Luke 7:36-50

Transcript

00:00:00:34 – 00:00:31:44
Clint Loveall
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. Thanks for joining us. As we start out the week with our Bible study here in the Gospel of Luke closing out the seventh chapter today. A really interesting story in some ways. Very Luke in story, though. I mean, this rings true with the other gospels as well. But we get a we meet a kind of a fascinating character, a little bit of a I wouldn’t say conflict, but a very direct open conversation that Jesus has.

00:00:31:46 – 00:00:50:08
Clint Loveall
So let’s jump in and we’ll come back and talk about it a little bit. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so he went to the home of the Pharisee and took his place at the table and a woman in the city who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.

00:00:50:13 – 00:01:13:07
Clint Loveall
She stood behind him at his feet, weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears and then dry them with her hair. Then she continued, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If that man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she’s a sinner.

00:01:13:12 – 00:01:36:27
Clint Loveall
Jesus spoke up and said, Simon, I have something to say. He said, Speak teacher. A certain creditor had two debtors. One owed 50 I’m sorry, one owed 500 denarii and the other 50 when they could not pay. He canceled the debt for both of them. Which do you think will love him more? Simon answered. I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.

00:01:36:32 – 00:01:58:12
Clint Loveall
And Jesus said, You’ve judge rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no more water for my feet. But she bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss. But from the time I came in, she’d not stopped kissing my feet.

00:01:58:17 – 00:02:23:35
Clint Loveall
You did not anoint my head with oil. But she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you her sins, which were many have been forgiven. Hence she has shown great love. But the one for whom little is forgiven loves little. Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. But those who are at the table with them begin to say among themselves, Who is this that even forgives sins?

00:02:23:40 – 00:02:45:07
Clint Loveall
And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved. You go in peace. So there’s a lot going on in this story. I think if we get to the heart of it throughout this, it’s actually fairly clear. But there are those things that are cultural in nature. The first is the idea of being invited to a home and hospitality.

00:02:45:12 – 00:03:12:59
Clint Loveall
Secondly, in Jesus culture, the the kind of disregard or the dislike of feet and touching feet and having dirty feet. The idea of being clean, we see this in John’s gospel that the feet are clean, that this the house servant would have had to do that job. There is the judge mental illness sort of here. The judgment that Simon gives to the woman who is evidently an actual sinner.

00:03:13:01 – 00:03:41:16
Clint Loveall
That’s not a misjudgment on his part. That seems to be a real truth. But he looks down on her and he even thinks to himself that Jesus must not actually know what kind of woman this is. Not imagining that Jesus is being gracious. And then, Michael, there’s this sort of moment where Jesus, after a brief parable, I think, you know, the way Jesus confronts Simon here is interesting.

00:03:41:16 – 00:04:16:51
Clint Loveall
It doesn’t seem angry. It doesn’t seem argumentative. But it is it is pretty blunt. You know, she welcomed me. She kissed my feet. She cleansed my feet. You haven’t done those things. And then refers back to the parable. You know, persons are many. So she is grateful. And the implication sort of is that when you don’t understand yourself to be a sinner, or maybe when you focus on the sins of others, you miss the opportunity to be gracious and to love.

00:04:16:53 – 00:04:21:40
Clint Loveall
So all in all, kind of a lot going on here, but I think a really powerful story.

00:04:21:45 – 00:04:52:00
Michael Gewecke
It’s good to remind ourselves of how substantial Jesus’s encounters with these folks who were undesirable would make an impact in Jesus. Jesus’s role and ministry, I think, meant that we it’s easy for us, especially in the Christian tradition, to think of Jesus as kind, compassionate, caring, healing for us. That’s not scandalous for us. I think we could make the case that that is just part of who we know Jesus to be.

00:04:52:04 – 00:05:12:57
Michael Gewecke
But when Jesus has these encounters with the people in his own time and place, Jesus was doing things that were unexpected. And we see that kind of unexpected turn over and over and over again in these stories. And I think you raise a good point here, Clint, that many of those times, the teachings of the law, they rise up.

00:05:12:57 – 00:05:36:37
Michael Gewecke
They want to have a fight. They want to get down and dirty with Jesus about the specifics of the law and how Jesus was breaking them here. There’s almost a sense in which the question is over whether or not Jesus is aware and complicit in allowing this woman to touch him, allowing this woman to show this kind of affection and care for Jesus in light of who.

00:05:36:48 – 00:05:56:36
Michael Gewecke
It seems reasonable most, if not all of the people in the room knew her to be. And the turn here is an opportunity for Simon to be taught a lesson. And of course, whenever you’re reading the Gospels. Clint Right. This is of course a lesson for Simon, but Luke wants us to hear it so that it might be a lesson for us.

00:05:56:36 – 00:06:33:16
Michael Gewecke
And so here we are now for a moment, getting to sit the feet of the teacher. Jesus, hear him talk about these creditors. And as Luke does so well, this very short story of verses 41 through 42 is all we have. And yet, in the midst of this story, Jesus able to ask the question, which one of these is going to love the the one who forgives the debt more and when Simon answers, the one who Jesus cancels the greatest debt, we immediately see who Jesus is talking about in the midst of the room.

00:06:33:16 – 00:07:00:00
Michael Gewecke
This woman herself, who’s found Jesus’s generous graciousness and compassion. And I think when you when you see Luke doing this, this is not just a lesson for those in the room as it relates to this particular woman. I think that this is told to us by Luke so that we might know, so that we might begin to see that same work in our own lives and world that Jesus is doing for those who we too might look down upon.

00:07:00:00 – 00:07:06:15
Michael Gewecke
Judge mentally. But but clearly Jesus has a heart and love to to serve and have compassion upon.

00:07:06:19 – 00:07:40:16
Clint Loveall
Yeah. This is, you know, just again, from a cultural standpoint, this is borderline. It may not even be borderline inappropriate. I mean, you can imagine if you were at that table, this would be an uncomfortable moment. You have a woman who’s weeping. She’s kissing Jesus feet, She’s rubbing perfume. I mean, this had to be an awkward moment. And unfortunately for Simon, that awkwardness becomes a moment of judgment, which I think gets us to two ideas in the story.

00:07:40:21 – 00:08:14:04
Clint Loveall
The first is this This can’t you know, this sort of the reality that nobody is generally offended by the idea that Jesus is gracious. I mean, if we say Jesus is a gracious person, if we if we talk about somebody as gracious. That in and of itself is is not likely to offend anyone. But who Jesus is gracious to causes problems.

00:08:14:09 – 00:08:39:54
Clint Loveall
The extent to which Jesus is gracious to people who other people think don’t deserve it, which changes it from grace to something else, because grace is by definition, undeserved. But. But it’s not that Jesus is kind that bothers people. It’s not that Jesus is loving or that Jesus is open. It’s when those traits have specific people attached to them.

00:08:39:54 – 00:09:12:58
Clint Loveall
It’s who Jesus is gracious to. That causes problems for the Pharisees, for Simon in this case, which is I think the other thing we see, Michael, when when when we focus on Jesus, it doesn’t leave us a lot of bandwidth to focus on someone else’s status. And Simon here, rather than focusing on Jesus, the guest at his own house, points his attention at the woman.

00:09:13:02 – 00:09:35:48
Clint Loveall
The woman is a good example of keeping her focus, keeping her attention on Jesus. But Simon shows us what happens when we turn from Jesus and we look on others, particularly when we look down on them. And I think, you know, we want to be careful because it’s easy to do the same thing here. And Judge Simon, which isn’t the point.

00:09:35:52 – 00:09:55:42
Clint Loveall
The point is to realize what a debt has been forgiven for us and be one of those who is gracious and moved and tearfully celebrates what Jesus has done. So while we want to recognize Simon’s heir in the text, we want to be careful not to repeat it well.

00:09:55:42 – 00:10:22:51
Michael Gewecke
And ultimately, the thing that is going to be scandalous comes at the end of the story. The first thing that Simon misses comes to us here, verse 39, when he says, If this man were a prophet describing Jesus, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is. Note that it just seamlessly transitions into not only does Jesus know who this woman is, he knows what this man is thinking.

00:10:23:02 – 00:10:54:41
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, it was said to himself. So Jesus is more than a prophet. He is able to understand exactly what’s happening within Simon’s own head, let alone the kind of woman who is showing this extravagant generosity. But then, as we turn to the end of this passage, verse 50, Jesus is addressing this woman. Your faith has saved you. You go in peace and the crowd is at the table asking themselves, verse 49, Who is this that forgives sins?

00:10:54:41 – 00:11:21:11
Michael Gewecke
Here Jesus has come full, really to the end of the spectrum here. This story began with a person questioning how could Jesus be a prophet? He doesn’t even know the kind of person coming to him. Isn’t that obvious, right? And then Jesus turns this into a teaching moment in which he’s able to point out that it’s the people who need a savior most are going to be most grateful for that savior, and that teaching itself is compelling.

00:11:21:16 – 00:11:45:39
Michael Gewecke
But then Jesus takes that to its furthest extent to then forgive this woman’s sins. Your sins are forgiven, he says a verse for the eight. And then at that point the crowd understands the extent to which Jesus has been carrying them, that this woman is not only the one who most needs grace, she’s the one who Jesus has proclaimed to be forgiven.

00:11:45:39 – 00:12:11:06
Michael Gewecke
And at that it’s unmistakable. Everyone understands what Jesus is claiming to be able to do, and that is a status far more than profit. Here. Jesus is not just operating is the role of someone who can do miraculous things. He is speaking as one who could speak on behalf of God, and that is where a Pharisee is certainly going to very quickly go from Def Con one to Def Con.

00:12:11:20 – 00:12:33:34
Michael Gewecke
And that’s a serious ratcheting up of Jesus’s teaching and rhetoric. And I think this is part of the extra evidence that Luke wants us to see that Jesus, the healer, is also Jesus. The prophet is also Jesus, the Son of God, and that this is contained and told beautifully in a really short and pretty economical story.

00:12:33:39 – 00:13:11:31
Clint Loveall
And I want to be careful here because I don’t think Luke comes out and points to this accusation at Simon, but we do at least, I think, get nudged in the direction of understanding that it’s impossible. You know, Jesus says she has been forgiven greatly. So great is her love, is she has shown great love, the one who is forgiven, little loves, little self-righteousness and gratitude are incompatible.

00:13:11:36 – 00:13:44:40
Clint Loveall
It isn’t. It is not possible to be grateful while simultaneously holding on to this illusion of self-righteousness. And I’m not saying that that’s what Luke is trying to tell us about Simon, though I think maybe we see possibility of that from the voices of the others late in the story. But there is this sense in which this woman who is a sinner, I mean, that that’s the truth of the story.

00:13:44:45 – 00:14:11:00
Clint Loveall
She doesn’t deny that. In fact, she’s so moved by Jesus and by Jesus allowing her to to practice this graciousness and generosity on him that she goes having Jesus say your faith has saved you and go in peace. You know, and I get the sense that peace has not been a major component perhaps, of this woman’s life. We don’t know that.

00:14:11:00 – 00:14:40:09
Clint Loveall
But it seems likely that that’s the case. And I think Luke has done us a really interesting a just given us a really interesting story, done us a favor in this story. I imagine preaching this text, Michael, And there are just a lot of roads you can take. And again, I think we see how well Luke weaves those things together, how deftly Luke can tell a story which incorporates lots of themes.

00:14:40:13 – 00:15:01:35
Clint Loveall
And you know, I think ultimately we feel challenged in this it Luke does a nice job of giving us minimal characters and really putting us in a position where we have to try and identify ourself as one or the other or maybe aspire to be one or the other. And certainly here we would want to be the woman, not the Pharisee.

00:15:01:35 – 00:15:26:51
Michael Gewecke
Well, so that’s that’s where I was going to go. And just very briefly, just imagine that Jesus is coming to your house now. The customs of this day are different than ours, certainly. But the idea that if you knew Jesus is coming to your house, that you would prepare, you would make a meal that you felt good about, you would prepare your space in a particular way.

00:15:26:51 – 00:15:48:18
Michael Gewecke
You would do the things that you do to be hospitable. And here in this story, what we have is a man who certainly has maybe lacked to hit some of the things on that checklist. One could say that. But regardless of how well he did or didn’t prepare for Jesus, this woman has come with everything that she has now.

00:15:48:23 – 00:16:17:47
Michael Gewecke
The thing against her is she’s a sinner. She’s looked down on by everyone who’s anyone. And yet when she comes, she comes with an incredibly expensive gift. She gives up any sense of dignity or honor for the sake of wiping Jesus’s feet, an extravagant act of hospitality. And imagine if that person comes into your home, likely uninvited, likely stealing everyone’s attention in that moment.

00:16:17:47 – 00:16:47:16
Michael Gewecke
And here, instead of Jesus rebuking this woman and thereby saving the honor of you, the host, no Jesus turns to this woman as an example of how extravagant his grace and love is for the lost and the least. Luke is telling us a story which on the does the surface of it to a reader, if we’re that if we have nothing at stake in this story, it may just seem like another teaching story where Jesus is generous to someone and that’s all well and good.

00:16:47:16 – 00:17:21:02
Michael Gewecke
But I think it’s more pressing than that. I think it has more consequence than that. I think Jesus’s love for those who do not have social stain, for those who are sinners, truly sinners and seen as sinners, Jesus love for them is scandalous and uncomfortable. And this story is illustrating that that has real social ill effect. It makes a difference and an impact in certainly this man’s planned evening.

00:17:21:07 – 00:17:46:40
Michael Gewecke
And as we are Christians reading it, I think it’s intended to be good news for us. Of course, it’s good news for anyone who knows that there are center because Jesus says words are also spoken to us, but that we might be able to see here in verse four, the eight Your sins are forgiven, and then we might find ourself with that chorus of witnesses who ask, Who is this that can forgive sins?

00:17:46:49 – 00:18:18:14
Michael Gewecke
Who is it? Who can say your faith has saved you? Go in peace? And the Christian life is really in one way seen as hearing those words of forgiveness and then going forward in the face that we have been saved that we might live in peace. I mean, I think there’s a beautiful encapsulation of all of our journeys here, but we have to be willing to wade into it a little deeper, maybe like you’re saying, invest in this story itself and allow this story to become for us a place where we have a home.

00:18:18:14 – 00:18:21:24
Michael Gewecke
Because if we do that, this is a challenging story.

00:18:21:29 – 00:18:51:06
Clint Loveall
But I can imagine that Luke loved this story. I mean, you you have a woman who is, by every account, a sinner. She’s in the home of the Pharisee, his who is assumed to not be a sinner, at least not at that in that same sense that there are others there who look down on her and then who question Jesus for proclaiming that her sins are forgiven.

00:18:51:10 – 00:19:29:03
Clint Loveall
I think, you know, the idea that Luke gets to stack all those things together, this this I suspect, was an important this is the kind of story I think he would love because it has all of those details. I mean, yes, this is still a beautiful story. If it’s a sinful man out on the road somewhere. But the way Luke tells this and the way these characters come together and where they come together and how they come together, I think this is a perfect Luke story, and I think he does such a wonderful job presenting it to us.

00:19:29:07 – 00:20:08:34
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, and make no mistake about it, the story we’re going to jump into together tomorrow, chapter eight, verse one are women are also going to make an appearance again. Luke doesn’t these things don’t happen in Luke on acts and this is this story too well written it’s been too well researched and thought through. So Luke is wiling to take us on a journey and if we’re willing to listen closely, to read closely to open our spirits and hearts to the Spirit’s leading in this study, we’re going to continue to discover the masterful way in which Luke is presenting the Jesus huge good news for everyone, including this unlikely cast of characters in this original context.

00:20:08:34 – 00:20:33:39
Michael Gewecke
The people who nobody would have put in these primary roles of really being lauded as the people of faith. These are the people Luke wants us to know that Jesus not only saw, but he spoke to He loved. He actively directs his attention towards and friends. For anyone who’s ever felt like they’ve been last or least, or anyone who has had that label sinner applied to them.

00:20:33:54 – 00:20:36:32
Michael Gewecke
You know, there’s good news in this story for all of us.

00:20:36:32 – 00:21:06:12
Clint Loveall
Yeah. And maybe just one brief word along those lines, Michael. We’ve talked about most of the perspectives in the story, probably as wise to mention this woman. I mean, that the the reality of receiving grace that that this woman finds in Jesus a person who is gracious to her, that the Savior looks at her, the Messiah looks at her and declares your sins are forgiven.

00:21:06:12 – 00:21:30:57
Clint Loveall
And what that means to a person who acknowledges themselves as a sinner, who knows that about themselves, and who who doesn’t deny that there’s a wonderful opportunity for this woman, I, I don’t know what happened to her. It’s interesting that we’ll go from the end of this story to a little bit of a short story about other women tomorrow.

00:21:30:57 – 00:21:54:54
Clint Loveall
I don’t know if if Luke is intentional and I don’t want to read into something that is me instead of him. But I think, you know, this is also a wonderful reminder of the beautiful blessing of receiving grace. And if you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a gracious act, then I think we begin to, you know, also want to resonate.

00:21:54:59 – 00:22:09:00
Clint Loveall
It’s easy to hear the warning of don’t be, Simon. It’s also nice to hear the reminder of rejoice because like the woman, Jesus has declared grace over your life. And I think, you know, we don’t we don’t want to miss that.

00:22:09:01 – 00:22:25:10
Michael Gewecke
That’s a good last word. Thanks for being with us. We will continue our study tomorrow and we certainly wish you the best. Until then, give this video a like if it’s been helpful or informative for you that will help others find it in the future in their own studies and subscribe so you can stick along with us during the journey.

00:22:25:24 – 00:22:27:09
Michael Gewecke
I hope you’re blessed and we will see tomorrow.

00:22:27:12 – 00:22:28:13
Clint Loveall
Thanks for being with us.