Blessed are Those Who Mourn Luke 7__36-50 trinity 1 proper 6
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN (LK. 7:36-50)
Blessed are Those Who Mourn: these words of Jesus are perhaps better translated as “Be happy you who sorrow, for you shall be comforted.” How can those at a funeral do other than be sorrowful? How can they not mourn? What blessedness; happiness is to be found in that place?
Yet, this past week, many found occasions to comment on the blessedness of remembering great deeds as well as the eloquent, joyful, uplifting, often humourous words that came from a man who with other men of equal dedication and good will, changed the course of recent history.
Margaret Thatcher said, "And surely it is hard to deny that Ronald Reagan’s life was providential". The truth of those words, that ghostly bit of history were given flesh and blood reality in our time when Michael Gorbochev visited our land, and paid silent tribute by laying his hands on the casket, not of an ancient enemy, but in memory who reached beyond national enmity to establish some trust, some friendship in order to avert war of unimaginable magnitude. Here was a man who, though limited and flawed as all men are, had risen above national stature to embrace and draw out even those we called the enemy and revealed in concrete ways the brotherhood of man.
Of course President Reagan did not bring the wall down singlehandedly, in fact, the wall did not come down until after his administration was over. But he had confidence in the rationality and goodness of humanity, and had faith in the righteousness of his actions that he dared reach toward people on the other side of the wall, believing that ultimately they would reach back. On the other side of that wall, from the end of WWII in 1945 until the wall finally came down in 1990 other men of good will, of that great generation were also at work. Among them Lech Walesa, the Polish labor leader and later president of a free Poland, a priest named Karol Wojtila later to become Pope John Paul II, and Michael Gorbachev. These, and many others, worked for a better world and peace among men, at the risk of their careers and very lives.
In fact, both JPII and Ronald Regan were shot, and nearly became martyrs. They in fact resisted unto blood in their struggle against sin; against the world’s brokeness.
So, in the midst of mourning, this past week, there was some joy, and general uplift in this country as we remembered a life well lived, and also those men and women of the greater generation who shaped the last half of the last century, and hence, our own world.
You blessed, you happy sorrowers, said Jesus on one occasion.
In today’s Gospel, we look at a mourner, a woman in deep sorrow. We don’t know the immediate cause of her sorrow, we only know that she seemed very much alone in the world and was shunned. We do not know her name, other than “sinner.” We know not the nature of her many sins.
Let’s get some background for the Gospel.
The scene is that of a meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee.
We really don’t know what prompted him to invite Jesus to this feast. It does not seem that Simon was really close to Jesus because he did not extend to him the normal hospitality. Common courtesy for the day would have been that as soon as Jesus entered the house of Simon, he would have been greeted with a kiss, His feet would have been washed and His head anointed with oil. It may be this leader wanted an opportunity to learn more of what the followers of John the Baptist and Jesus were doing.
Simon seems to have purposefully omitted the common courtesies accorded to any honored guest. Simon treated Jesus with practiced cool contempt. He carefully avoided every custom that would have made Jesus feel welcome. All the guests must have noticed this, for Luke records it faithfully in his account.
In Luke 7, a sinner, as attested and emphasized in Greek (v 36), went uninvited to see Jesus. The woman has been unreasonably vilified as a prostitute in many commentaries; for she may have simply been a widow. There was little room for unmarried women in that ancient society. The ostracized town scandal showed up at Simon the Pharisee’s dinner for Jesus. The woman stood timidly behind Jesus, stooped below to kiss his feet, and suffered stinging remarks for her actions. She cried on Jesus feet, dried His feet, and perfumed them later.
Simon the host was livid. He frowned on Jesus and fumed at the woman. The woman created a scene by her presence, and not only did Jesus not bar her attendance, and the physical contact between Jesus and the sinner was considered irresponsible, unthinkable, and regrettable. The woman, however, did not hear words of rebuke from Jesus; instead Jesus offered words of forgiveness, assurance, and comfort to her.
What kind of person does God forgive? Is He willing to forgive the type man has condemned? How is genuine repentance demonstrated? Can we at Good Shepherd see the woman as a symbol of the Church? Are we not all sinners, here to glorify our Lord?
The first requirement for genuine forgiveness of sins is to feel the heaviness of sin in your heart.
FEEL THE WEIGHT YOU BEAR
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. (Lk 7:36-38)
This story is one of the most beautiful and appealing in the Gospels. Here we see Jesus very like one of us, enjoying a social moment with friends. He had been invited by a Pharisee who obviously had respected him as a Master, a Teacher, a Rabbi. Here we see Jesus’ sympathy for a person who was treated as an outcast, and responds to the tears of the broken hearted. We also see him as taking the time to instruct the host, the Pharisee who did not see what was really happening. He pitied the proud as well as the humble.
Luke alone tells this story. Of all the Gospel writers, he seems most concerned with getting the details, and in his research includes many stories about women not told by the others. This is not to be confused with the stories of Mary Magdalene or the other Mary’s. We do not know the woman’s name – to preserve her from ridicule. She may have still been living when Luke wrote the Gospel. This may have been an eye witness account that Luke here records.
One of the questions this story raises, is how did this woman know about Jesus? What made her risk coming uninvited to this party? If you look back to the opening verses of chapter 7 of Luke, you will find that Jesus had been visiting the area of the Sea of Galilee and had performed the miracle of healing the Centurion’s servant at long distance (Capernaum). Then traveling uphill from the Sea of Galilee to the village of Nain, he there taught many and with crowds following him came across a funeral. A widow was in a burial procession for her deceased son. Jesus laid his hand on the bier and said “Young man, I tell you to get up.” The young man rose and Jesus handed him back to the mother. Nothing more is said of the Widow of Nain, might she have been the sinner who appears uninvited at Simon the Pharisee’s house? You will notice that Jesus does not appear startled when this woman appears and heaps devotion on him. He doesn’t say, as he did on another occasion, “Who touched me?” If it were not this particular Galilean woman who approached Jesus, then it is another who undoubtedly had heard his teaching and witnessed his loving acceptance of the people of the land.
There were class distinctions among the residents of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Nazareth and Nain. The natives of Nazareth of Galilee were regarded as “hill billies”, by the proper folks of Jerusalem. The woman at the well of Samaria wondered why Jesus was even speaking to her, and the Samaritans were next door neighbors to the Judeans. Galilee of the Gentiles was even further to the North from proper Jerusalem, it was beyond Samaria. Some Judeans asked the question regarding Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” The 10 Greek cities of Galilee were regarded as a source of foreign infection by the strongly traditional, I might say fundamentalist Jews in Judea. Jesus, who attended synagogue, and taught there from his youth, was a native of Galilee. He would have often passed through Samaria on his way to Jerusalem. He was familiar with all sorts of people as he lived in a part of the world where trade routes between East and West crossed. He could understand the tax collectors, the Centurions, the Samaritan woman, those outcast because of disease, social conventions, political ideologies, or religious tradition. He could see the need of all humanity to feel loved and accepted by the Heavenly Father.
In this place, his teaching of the Prodigal Son particularly resonated, especially to this Prodigal Daughter. Why is she unnamed? To preserve her new reputation in the Church, the Kingdom into which Jesus had personally invited her when he said, at the table “Your sins are forgiven. Enter into peace!” Luke often named those whom Jesus had helped and healed. When he doesn’t, I take his motive is to protect the newly innocent, not that he is ignorant of such an important event in Jesus life. After all, he knows the name of Simon the Pharisee, who, among the eye-witnesses that Luke consulted, could have forgotten this brave woman’s name?
One notable aspect of this woman is the profusion of tears.
Evagrius, the fourth century desert father who believed that tears are God’s gift to believers to assist them in the prayer life, said: “The man who is seated in his cell and who recites psalms is like one who stands outside and seeks the king. But he who prays with tears is like one who holds the king’s feet and asks his mercy.̈
The Psalmist sang, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.̈ (Ps 126:5)
In sharp contrast to Simon, a woman enters the room because she wants to find Jesus, who she had undoubtedly heard was a friend of sinners. And she was well qualified in that department.
Our English translation does not convey the shock that the entrance of this woman made, when it says “when a woman” it is literally “And look a woman!” The shock was primarily because of this woman’s reputation. The text tells us that she was a sinner (a person of bad reputation and character, it is suggested that she was a prostitute) but whatever her sin, she was a woman of considerable notoriety. Her desire is to find Jesus and when her eyes finally rest on Him, the other guest fade into a mist of tears; it suddenly doesn’t matter what these respectable people think about her. All that she sees is Jesus.
According to verse thirty-eight, “ 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.” She knelt at the feet of Jesus with the perfume she had brought with the purpose of anointing his feet. Then an unexpected complication arose, she was weeping so uncontrollably that her tears began to fall on Jesus’ dusty feet.
No doubt embarrassed she searches desperately from something to wipe the feet of Jesus, but had no come prepared for this eventually. Mortified that her tears had fallen on the feet of Jesus, she takes the one thing available to her, she lets down her long hair and begins to dry his feet. But the more she wipes with her hair, the more tears that fall. She uses the water of her tears to wash His feet, something that could hardly have been planned in advance. She then began to kiss his feet. In fact the text uses a verb form which means “to kiss again and again,” she repeatedly kissed his feet.
This woman is self-forgetting – crying unashamedly, her eyes red, her complexion flushed, her nose running with weeping, her hair wet with a muddy mixture of tears and dirt.
As the sweet fragrance of her sacrifice fills the room anyone who was not aware of this woman’s actions, became so. All eyes are on Jesus what will he do. He doesn’t appear to be either embarrassed or upset at the extravagance of this display of love and devotion. What she did she did remarkably well. It was worship. This woman’s worship was at great personal cost financially and in the humility to kiss, wash and dry with her hair the dirty feet of the Lord. Perhaps the greatest cost she faced was the scorn and rejection of the self-righteous Pharisee and his dinner guests. No one had invited her. She was not wanted here. She probably would be scorned and she might be thrown out. But none of those things mattered, her desire to see and worship Jesus were greater than her fear. The price that she had to pay may be high, but to her it was worth it.
The Church should see this woman as a symbol, an icon of what the Church really is. We are, corporately and individually, sinners approaching the table where Jesus is in tears, to hear the words of forgiveness and the pronouncement that we may enter into peace.
This is not the same woman the same woman found in Matthew 26. The differences were significant. In Matthew the visitor was not labeled a sinner, the host was Simon the Leper, and the critics were the disciples. Unlike the woman in Matthew’|s account who poured perfume on Jesus’| head (Mt 26:7) and body (Mt 26:12), the reputed sinner in this passage wept for her sins and poured perfume primarily on Jesus feet. She had been such an outcast by society and the critical Pharisaical teachers that she considered herself unfit to anoint his head. The sinner in Luke was the only person in the Bible who cried for her sins before Jesus. The plight of unwed or widowed women in that society was unenviable. Many then, as in some places now, are forced into unsavory professions to maintain life.
Why did Jesus forgive the nameless woman of her sins? Her repentance was genuine. She felt deep remorse for her sins, felt horrible for what she had done, and felt ruined if salvation was denied her. Tears were her only language, and it did all the talking.
The woman’s heart was torn apart; broken into pieces. She felt the heaviness of sin, the condemnation of sin, and the penalty of sin within; so she wept softly, openly, continuously, remorsefully and bitterly for her wretched condition. She cried her eyes out, cried her tears dry, and cried her voice hoarse. She could not wait for another day, another second, or another time to see Jesus. And if, this abandoned woman was the Widow of Nain, she had another reason to pour extravagant worship on Jesus who had restored her son to life.
She risked the scorn of the Pharisee who had hosted the dinner and Unlike the only other person whose tears also made a strong impression on Jesus - the father who shed tears for his demon-possessed son (Mark 9:24) the woman did not cry for anyone but herself, her guilt and her past. She did not just wet or soak his feet; she showered and drenched his feet. The tears didn’t just drizzle or sprinkle; they rained and poured. All other references in the Bible to the word “weẗ (v 38) refer to a torrent of rain or fire and brimstone (Matt 5:45, Luke 17:29, James 5:17, Rev 11:6). Her teardrops were a pool of water to others, but an ocean of love to Jesus.
some of the Protestant churches in the early days of America, there was a fixture known as “the Mourner’s Bench.” This was a seat, a pew where those who had been “convicted of sin” came to acknowledge publicly that they were sinners, and to pray until they felt they had received the forgiveness, the grace of God.
Such displays of penitence aren’t considered good form in our time. It would be a most un-Anglican thing to do, to acknowledge one’s sinfulness publicly. O we make our general confession and say, “Lord have mercy”, but that’s different. After all, we are saying it together and thereby gain a certain anonymity. We who claim to be in the Anglican tradition become uncomfortable when we get specific about sin; especially if someone is going to talk about it publicly.
Saying to or rather about a sinner, haven’t you often heard the phrase “He made his bed, let him lie in it!” We may talk a lot about forgiveness and healing, but really, don’t we like to see one who has offended get his, as we say, “just deserts.” Don’t we take pleasure in correcting people? Don’t we feel superior, one up on the ladder of morality if we can point out a fault in others? And don’t we really suspect that one who confesses a fault or a weakness is a bit of a sissy? We would rather that people keep a stiff upper lip, a closed mouth, and a determination to go on while carrying their well deserved burden of guilt.
Now you may think I am dead wrong, that you never felt that way. And, if that is your thought, I hope you are right. I am aware any generality, including the one I just made is specifically wrong in some cases. But I know what I hear, I know what people say, and I know the evil that exists in my own heart from time to time when I am not in charity with my friends, relatives, and neighbors. Sometimes, when I am suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fate, I even condemn myself thinking, “You fool, you’re getting exactly what you deserve!”
Jesus was not of that frame of mind. Let us visit with the unnamed woman in Luke’s Gospel today, to learn the mind of Jesus.
In today’s story we can see that not knowing if you are forgiven, who to turn to, and how to get there are the big burdens for a person. Even a worse obstacle to life, is blundering on, not knowing one is in need of forgiveness.
All the unwelcome visitor sought was to be near Jesus, no matter what position; to experience God’s presence, no matter how brief; and to know that access was granted to a sinner like her, no matter if forgiveness and salvation were offered. Her appearance, tears, and life were not in vain. The Lord noticed her tears (v 44). Jesus Christ made room for her, accepted her service, and received the tears, kiss, and perfume.
Note Jesus remarkable statement “Your sins are forgiven; your faith has saved you; go in peace; enter into the place of peace.”
Sadly, much of the church in the last quarter century, and society at large, has forgotten, or never knew how valuable it is for a person to hear the words of forgiveness. Even amongst our Roman Catholic friends, there has been a drastic fall off of those who practice confession.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted̈ (Matt 5:4).
The second requirement for genuine forgiven of sins is to understand the debt God has canceled.
COUNT THE DEBT YOU OWE
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. (Lk 7:39-43)
God’s forgiveness has an expensive price tag few understand. Every One Is Spiritually In Debt
Jesus used a story to explain what he meant, there were two men who had borrowed money. Since a denarius was equal to about a day’s wages; 50 denarii equaled nearly 2 month’s pay; and 500, about 2 year’s wages (22 months).
Simon’s reaction, given in verse thirty-nine reveals much about the condition of his heart. “Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "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."
In Simon’s mind he was passing judgment. Simon’s reasoning went something like this.
! If Jesus were a prophet, he would know people’s character.
! If Jesus knew this woman was a sinner, He would have nothing to do with her.
! If Jesus were a true teacher he would not allow her to touch him this way. The word that Simon uses in this verse to say that she is “touching” him is a word used to describe sexual activity. The word that he used suggests that this was a very improper action.
The problem with logic is the same as the problem with
computers; your output is only as reliable as your input. Because Simon logic was based on false assumptions it lead him to false conclusions.
First he believes that if Jesus were a prophet, He would be able to discern the character of the woman who was touching him – which was correct. Jesus was not only able to discern the character of this woman, but he was capable of knowing what Simon was thinking. The conclusion that Simon reached was entirely wrong. Since Jesus did not shun this woman, he did not know this woman’s character, and thus was not a prophet at all. By telling Simon those things that he had only thought and not spoken he proved that he was indeed more than a prophet.
I don’t want you to miss this, in verse forty, Jesus turns to Simon and says, “Simon I have something that I want to say to you.” I wonder if Jesus comes week by week and taps you on the shoulder and whispers in your ear, “You and I have something to talk about!” There only two kinds of sinners in the world and everyone here fits into one of the two categories. There are sinners who know they are sinners and there are sinners who do not know that they are sinners.
What he has to say are some very important principles that are as meaningful today as they were when they were spoken.
Simon the Pharisee was a poor host to not only the woman but to His Heavenly Visitor, Jesus the Christ. He was in the position to be hospitable, yet he spoke grudgingly to himself (7:39), vaguely called Christ teacher (7:40), and answered Jesus half-heartedly (7:43). He didn’|t understand the riches of God’s salvation, he misunderstood that this was the day of Heavenly Visitation, he misunderstood the bounty of God’|s grace, and the extent of God’s sacrifice.
The woman, on the other hand, was speechless in the presence of the One who had forgiven her. She had nothing to say to Him, no name to address Him, and no expectation of reply. She had weighed the value of God’s judgment and understood God’s forgiveness in economic, academic, and objective terms. She new, from the raising of the Widow of Nain’s Son, that somehow at Jesus feet she would find new life.
God’s forgiveness cannot be measured, but man’s gratefulness can definitely be assessed. The debt a man or a woman owes is constant, but understanding the value, degree and act of God’s sacrifice is variable. We just don’t know the riches of God’s grace.
Someone said, “If you can’t be grateful for what you receive, be grateful for what you escape.̈
The conclusion is clear Simon as a “high class” sinner had the same problem as the “low class” woman he thought to be a prostitute; it is only a matter of degrees. The woman owed the greater debt but they both owed a debt that they could not pay. Sometimes it is harder for those who have been in church all their life, and saved from a life of prolific sin to realize the magnitude of what Christ has done for us. Jesus’ reply in verse forty-three, "You have rightly judged" suggest that Simon is beginning to see the spiritual implications.
The third requirement for the forgiveness of sins is to seek it in faith.
SHOW THE FAITH YOU HAVE
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.̈(Lk 7:44-50)
What, was this woman’s faith? How was it demonstrated? Was it something she drummed up in herself? A mystic vision that arose out of prayer? No, it was a simple response of love and service.
The sinner-woman considered herself unfit to stand before Jesus, to anoint Jesus’ head, and to speak to Him, so she knelt transfixed at his feet, poured perfume on his feet, and acted in good faith. She refused to stand before him, to look at Him, or face Him squarely. Mostly, she was either looking at his back or looking at his feet. Although what she did caught Jesus¡| eye, at no time did their eyes meet. Although Jesus addressed her later, looking at Him was not a concern of her, a priority for her, or a necessity to her. The woman¡|s actions spoke louder than any word on her lips, any expression on her face or feeling in her heart.
The woman¡s tears were not a sign of fear but an expression of faith (v 47). Jesus said that she loved much because she understood how much she was forgiven, unlike the ignorant Pharisee, who understood so little about the sin nature, its clout, wages and sentence.
Those Who Come To Jesus He Will Not Turn Away (vv. 44-46)
Jesus did something interesting; he shifted his position so that he faces the woman, giving her his attention and acceptance as he continues to talk to Simon, the proud Pharisee.
In verse forty-four we are told, “Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon.” All through the meal, Jesus’ back was to the woman, who was anointing and kissing his feet. He was at the same time, facing his host, Simon. Now, that Simon’s rejection of Jesus has been revealed, in contrast to the repentance and worship of the woman, Jesus now turns his back on his host and faces the woman even though he is still addressing Simon. Simon had turned his back on this woman because of who she was and now Jesus uses her as an example to show Simon who he really was. Jesus is by his very body language showing his acceptance of this woman. Jesus 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. (45) You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. (46) You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.”
Jesus tells Simon that this woman has done for Jesus what he had refused to do. He had purposefully omitted the common courtesies accorded to any honored guest. Jesus chose to overlook Simon’s intended insult because his purpose for being there was not to judge manners but to forgive sin.
What the woman does for Jesus though was not mere social niceties; they were acts of repentance and worship. She came to Jesus in faith expecting him to forgive her and she was not disappointed. As she wept in repentance, I believe she could sense the Lord’s forgiveness. The greater her relief from sin, the more abundantly and extravagant her expression of adoration and worship became. We are never more happy than when we feel forgiven, free of debt, free of guilt, free of shame.
The woman was not there to ask for a favor, to ask for a word from Jesus, or to ask Him to notice her, hear her out, or even touch her. She was there to express her love, gratitude, and appreciation. Like Mary, who poured a pint of pure nard of perfume on Jesus’ feet or a year’s wages on Him in John 12:3-5, the sinner-woman brought the same type of ointment in about the same quantity, in the Greek language (Lk 7:37, 38, 46), to wipe Jesus’ feet.
The woman’s love was a loud expression of faith. She did not come to Christ in fear of His judgment, condemnation, or disapproval, but in faith that He was welcoming her, forgiving her, and accepting her. If Christ had not forgiven her, she knew she would not have gotten that close to his back, feet, and body. Her admittance into His presence was as good as acceptance into His fellowship, and sh had come near to thank Him, love Him, and serve Him.
God in Christ did not forgive the woman because of her gender, condition, or works. She was forgiven because of her faith in God, real faith that dragged her into the house, dragged her before her critics, and dragged her emotions, mind, and will into action. She thought about Christ, fought through criticism, and sought for salvation. In the end, she heard that her sins were forgiven, that her faith had saved her, and that she could enter into peace.
Conclusion: We come to a feast at which our Lord Jesus Christ is present. Let us find joy in our sorrow for sin’s forgiven and enter into His rest.
