Parables of Jesus
Become an Exhibitionist
Luke 7:36-50 (41-43)
April 19, 2009
We’re beginning a new series on the parables of Jesus. We will look at several parables over the next several weeks to try to understand how Jesus was using these parables to teach kingdom principles and challenge common misperceptions of the day. As these stories are often used as illustrations and kind of indirect ways to get people thinking, it will be important that we view these stories within their contexts. In other words we need to try and understand how Jesus was each particular story.
This is important because it can be real easy to misuse the parables and even manipulate the texts to draw meaning from them that would be quite foreign to what Jesus was trying to say. It can then lead to all kinds of abuses.
For example, some of Jesus’ parables were told as allegories such as the seed and the sower where Jesus explains that the different seeds that sprout up represent different types of responses to the gospel. This is an allegory. The good seed represents those that hear and put into practice the kingdom message bringing forth good fruit. However, some try to assign meaning to every little detail in the story (which Jesus did not indicate) and then some have tried to allegorize every parable of Jesus, which again Jesus did not always intend. Therefore it can lead to misuse and even abuse the very words of Jesus.
Speaking of abuse… have you seen those energy drinks that are out there. This may not always hold true but it seems to me that these often are marketed to promote the potential abuse of caffeine. Caffeine isn’t that bad, you may say. It isn’t like a narcotic. But I wonder if we abuse something less addictive like caffeine doesn’t set in motion the idea that I can handle this so I can handle other perhaps even more damaging things.
Have you seen them? Five hour energy drinks. Twice as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. I guess the root of these goes back to Jolt. Anyone remember that? Of course these drinks are marketed with the express intent to give the consumer an instant fix. Have you seen them? What are some of them? Red bull. Amp. There’s one get amped up. Then there is Full Throttle. What a name! Full throttle.
Obviously these are geared toward a younger crowd. Full Throttle. I’m getting old. I admit it. I’m forty-one. I don’t need to go full throttle, OK? The last thing that I need is a drink that makes me go full throttle. I’m not sure that I even have a full throttle in me. Somewhere along the line, God must have installed a governor in me because I don’t go full throttle. And the last thing that I need is this instant jolt of sugar and caffeine. If anything, it would make me go full throttle for the bathroom. In fact, I was thinking about suing this company for misrepresentation because if anything it should be called Crash & Burn. That’s what will happen if I drink it. I’ll probably go into overload and just stare at the wall.
I probably would have loved it at 18. Except at 18, I didn’t need that much energy because I already had plenty. Do you know what I used to eat for breakfast? Two chocolate poptarts and a can of Pepsi. For two hours, I was flying and then… the bottom falls out. I remember asking the doctor about the shakes that I would get mid-morning and bottoming out. When I told him what I ate, he just looked at me with this classic, “Are you stupid?” look. Duuuhhh. “Uuhhh,” he said, “don’t eat that kind of breakfast.”
Anyway, let’s read Luke 7. The parable Jesus tells is located in verse 41-43 and is response to what is happening at Simon the Pharisee’s house.
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
So the parable the Jesus tells is about two people who owe money. One owes almost two years wages (the standard wage was about 1 denarius per day) and the other owes almost two months wages. Both are forgiven.
Jesus is telling this story as a teaching tool to reveal to Simon some problems with his religious practices. In the story Jesus is clearly indicating that Simon is like the person who owed the lessor amount while the woman kissing Jesus’ feet owed a great amount. The point: the woman loves greatly because she has been forgiven greatly.
Now Simon has a point. This woman although not specifically pointed out as a prostitute very likely was one. She was kissing Jesus’ feet at the dinner table, no less. Ritual purity especially with meals was a huge issue for Pharisees. Her hair was down, which could indicate a woman of questionable character. And she was anointing his feet with perfume. In the culture of the day, this could have been viewed as a very, very erotic situation. This was sort of like a lap dance. If you don’t know what that is, good. Just be assured, this woman was acting inappropriately. It would have been like a woman that was wearing a bikini coming down and sitting in Mark’s lap right in the middle of the service. I don’t think Terry would be the only one who would be having a problem with that.
Hugely inappropriate except for a ginormous thing: she was crying. She was broken. Her tears are a clear indication that something else is happening here.
And Jesus confirms it by his final proclamation, “Your faith has saved; go in peace.”
Now I will point out something regarding a similar story found in the other gospels. This other story found in all three other gospels was most likely a different woman and a different situation as the other story takes place during the Passover week immediately before Jesus would die and be buried before the body could be properly anointed and prepared for burial. This is most likely a completely different story.
This woman was so overwhelmed by God’s grace and the forgiveness of Jesus that she offers her life and worship and perhaps the only and greatest treasure that she has, this alabaster jar of perfumed oil. This oil was probably something that she had been saving for her own burial.
Through this parable, Jesus challenges Simon to change his attitude and perspective. Jesus challenges him to change his religious belief system and therefore his religious practices. While Simon is so concerned with what he perceives to be Jesus’ hypocrisy, Jesus reverses the tables to point out the inconsistencies of Simon’s practices that reveal Simon’s own hypocrisy. We don’t know how Simon reacted. But we can guess.
I’ve done my share of pointing out other people’s hypocritical beliefs and practices. Although I’m sure that I don’t have the tact of Jesus, I’ve experienced anger, disappointment, and even been completely misunderstood. Sometimes people even try to point that hypocrisy in others just so they don’t have to look at themselves. Other times, people refuse to acknowledge their own inconsistencies choosing to suggest that I don’t measure up to “their high standards.”
So what do we gather here.
Gathering from Jesus
• We need the eyes of Jesus.
Jesus sees straight to our hearts. Jesus saw through the apparent violation of social conduct. He saw a woman that was desperate for God and a fresh start. Simon couldn’t get past his own perceptions and even misperceptions about what was really happening.
We do this all the time. I would honestly say that probably one of the first things that would have crossed my mind would have been wondering if this woman was really serious. Or was she just putting on some show? So many people in our culture just want attention that at times, I can be rather cynical (like Simon who said, “If he really were a prophet, then he would know who this woman was.”). Without the eyes of Jesus, we will always be like Simon. Without the fullness of God’s Spirit in us that helps us see with the eyes of God and hear with the ears of Jesus, we fall short. Really, really short.
This leads me to a second idea:
• Disdain and attitudes of superiority have no place in God’s church.
The root of which is arrogance and pride. Arrogance leads to disdain. “I’m better than them. At least I’m not that bad. I would never act that way. I would never allow my family to do that.” Arrogance leads to disdain. Disdain to strife. Disdain and attitudes of superiority cause us to judge others and polarize people. It creates division. Strife then leads to violence. Sure, in the extreme, perhaps to physical violence but most likely through gossip and slander (violent actions that Paul equates to the same as murder). Resentments. Bitterness. Even the violence of condemnation and calling people demon possessed.
• Faith without love, isn’t faith at all.
Simon loves little. He can’t get past what he perceives and judges to be completely inappropriate. He has already judged Jesus by failing to provide basic practices of hospitality. No water for Jesus to wash off his feet. No standard greeting of a kiss. It would be like you going to someone’s house for a meal but they didn’t greet you or shake your hand and then told you that they were going to wash their hands for dinner but that you should just sit down and wait.
Here is the question for us to reflect on: Is the one who loves not at all, forgiven at all? Simon shows almost know evidence of love for Jesus or this woman. He shows contempt and disdain. Even though Jesus gives Simon the benefit of the doubt by indicating that he at least has been forgiven little, I can’t help but wonder if Simon was really ever forgiven at all.
How about you? What evidence of love is there in your life? I mean love not just of your family but of those who are basically unlovable? What evidence of love do you exhibit of loving those who might offend your sensibilities?
If anything, Jesus seems to be telling his followers to be “exhibitionists.” Have you never thought of yourself that way? This woman was definitely an “exhibitionist.” Her hair was down. She poured out her tears. She was broken and she didn’t care who saw her. She didn’t care if she was misunderstood. She didn’t care what anybody thought except for Jesus and she was determined to show Jesus the gratitude and love that was literally overflowing from her heart.
Of course this is the tough thing. We need to separate ourselves from sinful actions but we can’t allow ourselves to separate ourselves from people. I think if we were honest most of us can identify with Simon and the dilemma. We may desire to be like Jesus but it is all too easy to be Simon.
One last thing that gets to the heart of the parable itself:
• Grace demands a response.
Yes, I mean demands. Grace demands that we respond in action. It isn’t optional. An experience of grace demands that we respond with love to Jesus and to all those who come to be cleansed just like we have come. We are no different. We are no better. We must love.
So often, it seems like people and even churches want grace without responsibility. With forgiveness comes a responsibility to be forgiving. Our response comes through the ability to confess our love to Jesus and confess our shortcomings, our flaws, and our sins. It is the response to grace that seeks to be accountable to others as we attempt to live out this love that God puts in our hearts. The cancellation of debts (of our debts) is pure grace that shows itself by loving others and being a lover of truth. It means responding to God’s grace by learning to love all the ways of God that brings fullness of God’s truth and God’s life into our lives.
This response loves even to the point of admitting when were wrong and seeking to set things right again through restitution and making amends. I have been convinced of this: the closer that I draw to my Lord, the more I see my own inadequacies, flaws, and sins. Sometimes I see things that I never saw before or I see them in such a way that I didn’t realize was very evident but now have become in God’s light such a glaring defect. Honestly, fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have identified too much with Simon but now as I have grown so much closer to my Lord than I was back then, I suddenly see Simon in myself much more than I really am comfortable seeing. But you know the result? I love Jesus all that much more and I am determined that I will honor the challenge that Jesus gives me through this parable to love others and seek to see people through the eyes of Jesus. I realize how much more God has forgiven me than I have ever realized before and that fills my heart with so much gratitude that words can’t even express.
How about it? Have you been forgiven much? Are you loving much? If not then perhaps you do have much more for God to forgive than you ever were willing to admit. If we respond with love and in faith, then whether we see ourselves as Simon or this woman, Jesus gives us the same words, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Grace demands your response. Will you respond in love to God’s limitless grace? That’s what it means to become an exhibitionist of God’s grace.
