SERMON OUTLINE

Forgiven Sinners Love Jesus       Luke 7.36-50

Introduction

1)   Not a repetition of the story in Matthew, Mark, John

2)   No proof that the woman is Mary Magdalene

3)   Outline: Setting – v36-38 with a response in v39

Parable – v40-42 with a response in v43

Teaching – v44-48 with a response in v49

Benediction v50

4) Who is this man Jesus? Demonstration of forgiveness.

The Setting   v36-39

1)    Careful Simon invites Jesus to eat with him

2)    An unnamed prostitute anoints the feet of Jesus

3)    Simon decides that Jesus is not a prophet

The Parable   v40-43

1)    Parable of the two debtors

2)    Simon’s reluctant response

The Teaching   v44-49

1)    Do you see this woman?

2)    Contrast between the woman and Simon

3)    Conclusion – A forgiven sinner loves Jesus

4)    Who is this man who forgives sin?

Conclusion   v50

Your faith has saved you go into peace.

SERMON NOTES

Forgiven Sinners Love Jesus        Luke 7.36-50

-In my preparation for the sermon this week I have come to deeply appreciate the compassion of Jesus displayed in this story and the love and gratitude produced by forgiveness. Let me try to communicate that compassion and gratitude to you.

-Before we look at the story I want to mention two pieces of information about this story. 1) This story is not a repetition of the story of the woman anointing Jesus given in Matthew, Mark and John. There are a number of differences in the two stories. Although both hosts are named Simon, the Simon in this story is a critical Pharisee while the Simon in the other story is a cleansed leper. In Luke the house is in Galilee while in the other Gospels the story is set in Bethany near Jerusalem. Here the woman is sinful, likely a prostitute, while Mary the brother of Lazarus is not. This incident takes place in the early ministry of Jesus while the other takes place just before the crucifixion. Here the woman anoints the feet of Jesus while in the other incident the head of Jesus is anointed. Finally in this story the discussion is about the woman being a sinner while in the other incident the argument is about wasting money that could have been given to the poor. So this story is a different story from the anointing mentioned in the other Gospels. 2) Some have argued that the woman in this story is Mary Magdalene but we have no proof of that. When Mary Magdalene is mentioned in the next chapter the focus is on her being delivered of seven demons not on her being forgiven. Mary Magdalene certainly loved Jesus a great deal, as this woman also did, because of her deliverance by Jesus, but beyond that we have no reason to name the woman in this story as Mary Magdalene.

-Let me give you an outline for these verses. Verses 41-43 is what is commonly called the parable of the two debtors, and the parable is part of a larger story of a sinful woman who is forgiven. This larger story can be divided into three parts. Each part describes a situation and then is followed by a response to that situation. The story closes with a benediction on the woman.

The Setting – v36-38 with a response in v39

The Parable – v40-42 with a response in v43

The Teaching – v43-48 with a response in v49

Benediction v50

-This story answers the question “Who is this man Jesus?” It also demonstrates the result of true forgiveness from God. It is this kind of forgiveness that leads to individual transformation and forgiving others.

-In v36 we are told that one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. We are not told why this Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus to eat with him. We do know that Pharisees were very particular about who they ate with, not wanting to fellowship with anyone who was impure and not totally devoted to God as they were. We find out by the way Jesus was greeted at the door that Simon did not want to treat Jesus as an honoured guest, but we also find that Simon is not openly antagonistic to Jesus. I sense as I read this story that Simon is fearful of what his Pharisee friends might say if he were to greet Jesus too enthusiastically. Simon is curious about who Jesus is. Simon has heard a great deal about this teacher and miracle worker, this new prophet. And yet he had also heard that Jesus is a glutton and drunkard and eats with tax-collectors and sinners (7.34). Who is this man? Simon wants to examine Jesus a little more closely to find out more, but he is very careful in his actions. Simon is not deceptively planning any traps for Jesus but he is treating him with caution because of his own religious beliefs and his status as a Pharisee. Simon has not yet made up his mind on who Jesus is.

-Jesus on the other hand is quite willing to join Simon and his friends for a meal knowing that God will lead the circumstances and the conversation and so Jesus takes his designated place at the table. Jesus came to earth to seek and to save the lost, and Simon is lost.

-In v37 and new person is introduced into the story. She is an unnamed woman from the city who is a sinner. The Greek makes it quite clear that this woman was known in that city as a sinner. Literally the verse is “a woman who was in the city a sinner”. Most likely this woman was a well known prostitute in the city.

-She would never have been invited to Simon’s house and she would never have considered entering Simon’s house had she not learned that Jesus was eating there.

-The verse says that Jesus “was reclining at table in the Pharisees house”. Let me describe the scene to you. The city would be aware that Jesus was eating at Simon’s house. Not only would they be aware of Jesus in the house but people from the city were free to come to Simon’s house and observe the meal and listen to the discussions and perhaps even partake in the discussions.

-The house would be built in a square around a large open courtyard where the meal would be held. Along the walls facing the courtyard would be cushioned benches were visitors could sit and watch and listen. Sometimes the leftovers from the meal were given to the poor in attendance. So people coming in and out of the courtyard during the meal would not be unusual.

-Under normal circumstances this woman knowing her status as a prostitute would not come to Simon’s house. But in this case she had a very specific purpose for coming. Jesus was there and she wanted to anoint the feet of Jesus with perfume because his forgiveness had changed her life. No sense of shame, no dirty looks from those in attendance, was going to stop her from showing her love for Jesus. She was driven by a love which overcame all her shame and all her fear. This man Jesus had changed her life and she was going to express her love to him. Luke draws our attention to this unusual incident of a prostitute coming into Simon the Pharisees house by writing Behold at the beginning of the verse.

-Another detail to remember is that these meals were eaten in a reclining position. There was a center table with the food upon it surrounded by low couches radiating out like spokes of a wheel from the table. The guests would remove their sandals and recline on their left side leaving their right hand free to eat and drink with. That is why we are told that Jesus was reclining at table. This is also why the woman had access to the feet of Jesus which she was determined to anoint with perfume.

-The woman brought with her an alabaster flask of ointment. Alabaster is like the calcium deposits you find in your electric kettle or in the pot you use to boil water for your tea. If you have ever been in a cave and seen those calcium icicles hanging from the ceiling called stalactites you have seen alabaster. These small perfume flasks were either carved from larger chunks of these calcium deposits or made by mixing calcium in water and then allowing the calcium to deposit and solidify layer by layer. These flasks were small with a long neck and often hung around a woman’s neck. The concentrated and expensive perfume was sealed in the flask and removed by breaking the neck of the flask.

-In v38 we are told what the woman did. The woman, this prostitute, this known sinner in the city came in and stood at Jesus’ feet. By this time all conversation would have stopped and the whole courtyard would be watching what this woman was going to do next. Why had this sinful woman come to see Jesus?

-I don’t think this woman planned on weeping on the feet of Jesus but overtaken with emotion she began to weep and wet the feet of Jesus with her tears. Not having a towel she let down her hair and used her hair as a towel to wipe her tears from Jesus’ feet. She then kissed the feet of Jesus and anointed those beautiful feet, which had brought to her the Gospel of forgiveness from God, with scented oil.

-What this woman did to Jesus was an ultimate expression of honor, gratitude, submission, and humility. Letting her hair down in public would normally be considered a shameful act but in this case it was a sign of her great devotion to Jesus. This woman loved Jesus because he had forgiven her sin and given her a new life free from guilt and filled with peace. She wanted to show this love to Jesus in the only way she knew how, by anointing his feet with what was most precious to her.

-In verse 39 we have Simon’s response to Jesus and what this woman has done to him. Simon said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” A Pharisee would never allow a sinner to touch him, to eat with him or to even enter his home, for this would make him unclean before God. If Jesus were a true prophet, and that is what Simon is trying to determine, he certainly would know who this woman is and what sort of woman she is and would never allow her to touch him, for that would make Jesus unclean before God. Simon’s conclusion: Jesus is not a prophet because of his lack of knowledge and allowing this sinful woman to touch him. The problem is that Simon examined Jesus according to his own self-righteous standard and not from God’s perspective. There is an important lesson for all of us here.

–Verse 40 begins with “Jesus answering him”. Even though Simon has not said anything, Jesus knows what he is thinking and wants to lead him to more understanding and he does this through a parable. “Simon I have something to say to you”. Jesus has more than the parable to say to Simon but begins with the parable. Simon allows Jesus to say what he has to say and addresses him as Teacher even though he has already determined in his own mind that Jesus is not a prophet.

-In verses 41-43 we have a parable of two debtors, one who owed a large sum and one who owed a small sum and how both were forgiven of their debt. Jesus asks Simon a question, “Now which one of them will love the moneylender more?” We find our second response in this story. Simon is starting to realise where this parable is leading and answers with “I suppose he who had the larger debt cancelled”.

-In verse 44-46 Jesus turns to the woman but continues to teach Simon about God’s forgiveness. Jesus says to Simon, “Do you see this woman?” Jesus is not just asking Simon to consider this woman but to realise what God has done in this woman’s life. How often do we continue to evaluate people as we first knew them and do not recognise the changes that God has made and is making in their lives? Jesus wants Simon to take a closer look at this woman and see that she is not the sinner, the prostitute she once was but a new woman because of God’s forgiveness. All Simon can see is a woman with a bad reputation.

-Jesus contrasts the great love this woman has for him with the lack of the ordinary courtesies of a host that Simon has failed to extend to him as a guest. “You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair”. Simon as the host would not be required to wash the feet of Jesus but only to provide water for Jesus to wash his feet. Even this was not provided by Simon. What about the other guests that day? Did they have water to wash their feet or even have their feet washed by one of the slaves? Likely they did. “You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.” We can imagine this woman still kissing the feet of Jesus as he is speaking. Simon was not required to give Jesus a kiss, but kissing Jesus would have recognised him as an honored guest. “You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment”. Again Simon was not required to anoint the head of Jesus with olive oil but that would have honored him before all the guests. Here Jesus contrasts the olive oil Simon would have used to anoint his head with the expensive fragrant oil from the woman’s alabaster jar that she has put on his feet.

-In verse 47 Jesus comes to the conclusion and the lesson he has for Simon. The great love of this woman for Jesus is an expression of her many sins being forgiven. By contrast Simon’s cool reception of Jesus and his self-righteous attitude toward this woman and Jesus shows that he has not been forgiven of his sins by God. “He who has been forgiven little loves little”. Forgiven is in the perfect tense meaning “has been forgiven”. This woman is not being forgiven because of her love for Jesus but rather had been forgiven and therefore has much love for Jesus. At some time before this she had encountered Jesus or had heard him speak and had received forgiveness.

-We see in the benediction in verse 50 that faith is the basis for this woman’s forgiveness not her expressed love for Jesus. Throughout the NT we find that those who have been forgiven of their sins and know God as Father have a deep love for Jesus and long for his coming to earth in Glory. You can examine your own heart this morning for love for Jesus and see if you have been forgiven of your many sins. Those who have been forgiven of many sins love God with their actions and also with emotions. Does Jesus excite you this morning? Do you love Jesus this morning?

-If we go back to this parable and apply it to Simon and the woman, I wonder if Jesus was considering Simon as the one with the greater debt that needed to be forgiven and the woman as the one with the lesser debt. Simon in his deep rooted pride and prejudice and self-righteousness before God was in great need of God’s forgiveness. Outwardly he was certainly more righteous than this prostitute but in his heart his sins were many and needed God’s great forgiveness. Had Simon realised this he would also love Jesus much. Jesus is seeking to bring Simon to salvation.

-In verse 48-49 Jesus turns to the woman and once again affirms to her that her sins are forgiven. This pronouncement is not only for the woman but to teach Simon and his other guests who he is. We find in verse 49 the third response in this story, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” Jesus this prophet who allows a sinner to touch him, who is a friend of tax-collectors and sinners, and who forgives sins. Who is this man? Jesus wants Simon and his guests and everyone to seriously consider this question. A right answer to this question would lead them to forgiveness of their sins and to eternal life, and a wrong answer would lead them to eternal separation from God.

-The story ends in verse 50 with Jesus pronouncing a benediction on this woman, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace”. Jesus blesses the woman but not Simon. Literally Jesus says, “Go into peace”. At a funeral the benediction upon the deceased was “go in peace” but to a living person the benediction was “go into peace”. This woman was very much alive before God because her sins were forgiven but Simon who assumed God accepted him was spiritually dead and still in need of his sins being forgiven. Jesus called Simon to consider afresh who he was so that he could be forgiven and love Jesus. Forgiven sinners love Jesus for forgiven their sins. May you be among those who love Jesus and look forward to his coming again to establish his righteous kingdom.