Palm Sunday commemorates that day in Jesus life where Jesus enters Jerusalem on a colt. Mark chapter 11 says, “And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"”
Last time we looked at that sad day when Judas betrayed Jesus and handed Him over to a detachment of Roman guards and temple officers. That was also the day when Peter denied knowing Jesus on three occasions.
Today I would like to take you to another event that took place during this time and connect it with a similar event that took place earlier in Jesus’ ministry on earth.
The Bible says in Matthew chapter 26:7-13 that when Jesus was in Bethany, “a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.
But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? "For this fragrant oil might have been sold for much and given to the poor." But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me. “For you have the poor with you always, but Me you do not have always. "For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her."”
Now let’s turn to Luke chapter seven where we find a similar occurrence.
Luke 7:37 …behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,
Luke 7:38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
Luke’s account is not to be confused with the anointing at Bethany recorded in Matthew 26. In Luke’s text, the man is Simon the Pharisee. At Bethany it was Simon the Leper. Simon was a common name in Palestine. The New Testament mentions nine men with this name. Josephus mentions twenty. There could have been hundreds, perhaps thousands by that name in Palestine. Thus, the fact that the name Simon is found in both stories does not mean they are the same. In our text found in Luke 7, the woman is a sinful woman, at Bethany (Matthew 26) it was Mary the sister of Lazarus, a godly woman.
Jesus was invited to dinner by a Pharisee when a woman, who was considered a wicked sinner, came uninvited, to Christ for forgiveness of her sins (vs. 48).
Luke 7:37 …behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,
Now how in the world did this sinful woman, a prostitute most commentators say, get into the home of a religious Pharisee? The customs of the day will help us to answer this question.
Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher of the Jews. When a rabbi was at a meal, anyone could freely come. When this woman heard that Rabbi Jesus was invited as a guest to the Pharisee’s house, she high-tailed it over there and walked in with an alabaster flask of fragrant oil.
Luke 7:38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
Luke says, “she stood at his feet behind Him weeping.” Now, don’t make the mistake of visualizing this as a group of people at the dining table of the typical American/western family.
In the Middle East, the guest did not sit with his feet under the table as we do, but would recline on low couches and rest on his left elbow with his feet stretched back behind him. This is how the Scripture could recount a woman standing behind Jesus at His feet.
Now coming to Jesus, the woman did four things at the feet of Jesus. According to Luke 7:38 she (1) washed His feet, (2) wiped His feet, (3) kissed His feet, and (4) anointed His feet.
She washed His feet.
In the East, when you invited someone to your home, the host would normally do three things:
greet the guest with a kiss
have his feet washed
at times anoint his head with oil.
To not do this, you would be considered rude.
Simon the Pharisee did not wash Christ’s feet as was the honorable custom but this woman washed His feet with her tears. This spoke of three things:
her contrition
her humility
her desire to honor the Savior.
She was contrite. She was sorrowful over her sin and expressed her remorse and desire for forgiveness.
She was also humble. Her humility prompted her to do something that was customary for slaves to do.
She honored the Savior. He was the guest of this house but the host of the house was too proud to wash the Lord’s feet.
In John chapter 13 Jesus, the God of Creation, the King of kings and Lord of lords washes His disciple’s feet. Remember Peter’s objection, “You shall never wash my feet!” and the Lord’s explanation?
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” s. 14-15)
Now Jesus wasn’t saying that the church should make foot washing a ritual an ordinance. He is letting us know that there is no service too extensive, no ministry too costly, or display of love too humiliating to be performed for another of God's children.
You may not be willing to wash someone’s feet but you could:
* Pick someone up for church.
* Carry an infirmed or shut-in brother or sister a meal
* Baby sit a single mom’s child or children
* Visit someone in the hospital.
* Cut the grass for a widow.
* Take a sister who has no transportation to the supermarket.
When we serve one another, we are serving Him. When we love one another and prove it by our deeds we are letting people know that we are followers of Jesus Christ. (John 13:34-35)
Not only did this woman wash Jesus’ feet, she wiped His feet.
She wiped His feet.
The Bible says, “She wiped His feet with the hairs of her head.”
In a booklet marketed to seniors, I found an article with the title, “Women Confess...They Would Rather Gain Fifteen Pounds Than Lose Their Hair. It goes on to say, “A woman's hair is often viewed as an extension of her personality. In fact, a nationwide survey, conducted by Women's Rogaine, reveals that half of all women feel that their hair is their most attractive feature.”
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:15 that a woman’s hair is “her glory.” It distinguishes her in many respects from the male population and she gets a reasonable amount of esteem from it.
In using her hair to wash and wipe the feet of Jesus, this woman, this prostitute, sacrificed her glory to honor the Savior!
Imagine coming out of the hair salon, just getting your hair done and seeing Jesus, you bow before Him in humility and contrition and with your tears, you wash His feet and wipe them with your freshly-styled hair.
Now the lesson here is not that we must make our hair a mess to honor Christ, but rather that we must be willing to sacrifice what is dear to us…our own glory…in order to honor Him.
If truth be told…some of us spend more on hair care than the amount we give as an offering to the Lord.
Some of us sacrifice more on detailing our cars and the designer clothes we wear than what we give to the Lord’s concerns. These things cater to our own glory—where this woman sacrificed her own glory in order to honor the Lord Jesus Christ.
She kissed His feet
It doesn’t take an extensive search of your Bible dictionary to find out what is going on here. This woman kissed the feet of Jesus. She washed and then she kissed.
What does a kiss represent? It reflects the love the woman had for Christ who forgave her sins.
In Luke 7:39 Simon the Pharisee says to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
Jesus, who knew the thoughts of all men, answers Simon and says, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Simon responds, "Teacher, say it.”
Jesus begins to tell a story, “There was a certain creditor who had two people who owed him some money. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.”
Jesus says to Simon the Pharisee, “Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answers, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."
Then Jesus turns to the woman and says to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."
Then Jesus says to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."
Do you remember when you first believed?
Do you remember the day when you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?
Do you remember when you first experienced the release that came when that “monkey on your back” was cut loose and that burden was rolled away?
Perhaps some of us have never sinned. You have never done anything wrong. You have never disobeyed any of the laws of God.
This woman loved much because she was forgiven much. Her kiss and continued kissing of Jesus’ feet was a reflection of this great love she had for Him who had forgiven her much.
Her love for Jesus motivated her to do what she was doing—she served much, she gave much because she was given much.
Your service to Jesus is a reflection of your love for Jesus.
Your love for Jesus is a response to your forgiveness by Jesus.
This woman could have easily come into Simon’s house and lifted up her hands in praise and said, “I love you Jesus.” She could have easily said, “I praise and adore you Jesus.” But she got down on her knees and washed, wiped and kissed His feet.
She anointed His feet.
Luke 7:38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.
The Bible says this woman came into Simon the Pharisee’s house carrying an alabaster vial of perfume. The KJV says she carried a “box” but it was more like a flask. The NIV says it was a “jar.”
Some say it was a long-necked flask of fine translucent material, used for storing perfume. Others say it was a jar made of soft stone that had the capacity to preserve ointment and perfumes.
Whatever the container was made of, we need to focus on what was in it.
Luke tells us it contained fragrant oil.
Matthew describes the alabaster flask that Mary of Bethany used as containing a very costly fragrant oil.
In John’s account, Mary’s oil was described as a very costly oil of spikenard and was poured over both the head and feet of Jesus.
John says it was a pound…which in that area was about 12 oz. or .7 liters. Spikenard was an expensive perfume made from an herb from northern India.
The amount used by Mary was worth three hundred denarii. We know this because when Mary poured the oil over Jesus the crooked Judas Iscariot who would later betray Jesus, said, “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
Judas and everyone else knew that three hundred denarii was a lot of money. It was worth approximately what a laborer would earn in one year.
So back in Luke 7 we can conclude that the woman who washed, wiped, kissed and anointed the feet of Jesus, was taking some very expensive oil from her alabaster flask and pouring it over Christ’s feet!
Notice what Jesus says about her actions. Jesus commends this woman for her service to Him: In Luke 7:46 He says to Simon this host, “You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.”
How many of us would be as guilty as Simon? Yes, he had Jesus in his house but that was just a front.
Perhaps he was just trying to make himself look popular. This was during the time when the multitudes were following Jesus. The Sanhedrin were getting nervous about Jesus but had not yet decided that Jesus was a menace and must be killed.
Jesus was popular; He was a celebrity. He attracted crowds. Simon invited Jesus over because he wanted to exploit Jesus' popularity.
Could it be that today in our churches we have many who just want to exploit Jesus’ popularity?
They wear crosses around their neck.
They put the fish decal or Jesus bumper stickers on their cars.
They load religious screen-savers on their computer and over load inboxes with their religious chain emails.
In their homes are Christian artworks and figurines.
But Jesus says to Simon, “You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.”
I don’t know about you but I want Jesus to know that He means more to me than just the time, effort and money it takes me to put a bumper sticker on my car, a plague on my wall or a cross around my neck.
I show Him that I love Him when I give my 10% right off the top. Because He says, “Where my treasure is, there will my heart be also.”
I show Him that I love Him with my time. I sacrifice my time for Him and I did this long before the ministry became my full time job.
We show Jesus that we love Him when we offer Him our time, treasure, talents and temple. If you and I love Christ as we say we do, we will demonstrate that love with great sacrifice.
In 2 Samuel, King David sinned against the Lord when he numbered the people against the Lord’s command. In judgment, God sent a plague and began killing the subjects of David.
David confessed his sin to God and the prophet Gad told David to “go and erect an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went to Araunah and sought to purchase the plot of land on which to erect the altar with hopes that the plague would be withdrawn.
Araunah says to David, “Take whatever you want…here are some ox and here is some wood. All these things I give to you O king. May the LORD you God accept you.”
David says to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing."
The Bible says, “So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver, offered the burnt offerings and peace offerings and the LORD heeded his prayers and the plague was withdrawn from Israel.”
Some of God’s people may be experiencing some “plagues” in their lives because they have not made an offering to the Lord in quite some time. Others may be experiencing plagues because they have made offerings to the Lord but these offerings have cost them nothing.
Mal 3:8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
Mal 3:11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts;
Mal 3:12 "And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land," Says the LORD of hosts.
This woman offered her best perfume—oil worth a year of wages. This tells us that if you love Christ you will give plenty. She loved much because she was forgiven much.
Love is the great motivator of giving—God so loved the world that He gave (John 3:16).
It was “love” that moved God to give His one and only Son to die for the sins of mankind.
Someone has said that “Lack of love for Christ is why some people are so poor at giving at church.”
This woman loved the Lord Jesus. She adored the Lord Jesus. She worshipped the Lord Jesus---all the things we say. But she went a significant step further…she proved her love by giving much of herself to the Savior.
Now coming to Jesus, the woman did four things at the feet of Jesus. According to Luke 7:38 she
1.) washed His feet – she humbled herself and honored Him
2.) wiped His feet – at the expense of her own glory and esteem she wiped His feet with her hair.
3.) kissed His feet – love and affection is expressed with the “kiss.” Out of love, she kissed His feet
4.) anointed His feet – she took what was a significant cost to her and offered it in worship to the Savior.
