  It
was not a romantic type of kiss.  It was a friendship kiss, a kiss on the
cheeks.  But Simon had not greeted Jesus even with a kiss of friendship.  in
two specific ways Simon had been outright discourteous to Jesus as his
guest.
    It was not common for a host to anoint the head of a guest with oil, but
if one were wanting to show a special love for his guest, he might do so.
Jesus pointed out to Simon that this woman had anointed even His feet with
the ointment.   She had demonstrated a lot more love for Jesus than Simon
did.
    One begins to wonder:  Why did he even invite Jesus to his home if he
were going to be so discourteous?  Some have speculated that Simon invited
Jesus thinking that if it turns out that Jesus is the Christ He will be the
new king and it won't hurt to be nice to the new king.  Or even if He is not
the Christ, perhaps He is at least a prophet of God, and it won't hurt to be
kind to a prophet of God.  Some have speculated that he had come to Jesus
with some kind of minor illness and that Jesus had healed him of his
illness.  I confess to you that I do not know why he invited Jesus, but I
can say that his heart was not really in it.  If it had been he would have
at least shown the common courtesies to Jesus that were due any guest.  But
he didn't.  His heart was not in it.  And he was quick to conclude that
Jesus must not be a prophet after all.
    The point is that this woman, who had been a great sinner, had shown
Jesus a lot more consideration than Simon did.  She showed Him a lot more
than that which common courtesy would call for.  She showed a real genuine
love for Jesus.
    V. 47, "Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are
forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same
loveth little."  It is true that this woman had lived a lot more sinful life
than Simon had lived.  But all of her sins had been forgiven.  She had come
to Jesus and trusted in Him as her Savior and all of her sins had been
forgiven.  Therefore she loved Jesus very much.  The great forgiveness on
the part of Jesus had prompted a great love for Jesus on the part of the
woman.
    She was not forgiven because of her love;  she loved because she was
forgiven.  She was already forgiven.  It may seem puzzling at first why
Jesus would then turn to her and say what He did in verse 48.  V. 48, "And
he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven."  Note again that her sins had
already been forgiven.  Jesus has already said so in verse forty-seven.  The
woman already knows that her sins are forgiven.  That is why she loved Jesus
so much.  Why then did Jesus tell her at this point that her sins were
forgiven?  For reassurance.  Jesus wanted to reassure her that her sins were
really forgiven.
    V. 49, "And they that sat at meat with him began to say within
themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?"  At this point new
critics come into the picture.  Other guests at the feast began to question
within themselves what business Jesus has to tell someone that their sins
are forgiven.  If Jesus even bothered to answer them Luke doesn't say
anything about it.  He did reassure the woman still yet another time.  V.
50, "And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

VI.  The two outstanding truths in this passage

    There are two outstanding truths in this passage of Scripture.  First,
the passage teaches that Jesus forgives sin and, secondly, that forgiveness
of sin should produce love for Jesus.  First of all, Jesus does forgive sin.
He is the Christ of God.  He is the Son of God.  He came to the world to
seek and to save that which was lost.  It is His delight to forgive sin.
You do not have to beg Jesus to forgive you.  All you have to do is to trust
Him to forgive you and He does.  It is His delight to forgive you.
    If you are still unforgiven it is because you have never trusted in
Jesus as your Savior.  It is high time that you do.  You most certainly have
committed many sins.  You must be forgiven of your sin or spend eternity in
the fires of hell.  You need to trust in Jesus to forgive you and the
amazing thing is that when you ask Him to forgive you and trust Him to do
it, He will.
    Secondly, let us note that if Jesus has forgiven a sinner his sins, that
sinner should respond with love for Jesus.  Only the most ungrateful person
can accept such a marvelous gift from the Lord without loving Him in return.

VII.  The question that comes to mind at this point
    There is a question that comes to my mind right here.  Just how much
should we love Him?  Based on the principle that the one who is forgiven
more will love more, just how much should you and I love the Lord?  The
Apostle Paul felt that he was the chief of sinners and he showed with his
life that he loved the Lord a great deal.  I may not know how to measure my
forgiveness in comparison to what someone else is forgiven.  But this I do
know:  I know that my sins were many.  I know that if it were not for Jesus
I would spend eternity in the fires of hell.  I know that He has been
merciful to me and by His grace He has saved my soul.  I owe Him my life.  I
owe Him my all.  If I have the privilege to but wash the dirt from His feet
and wipe His feet dry, that would be my privilege.  If I give Him my most
costly treasure, that is my blessed privilege.  If I give Him my very best,
that is not nearly enough.  If I spend a lifetime working for Jesus, that
will never repay what He has done for me.  I know that I do love Jesus and I
pray for grace for God the Father that I may love Him more and more.

Conclusion:

    If your sins are unforgiven, please do not let this service close
without you turning to Jesus Christ and trusting in Him as your Savior.  If
you are already saved, please do not let this service to close without
committing your life to Jesus to give your very best in service to Him.