The Power of Repentance
Luke 7:36-50
February 2, 2014
Morning Service
Consecration means to be set apart fully committed, completely devoted. There is no such thing as a half way commitment to consecration. It is an all or nothing deal and you are either consecrated or you aren’t.
There can be no true consecration without several key things:
1. Conviction
2. Confession
3. Conversion
Conviction Confession Consecration
36 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. 37 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, 38 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. 39 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." 40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. 41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 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?" 43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. 44 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. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." 48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:36-50
Luke creates a comparison between two very different people with two radically different views of Jesus. The first is Simon the Pharisee who invites Jesus to his home for a meal and the second is an unnamed woman who disrupts the meal to anoint Jesus.
Self-righteous attitude toward Jesus
1. Simon invited Jesus out of a self-centered motive
Simon extended no courtesies to Jesus when He entered the home for the meal. There were three simple things that were done to make guests feel welcomed in a person’s home. First water would have been provided for the guests to wash their feet. Second, a kiss of greeting would have been given to every guest. Third, oil would have been provided for the head of the guest of honor.
There was no water for Jesus – The custom of providing water was to wash the dust from the guest’s feet because they had traveled by foot to the meal. This was a simple and common practice. This would have been done when the guests entered the home
There was no kiss for Jesus – The custom was that once a person was seated for the meal the host would formally greet the guests with a kiss on the cheek. It would have been like a handshake today.
There was no oil for Jesus – The guest of honor would have received an additional courtesy. The host would have provided oil for the head of the honored guest for both refreshment of the guest and for a public acknowledgement of the person. Without a doubt Jesus would have been seen as the guest of honor.
Why does Jesus make an issue of all of these things? Simon did absolutely nothing for Jesus. This tells us one of two things. Either Simon did nothing for any of his guests, which would have given Jesus no right to say anything or Simon was doing these things for the other guests and not for Jesus. This seems to be the case.
Let me ask you a question, do you treat Jesus like the guest of honor in your life?
2. Simon felt he was better than the woman
It is clear that Simon saw himself as being better than the woman that entered his house that evening. He saw his own life through the lens of his own personal religious actions and thought himself to be better. After all look at what he thinks of this woman, she is a sinner and he was right but he forgot the fact that he too was a sinner.
If we are honest with ourselves we are a lot more like Simon than we are like the woman. We look at our own religious actions and think that somehow we are better than those who are outside the church.
• I go to church every Sunday
• I help with the various activities at the church
• I don’t smoke, drink or swear
3. Simon relied on religion not forgiveness
Simon was good at being religious. Simon was good at following the strict codes of the Pharisees. Simon was good at looking the part and seeming righteous. Christianity has absolutely nothing to do with being religious but instead has everything to do with enjoying a relationship with Jesus.
Just because you come to church and don’t do the things that we label as being unholy; doesn’t make you any more important to God. There is nothing you can ever do to make God love you any more than He already does and there is nothing you can ever do to make God love you any less than He already does. Every person is important to God and because of that fact every person ought to be important to us.
4. Simon relied on personal behavior not a changed heart
Consecrated attitude toward Jesus
1. The woman sensed a deep personal need
During the time of Jesus, many of the wealthy had an additional section on their homes that was used for entertaining and dining. The dining section of many of the homes was a type of porch that allowed people to watch the meal and listen to the conversations. This practice was used to flaunt important visitors to the home with the rest of the community. It is likely that Simon; the Pharisee had one of these types of homes and would have held his meal with Jesus open for the public to see.
The evening that Jesus eats with Simon would have drawn large crowds because people wanted to hear what Jesus was teaching. The woman hears that Jesus was eating with Simon and makes her way through the crowds. She then does what is totally unexpected; she leaves the crowd and enters the meal. The crowds may have gasped. They may have laughed or they may have tried to stop her. No one knows but she did what no one expected, she entered the home of a Pharisee
2. The woman sought Jesus despite the opinion of others
Make no mistake this woman was far from being on Simon’s guest list because she was a sinner. We are not told why this woman is “labeled” in such a way but it is likely that she was a prostitute. The moment that she stepped through the crowd and entered the dining area all eyes would have been squarely on her. The questions would have raced through everyone’s mind: What is she doing? Why is she here? Who does she think she is coming here? Where did she come from? When can she be gotten rid of?
She would have been the subject of much scorn and gossip. She would have been an outcast in every sense of the word. She would have been unwelcome at Simon’s table that night.
3. The woman showed the genuine nature of repentance
What would have made such a woman risk everything? What would have made her enter the presence of those who would have despised her? The answer is simple; she desperately needed what Jesus was giving to those around Him; the love and acceptance of God.
This woman was unsatisfied in the things that the world around her had to offer. She needed something that money could not buy and something pleasure could not provide. She was searching for something real, she wanted something that made a difference in her life. She falls at the feet of Jesus and openly weeps over the reality of her life. She shows the depth of her heart and the sincerity of her repentance.
One of the biggest reasons that I believe people are not satisfied with their relationship with God is because they refuse to repent. They want to straddle the fence. Keeping one foot in the new life with Christ and one foot in the old life of sin.
4. The woman sacrificed her best for Christ
The woman brought with her an alabaster jar, which was filled with an expensive perfume. Alabaster was the substance that the jar was made of not the contents of the jar and so we are not told what the perfume was made of. Perfume would have been extremely expensive and was likely this woman’s most prized possession.
It would have been a major sacrifice for the woman to give up this perfume but it was one that she was willing to give to honor Jesus.
One of the greatest problems in the church today is that we want to gain the forgiveness of Jesus without giving a heartfelt repentance. We want to get the forgiveness without giving up the sin in our lives. We want to have Jesus and not have to change the way we live.
Conclusion
A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word "repentance." A little boy put up his hand and said, "It is being sorry for your sins." A little girl also raised her hand and said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."
The question we have to answer is simple. Do we really want Christ to set us apart for His use? Do we really want to give Jesus our all?
The reality of our personal need is a deeper walk with Christ and the only way to get that deeper walk is to give something of ourselves away to Christ. There is no way to gain a consecrated life in Christ, than to give yourself wholly to Jesus. Stop holding back and give you whole life to Christ.
