How to Know . . .
How to Know You’re Going to Heaven
Luke 7:36-50
This morning we’re doing the first of our “How to Know” Series and the subject is
How to Know You’re Going to Heaven.
The most recent research I could find on the issue of how Americans feel about Heaven is from the Pew Research Center. According to their December, 2015 survey, 72% of Americans still believe in heaven, and 58% still believe there’s a hell.
Americans define heaven as “a place where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded.” And hell is “a place where people who have led bad lives are eternally punished.”
So the consensus among Americans is what it has probably always been: Good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.
However, this morning, we have just read a story about Jesus that would call these assumptions into question. We have two people who had the unique privilege of sharing Jesus’ attention during his earthly ministry at the same time. Exhibit A is a well-respected, highly religious and at least outwardly moral person. Exhibit B is a rather notorious, immoral and sinful woman. At the conclusion of their time together, Jesus gives assurance to only one of these people that they’re going to heaven, and it isn’t the one the general consensus of Americans would assume. It is rather the notoriously immoral and sinful woman who receives Jesus’ assurance of heaven rather than the well-respected, highly religious and moral man.
So that leaves us with some questions. What is it that results in the assurance of heaven? What qualities did this sinful woman display on that day that the religious man didn’t that resulted in her receiving this promise of heaven from the Lord Jesus Christ?
What this story reveals is this: Depend on Jesus' forgiveness, not your goodness, to be sure of Heaven. Depend on Jesus forgiveness, not your goodness, to be sure of Heaven!
As we’ve seen the story begins in verse 36 of Luke 7. There were told that a man of the Pharisees, whom we’ll find is named Simon, has been invited Jesus over for a meal, and Jesus agrees to come.
Now to fully understand what’s going on in this story, it’s helpful to understand exactly what a Pharisee was. The Pharisees were a sect consisting of about 6,000 men in Israel who were concerned about exacting righteousness according to the Law of Moses, and something else called the tradition of the elders—an exacting righteousness that permitted no contact or association with pagan, Gentile or sinful people. The movement had begun several centuries earlier among Jews who were concerned about the concerted efforts of the Greek people who at the time were in control of their land to secularize, paganize or Hellenize their culture. They recognized that God had warned against those things in the Old Testament because it would pollute and corrupt the pure worship of the one true living God that was prescribed by the Word of God.
The problem was that by this time the movement had become extreme. The Pharisees were no longer simply concerned about obeying the 613 commands of the Old Testament. They were now even more concerned about obeying their own traditions, called the traditions of the elders, or rabbinic laws. The tradition of the elders was a man-made attempt to define exactly how the Pharisees were to remain clean and separated from sin. The regulations became pedantic, trivial, ritualistic and ridiculous. For instance, in order to keep from working on the Sabbath, Pharisees defined precisely how many steps could be taken on the Sabbath before it could be defined as work, whether you could gargle or not on the Sabbath and more than that, whether you could eat an egg laid by a hen on the Sabbath. You could only eat an egg which was laid on the Sabbath provided that you killed the hen that laid it!
The other thing that resulted from this excessive attention to the keeping of trivial man-made laws was a sense of self-righteousness and pride. They thought they were earning their way to heaven, and that they were therefore better than other people who didn’t participate in their traditions. Jesus didn’t live by their traditions, because they were man-made teachings, rather than the Word of God, nor did he share their opinion about how men were made right with God. So, it wasn’t long before the Pharisees became hostile toward Jesus and were eventually one of the parties who sought His crucifixion. However, it’s still early in Jesus’ ministry at this point,
and this Pharisee, Simon, was not likely hostile yet, but was just interested in checking out the rumors that he had heard the Jesus was a great prophet, the sensational news that had become a popular opinion in the land at that time according to Luke 7:16.
So Jesus shows up for a meal at the Pharisees home. In ancient Israel, people didn’t sit around a table in charis for the meal. Rather, there was a low table, and as the text tells us, Jesus reclined at table, just as everyone did. That is he laid down on his side, probably his left side, and pillows, with his right hand available to participate in the meal. That meant that his legs and feet would be extended behind him while he was at the table.
And it’s at that point, a very bizarre scene began to take place. An uninvited guest, a woman from the city who had a very bad reputation, had come and she took her place behind Jesus. Now the New American Standard version which I’m reading from doesn’t express this, but Matthew actually uses the word for “Look!” “Behold!” to point out that something really strange is going on. Now this sort of thing happens a couple of times to Jesus in the Gospels, but this is the first time it takes place. This woman has come in and she’s now weeping, weeping so much that her tears are falling on Jesus’ feet. And as her tears begin to wet His feet, she realizes that she apparently has nothing to wipe her tears off his feet but her own hair. So, she does something that most Jewish women never did in public. She lets her hair down and begins to wipe his feet off with her hair.
Now what’s more, she’s not only wiping His feet with her hair, but she’s taken an alabaster jar of perfume, probably pretty expensive stuff, and she’s anointing his feet with this perfume. And she proceeds to begin kissing his feet over and over.
Now I imagine everyone in the room is becoming aware of this bizarre behavior—bizarre not only because of what this woman is doing but also because of what the man, Jesus, is accepting. What’s wrong with her that she’s humbling herself before Jesus in this way? And what’s wrong with Jesus that He’s accepting this kind of behavior in this way? Who does He think He is, after all, God or something?
Jesus’ host, Simon, the Pharisee, is sifting this entire situation through his belief system. And he silently things to himself what we see in verse 39, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” In other words, because of this woman’s sinful past and reputation, if Jesus were really a prophet, He would not have anything to do with her. He would especially not allow her to touch Him, because in the process of touching Him, he would become ceremonially unclean. He would have sin transferred to Him, and He just could not allow that to happen!
Now Simon’s thinking is revealing because it reveals not only what he thinks about the woman, but also what he thinks about himself. She’s a sinner, and he, Simon, is not. Because he has been so careful to follow the tradition of the elders, and to separate himself from any contamination by sin or sinners, he’s above sin, he’s self-righteous and better than she is. And by the way, He is also thinking He’s better than Jesus, because Jesus has allowed Himself to be contaminated by this woman’s sin.
On the other hand, as will become clear in the rest of the story, it’s evident that everyone in the room is aware that the woman is a sinner, including the woman. In fact, as it will become clear, that’s why she’s doing what she’s doing—she recognizes she does not deserve God’s favor or heaven, but that Jesus is able to grant her God’s favor and forgiveness.
Now these are very important factors in understanding why the woman receives Jesus’ assurance of heaven and the man doesn’t. And this is our first clue, our first point this morning. The first step in receive God’s assurance you’re headed to heaven is this—Know you’re a sinner who doesn’t deserve heaven. You’ve got to acknowledge that you also are a sinner who doesn’t deserve heaven. This woman is humbling herself in this way precisely because she acknowledges she is a sinner and doesn’t deserve heaven.
It’s been said that there are only two kinds of people in the world—those who know that they’re sinners and those who don’t. That’ the difference between the Pharisee and the woman. The Pharisee doesn’t know he’s a sinner and thinks he deserves heaven. The woman knows full well she’s a sinner and doesn’t deserve heaven.
The fact is that the Bible consistently tells us throughout that we’re all sinners. It says in Romans 3:9 and 10, “There is none good, there is no one who is good.” And after a description is given of how people sin, in verse 23 it concludes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This is not only a declaration that all of us are sinners, but an explanation of how we have sinned—we fall short of God’s standard, His holy, righteous perfection.
You see, we often want to claim that we are good people. But we define good as determined by comparison to how other people are. That is, we are relatively good compared to other people. But that’s not how God defines good. His standard is absolute perfection. He compares us to Jesus Christ. And in comparison to Jesus, in comparison to absolute perfection, we all fall short of God’s standard for determining who and what is good. For instance, James 2:10 says, “If you keep the whole law and stumble in one point, you have become guilty of all.” So we’ve all broken God’s law, and we all justly deserve condemnation, or hell, as Romans 1:28 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.”
So our first assumption is blown here—that good people go to heaven. How is it contradicted? By the fact, that according to God’s standard, there are no good people, only sinners who need mercy. So this morning if you were thinking you could be good enough for God, as I once did, or that God grades on a curve, and you were going to make it, think again. That is precisely what the Bible, God’s Word, does not say!
Well, Simon has supposed Jesus is not a prophet because he doesn’t know who and what kind of woman that’s touching Him. Jesus is just about to prove that He’s much more than a prophet by demonstrating that He not only knows what kind of woman she is, but He also knows precisely what Simon is thinking. So he beginning in verse 40, he tells the story of a certain moneylender who has two debtors. One owes him 500 denarii, and the other owes him 50. Both are substantial sums of money. A denarius was a day’s wage for a common laborer in those days, and people had a hard time just getting by. So 500 denarii was the equivalent of almost two months of wages, and 50 denarii was the equivalent of about 2 months of wages. But since neither of these men had the money to repay, the moneylender graciously decided to forgive both of their debts.
Then Jesus asks the $64,000 question at the end of verse 42: So which of them will love him, the moneylender more.”
Simon cautiously answers in verse 43: “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And Jesus said to Him, you have judged correctly. Obviously, in Jesus’ mind, in God’s mind, the parable precisely paralleled what could have been the situation between the Pharisee and the sinful women. Both were sinners, both were debtors to God because of their sin, the one perhaps more so than the other. Both needed forgiveness. But the one who had been forgiven more, had loved more.
So it begins to become more obvious here that the woman had had some previous contact with Jesus, and had become convinced that He would, or in fact, already had forgiven her sins. So her actions are those of extreme gratitude and love based on her faith that Jesus had or would forgive her sins.
So Jesus then begins poignantly applying the parable: He now turns toward the woman while He’s still speaking to Simon. Now in those days, if you really wanted to honor a guest, if you wanted to wow a guest with your hospitality, you would provide a servant with water to wash someone’s feet, you would demonstrate your personal affection for them with a kiss, and you would provide oil, perhaps inexpensive olive oil, for him to anoint his head. The Pharisee hadn’t been impolite in not providing these things, but neither had he shown special honor or affection for Jesus by providing these things. But the woman had:
Verse 44: “Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Wow! Talk about a zinger! Talking about getting to the heart of the matter. What Jesus is saying is that this woman had a repentant faith that showed its love for Jesus. The woman knew she was a sinner, but believed Jesus, as God, the only begotten Son of God, could forgive her sins. The Pharisees, in contrast, did not know He was a sinner, did not even believe Jesus was a prophet, and therefore did not seek Jesus’ forgiveness for his sins.
What Jesus is saying is when you believe you’re forgiven by Jesus, you will show it by your love for Jesus.
So our second and vital clue this morning: Have a repentant faith that shows its love for Jesus.
Believe that Jesus can and will forgive your sins, and then show it by your love for Him.
You see, this woman was a changed person. She was a changed person because she realized from hearing Jesus that God gives us a second chance, or in fact, many chances in this life. We all blow it, some much more than others. But Jesus, as the Son of God, is gracious, since he is full of grace and mercy, he’s willing to forgive our sins, if only we will admit to them and turn to Him for forgiveness. And when we realize what a great gift it is to be forgiven by Jesus, then our lives change. Our lives change because we are grateful, thankful for His forgiveness and therefore love him, actively love Him and worship Him because of what He’s done for us.
And what would He do, what did He do so that we can be forgiven. Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” That is Christ died instead of us on the cross. He took hell on the cross for us so we wouldn’t have to take it for eternity. As II Corinthians 5:10 puts it, “He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we might have the righteousness of God.” He traded places for us—He suffered instead of us so that we might be reckoned to have the righteousness of God—so that we would be forgiven of our sins!
Oh what a great gift!
But precisely how do we receive this great gift?
That’s what Jesus zeroes in on in the rest of the story. He then tenderly says to the woman who has so humbled herself before him, “Your sins have been forgiven.” Wow, what great news for a woman who likely had no hope of heaven for so long in her life.
But those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins.” You see, they were likely a bunch of Pharisees, who didn’t believe in Jesus just like Simon didn’t believe in Him, and so they, naturally, questioned Jesus’ authority to forgive sins.
But Jesus, absolutely undaunted by everything He knew the other guests were thinking, both assures the woman He has the authority as God in the flesh to forgive her sins, but more than that points out the very attitude, the very characteristic which had gotten her the assurance of heaven that we all desire.
He says in verse 50, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”
Wow!
Did you notice what it is that got her the promise of going to heaven? Her faith. Not her works. But her faith. It was not that she had led a perfect life, or even a good life. Far from it. It was an attitude, not a work, an attitude of faith, or trust or reliance in Jesus Himself as the God-man, the Son of God, who could and who would forgive her sins.
And that’s our final point this morning. Have faith in Jesus that He forgives you. Have faith, not in yourself, or your good works, or that your good enough for God, but have faith in Jesus, who is gracious, and merciful, who even died on the cross for your sins, and rose again to prove it, that He forgives when you trust in Him as the one who died for you!
And when you do, you too, can go in peace this morning, knowing that you have the promise of heaven, the promise of eternal, the promise that you have obtained the mercy of God despite your sins.
So this morning, perhaps you came wondering how you could know you’re going to heaven. Perhaps you were hoping you were good enough. Perhaps you came trusting in yourself, and what you could do to be good enough. Or perhaps you were already at the point that this woman was, that you knew that you weren’t good enough, that you didn’t deserve heaven, but perhaps there’s hope for you. What we've learned is this: Depend on Jesus' forgiveness, not your goodness, to know you're going to heaven
What this story reveals is that there is hope for you. That hope becomes realized hope when you transfer your trust or your confidence from yourself to gain heaven by your good works, to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.” And you’ve just recognized and believed that today.
And the truth that you’ve realized is this: It’s not your good works, but a repentant faith that loves Jesus that saves. And that’s what you want to express right now. Do so with me in prayer.
Every head bowed, every eye closed, pray this prayer: Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins. I now know I can’t be good enough for you. That I don’t deserve heaven. But beginning today, I’m putting my faith, my trust in Jesus instead of myself, as the one who died for my sins and rose again. And I promise to thank you and love you for the rest of my life for what you have done for me in forgiving me. Now make me the kind of person you want me. In Jesus name. Amen!
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