Breaking bread with Jesus . . . 4/23/23
Luke 7:36-50, NLT
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known what kind of woman was touching him, She is a sinner!”
Then Jesus answered his thoughts, “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead Teacher,” Simon replied.
Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people – 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you supposed loved him more after that?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
I tell you, her sins- and they are many – have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only a little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
The Gospel of Luke
1. This is a LETTER written to The ophilus. Luke 1:3
2. The AUTHOR is Luke. Luke1:3
3. The purpose is so that we know the TRUTH about Jesus.
Tension: Who is really the “religious leader”, the Pharisees or Jesus? Question #1: Who are we FOLLOWING? vs 36
Question #2: How much do we LOVE Jesus? vs 37-38
Question #3: Who is Jesus? vs 39-40
Romans 8:27, NLT
And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s will.
1 Samuel 16:7, NLT
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Luke 7:41-50
You didn’t but she did … wash my feet – a custom of the day.
You didn’t but she did … greet me with a kiss – a custom of the day. You didn’t but she did … anoint me with oil – a custom of the day.
Jesus TEACHES Simon, but Jesus TRANSFORMS the woman!
Psalm 56:8, NLT
You keep track of all my sorrows
You have collected all my tears in your bottle You have recorded each one in you book.
What do we choose?
References:
John A. Martin, “Luke,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985)
Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988)
Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208%3A27-29&version=ERV