Discovery: Labels Lie
Luke 7:36-50
Where do you see yourself in this passage?
1. Too many times we see ourselves like Simon the Pharisee: labeling others
2. Too many times, we see ourselves like the woman: labeled by others
3. Too few times we see ourselves like Jesus: seeing self and others correctly.
Begin reading passage Luke 7:36-60
comments: v.36 (on screen) reclined at table (davinci’s “last supper”(pic) is absolutely incorrect; table 18” high with them laying on side (pic) (act out); the Pharisee wanted to size up this Jesus for Himself; the Pharisee wasn’t going to grill steaks; he was going to grill Jesus.
v.37 (on screen) Some have identified this woman as Mary Magdalene, but in all likelihood that was not the case. Luke doesn’t identify WHO she is, only what she is known for. In small towns, everybody knows your dirty laundry, right? This woman had a rough past; in all likelihood she had been sexually promiscuous.
alabaster jar of fragrant oil Probably this woman had lots of fragrances since the prostitute would wear a generous amount of it and also she would sprinkle it on her bed before each customer.
v.38 (on screen) Oil was normally applied to the head as a sign of respect, but here the woman applies it, not to the head of Jesus, but to His feet.
hair It was a disgrace for a woman to let down her hair in public; usually only prostitutes did so. So this woman has barges in to a private dinner, with her hair down and begins anoint His feet with her tears and perfume.
v.39 (on screen) Now this religious leader has a chance to respond to this beautiful picture. But he doesn’t see it as beautiful, but reprehensible.
v.40 (on screen) this is not Simon Peter, the disciple; this is a Pharisee named Simon.
Now Jesus tells a brief parable. Remember a parable comes from two Greek words: (build) para: alongside; ballo: to throw down; a story thrown down next to a truth to illustrate the truth.
vv.41-42 (on screen) a denarii was about a days wages; these were significant debts. 50 denarii would be about 10 weeks of your annual salary. 500 denarii would be 2 years of your annual salary.
Jesus turns the spotlight off the woman and on to the Pharisee.
vv.43-44 (on screen) Turning to the woman, He said to Simon Jesus is talking to Simon, but who is He looking at? The woman. I think Jesus wanted Simon to feel ignored, and He wanted the woman to see the love and compassion in His eyes.
No water for my feet In the day where the common man had no transportation but his feet, and if he had any kind of footwear, it was just a pair of sandals, and when you walked, you walked on the same roads and paths that livestock walked, you can imagine the…stuff that would be on your feet. So if you came to someone’s house, the first thing the host would do would be to get your feet washed; either the host would do it, or one of the children, or if he was well to do, one of the servants. You wouldn’t want that stuff in your house, and given that as you ate dinner, those feet were going to be right behind you. Yuk!
vv.45-46(on screen) The 2nd thing you would do as a host is to kiss the person on each cheek as a sign of welcome and hospitality—try it!! The 3rd thing you would do is put a little oil on their head as a sign of respect.
vv.47-49 (on screen) The fools missed what Jesus was saying to them. Instead they got all hot and bothered about Jesus forgiving her sin.
v.50 (on screen)
Where do you see yourself in this passage? Only 3 characters mentioned here: Simon the Pharisee. The unidentified woman. And Jesus. Where do you see yourself in this passage?
1. Too many times we see ourselves like Simon the Pharisee: labeling others
How did Simon see this woman? Because he labeled her as a sinner, as a prostitute, he could not see that she was more than his label: she was an entire person, body-soul-spirit. He couldn’t see that she was absolutely broken for her sin. He couldn’t see that she was absolutely repentant of her past. He couldn’t see that this woman was willing to risk scathing criticism and judgment just to show gratitude to our Savior.
We are so quick to label people, aren’t we?
#blacklivesmatter or #alllivesmatter or #bluelivesmatter Political pollsters break us into categories like “soccer moms,” “highly educated white women,” “African-American, ‘millenials,” “boomers”, “the Latino vote.” “working class” “blue collar/white collar” educated/uneducated. “I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
The problem with labeling is that it blinds us from seeing the whole person. We might label someone as overweight, but when we do that we automatically limit our vision of an entire person, body-soul-spirit by only one dimension. We might label someone as unattractive, but when we do that we automatically limit our vision of an entire person, body-soul-spirit by only one dimension. We might label someone as a slow learner, but when we do, we automatically limit our vision of an entire person, body-soul-spirit by only one dimension. We do this repeatedly, consistently, and shamefully.
One study put a young girl in a low income neighborhood, playing. Videoed that. Then they put her in a room and asked her questions, videoing her responses. Took the same girl and put her in an upscale neighborhood and then spliced in the part where they asked her questions and she gave her answers. Then they showed the first video to one audience and the 2nd video to another audience. The researches then asked the viewers to answer some questions that would determine how intelligent the girl was. Guess what? The 1st audience tabbed the little girl slower and less intelligent; the 2nd audience tabbed her significantly quicker and more intelligent.
Monica Lewinsky is a name known by many. She is the former White House intern who had a scandalous affair with President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s. Since then, Lewinsky has lived in the shadow of public shame. I’m ashamed of what I thought of her; how I labeled her. In a recent Newsweek article, she said, Lewinsky said, “I felt like every layer of my skin and my identity were ripped off of me in ’98 and ’99…It’s a skinning of sorts. You feel incredibly raw and frightened. But I also feel like the shame sticks to you like tar.”
Too many times we see ourselves like Simon the Pharisee, don’t we?
2. Too many times, we see ourselves like the woman: labeled by others
The woman in this passage had conducted herself in a way that opened her up to the label Simon put on her. We don’t know how long she had been involved in this alternate lifestyle, but it was long enough for the people in this town to label her.
Another problem with labels is that we begin to believe them about ourselves. And when we believe the label, we unfortunately begin to act out that label; we begin to see ourselves as they see us.
When I was a teenager, my hair turned curly about age 14. This was a time when everyone was wearing Beatle haircuts (pic), but my hair was curly (pic). My classmates called me “willy wirehead”. There’s a label. I also got acne really bad, which left scars. A few of my classmates called me “scarface”. I found that I could gain attention by being funny. So I became the class clown. When I graduated, people wrote in my highschool yearbook things like….
Now, most of them weren’t trying to be mean. But that’s how I began to see my entire person: a scar faced, wire headed misfit that would never amount to anything.
A few years ago, Coca Cola embarked on a campaign where they put names on the cans and bottles. This ad ran in Indonesia—watch the subtitles at the bottom of the screens . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t-4IIPq0cM
3. Too few times we see ourselves like Jesus: seeing self and others correctly.
I know that sounds odd: see ourselves like Jesus. But as Christ-followers, our one goal and desire should be to be like Jesus.
Jesus didn’t accept the labels the Pharisees were putting on Him. They were incensed that He would forgive this woman: “Who is this man who even forgives sins?” But He didn’t let their incorrect view altar who He really was: Creator and Redeemer of sinners
And they didn’t see themselves correctly. They saw themselves as better than others. They couldn’t see their own sin; their own awfulness. Funny how we see other’s sins more clearly than our own; we see other’s sins as worse than our own.
And they didn’t see this woman correctly. They didn’t see her as a person deeply repentant and overcome by her brokenness and overcome by the grace of God.
Jesus sees the repentant sinner as a beautiful person and responds with mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
How do you look at yourself? Are you believing the lies of the label? How are you seeing others? Are you labeling them and blinding yourself to the beautiful creature that God has placed in your path?
I challenged you a few weeks ago to read Ephesians 1 and Romans 8 every day for 30 days. If you have been doing that, you are beginning to see yourself as God sees you: valuable enough to be chased after and chosen, sought and saved, adored and adopted, enriched with wealth beyond measure in this life and the life to come. A sinner saved by grace, so that in Christ you are not condemned, but set free from the penalty of your sin. A sinner the object of God’s love so that nothing could EVER separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This is how God sees you if you are in Christ and Christ is in you.
Believe the labels. Believe the lies. Or believe the love. It’s your choice.
Closing illustration
