Message
Have you noticed how easy it is to get offended by the actions of others?
You are watching TV ... it is a really good show (if there is such a thing). Then someone in your family comes along and takes the remote and switches channels.
Hey I was watching that.
How dare you.
And you get all upset because you would never do such a thing to them ... would you!! NOT.
That is just a little example isn’t it?
Everyone else is a bad driver.
Everyone else cheats and lies.
Everyone else behaves badly.
How easy it is to see the short-comings of others – how hard it is to see it in ourselves.
Jesus found Himself in exactly that situation.
Let’s Read Luke 7:36-50
When you first read a passage like this you think, “Isn’t it nice that Simon the Pharisee has invited Jesus over for dinner. Finally the Pharisees are behaving.” But looks can be deceiving – because this is still an example of Pharisees behaving badly.
Normally the host would provide guests with a bowl of water to wash their feet – it was a very necessary custom in a culture where everyone walked on rocky and dusty roads. And Jesus walked all the time so His feet would definitely be dirty.
Normally when a guest entered a home they would be greeted with a welcome kiss. It was a sign of respect and an expression of appreciation that the guest had accepted the invitation.
Often, but not always, oil was put onto the head of a guest. Palestine has a hot climate – and these are the days before deodorant and soap were invented. The oil was not only a sign of welcome, it was used to tone-down the body odour; especially when people were eating together.
That is what usually happens – but not when Jesus comes to Simon’s house.
It was rude and disrespectful.
It was meant put Jesus in His place.
It showed Simon’s true heart.
Jesus was there, but He was being kept at arm’s length.
So here they are having dinner – I’m guessing it isn’t the most relaxed atmosphere. All of the sudden this woman appears.
Which seems strange. Imagine you are having people for dinner and suddenly someone comes in off the street to kiss and oil your guest.
You would have guests coming to your house all the time wouldn’t you.
Hey, go to the Quak’s house – you get dinner and a show.
Very strange ... to us. But not in Jesus’ day. When anyone in town was entertaining an out-of-town VIP – then it would be common for others in the town to come along and stand around the wall of the room listening to the goings-on. It is what they did for entertainment.
So who is this woman? Verse 37 describes her as a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town – this is a round-about way of saying “she was a prostitute”.
Now don’t have in your mind the prostitutes in Hollywood movies … Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” or Nicole Kidman in “Moulin Rouge”. Pretty. Warm-hearted. Able to blend into a crowd. Instead replace that picture with a woman who has caked-on make-up, showy jewellery, syphilitic sores, an unstable personality and a haunting fear of AIDS.
When people see her that is what they have in mind. Which is a problem because the Scripture clearly says:- she had lived a sinful life. It is also clear that she has come in contact with Jesus before. Somewhere along the way she has been confronted by her life-style and has sought repentance. She is acting this way because she knows she is forgiven.
Jesus sees her as she is. Everyone sees her as she was … and they are offended.
The woman all knew her as the prostitute who tempted their husbands and sons.
The men all pretended they didn’t know her ... but they knew.
That’s all anyone can see – even though she is no longer that person – and they can’t forget. Which helps us to understand the true embarrassment and scandal of this scene.
She is kissing Jesus’ feet and pouring perfume all over them. Don’t picture her all squashed up under a table with feet all around her. They didn’t sit at tables like we do. They reclined on lounges around a table. So everything that is very visible.
She is weeping over the feet of Jesus and using her unbound hair to dry them. Unbound hair – how scandalous. Having loose hair is the cultural equivalent of walking into church topless.
They are all embarrassed for Jesus because they all think He doesn’t know what she was like. She is dressed nicely now and looks like a decent member of society. But, Oh Dear, look at her. Look at what she is doing to Jesus. It is so indecent and Jesus has no idea. Simon thoughts say it all If this man were a prophet He would know who was touching Him ... a sinner. A sinner. That is all anyone sees, and they are all offended
It’s hard escaping your past isn’t it.
If you drank to excess then you are always known as “an alcoholic”.
If your marriage breaks up then you are always known “a divorcee”.
If you lived with your girlfriend then you always known as someone who “lived in sin”.
If you experimented with substances then you are always someone who “did drugs”.
The list goes on and on doesn’t it.
So often we are defined by what we were.
So often we are put in a box because of what we did.
The people around us do it. Let’s be honest we even do it to ourselves.
How long we carry the guilt and the shame.
How long we allow others, and accept that others, define us that way.
We find it difficult to escape our past.
We do, but Jesus doesn’t.
As Jesus looks to His feet He doesn’t see a prostitute.
He sees someone who is holy and blameless.
He sees a new creation ... the old has gone the new has come.
He sees a family member ... a child of God.
He sees her as she is.
Tradition tells us that Abraham Lincoln went to a slave auction, and he noticed a black woman who was about to be auctioned off. So he entered the bidding. The bidding went back and forth until finally he won, paid the price and purchased her. They brought her over to him, and he instructed them to take the shackles off her wrists and ankles. Then he said to her, "You are free to go."
The woman looked at him and said, "You mean that I don't have to go home with you?". He said, "No, you don't."
She said, "You mean that I don't have to do what you tell me to do, or say what you tell me to say?". "That's right."
“You mean I don't have to be your slave, I don't have to put up with your whims and your fancies?". He said, "No, you don't. I paid the price for you, and so I can now set you free."
At that the woman bowed her head, and tears started coursing down her cheeks. She looked up at Abraham Lincoln and said, "Then I guess I'll go with you."
That’s what grace does … it makes us act in gratitude. This woman knows how loved she is. She is overwhelmed by forgiveness and acceptance.
From her position at Jesus' feet, she washes and dries them with tears and hair – the tears are "water from her heart" and she is willing to do the most menial task with joy.
From her position at Jesus' feet she constantly kisses them – as a sign of respect for His love to her.
From her position at Jesus' feet she anoints them with expensive perfume – gratitude overflows from her heart.
Everyone is offended. Because they forget. They forget who they are. Jesus reminds them with a little parable about Two men owed money to a certain moneylender.
Listen carefully. There are two people in debt.
One owes more. One owes less. Both cannot pay.
Whether you owe a little or a lot, if you can’t pay you are still stuck aren’t you.
Here the money-lender is God. Everybody owes God everything.
Now there are some people who think they only owe God a little bit. They are the religious. They work on being right. They want to serve. They are faithful. They think that they don’t owe God too much because they have done so much good. Lots of people are like that aren’t they. You ask them why God should let them into heaven and they will say, “I’ve been good”.
Then there are others. They are rebellious. They don't care. Their life has been one disappointment after another. They are self-centred and money-hungry. They do drugs and drink too much. They have let down their family and their friends. They ride motorbikes in gangs and cause all sorts of havoc. They owe God a ton.
We categorise people don’t we – usually our category for ourselves is pretty good. Simon the Pharisee did it. He imagines that when he gets to heaven God is going to come over to Him and say, “Hey Simon, thanks for making my job so much easier”. And he will get a medal, “I almost made it to heaven by myself.”
That is how we think sometimes. Some people, Jesus just needs to give a little nudge. Others ... well it takes a crane. But what we forget is one simple fact. Everyone owes God something ... and no-one can pay. If you can’t pay, no matter how big the amount is, well you are still stuck aren’t you. A lot or a little we are all in the same boat.
It doesn’t matter who you are.
Or what your background is.
Or what you are like today.
A debt is still a debt. And because that is the case there is only one exit from the debt … it is to trust in the payment made by Jesus.
He extinguished death.
He swallowed it alive.
He burst forth from the tomb, and He said grace wins.
We can’t pay the debt, so Jesus does. Jesus the prophet.
You see that is the issue here isn’t it.
Simon says, If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is …
There are questions about the ability of Jesus – but we can have no doubts.
It was the job of all prophets to warn God’s people about the consequences of their sin. Jesus didn’t just warn about the consequences of sin, He went to the cross to deal with the consequences of sin. Taking them to the grave and burying them from God’s sight forever.
It was the job of all prophets to remind the people of God’s laws and commands. Jesus didn’t just remind people about God’s law, He fulfilled God’s law for us. He remained totally obedient to the Father.
It was the job of all prophets to encourage God’s people to turn back to God. Jesus doesn't just encourage us to turn back to God, Jesus drags us into the family of God. He is not satisfied to leave us to our own devises, for on our own we would stray away. Rather Jesus takes us by the hand and says, “You are mine”.
What does all that mean for us?
We will never fully appreciate the grace that God has shown us until we remember what it cost for us to be forgiven. At Simon’s dinner party there are two sorts of people.
One, a woman, who has taken her sin seriously.
One, Simon the Pharisee, who is too busy finding the sin of others that he cannot see his own guilt.
Both have a debt.
If I’ve been promiscuous and come loaded with sexual guilt over the people I’ve hurt by my sexual self-indulgence:- I have a debt and it cost the Cross. If I have been upright and moral and pure and always tried to do my best:- I still have a debt and it cost the Cross just the same.
If I have been rebellious and walked a path of deceit and lies:- I have a debt and it costs the Cross. If I am a good person who is honest and generous and an upstanding member in the community:- I have a debt and it still costs the Cross just the same.
Do you see it? Do you understand it? When I have a debt I can’t afford to be offended by the debts of others. In the end we are both in the same boat and Jesus has bailed us out.
That is grace.
Sin forgiven.
Faith which saves.
Peace.
Let that be the motive which drives your gratitude to Jesus.
Prayer
