DEBT RESOLUTION
Luke 7:36-7:48
I invite you to find LK 7 in your Bibles.
Christmas as a day on the calendar has come and went but let’s keep celebrating Jesus all year long and all life long.
Although we know Christmas is about far more than the gifts…It is about “THE GIFT”…Jesus.
Yet I would gander to say that more than 90% of us here today did some cheerful gift giving during the holiday.
If you are like many people you may have even used those dangerous credit cards to do some Christmas shopping.
The outcome for many… may bring a change from Christmas joy to post Christmas
“Oh Boy!”
as they open those whopping credit card bills.
How would you like to have all your debts written off this morning? No need to be shy I’ll include myself in this survey this morning…let me see your hand if this morning you would like to have all your debts just written off…taken care of…
Well, I want to assure you that if you are here today and you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior than you have had your greatest debt wiped away and taken care of.
It should cause our love for God to be immeasurable when we think of the gift He bestowed on us… forgiving our great debt.
When you think of God’s great debt removal of your sins,…. does it cause you to love Him little… or is there a great love for Him as a result…
Do you love Him little or do you love Him MUCH.
*(Play clip Two Debtors)
OPTIONAL Verbal Illustration of a debt forgiven or
*(Play clip Two Debtors)This is a movie clip see notes at the end.
We find here in the LK 7 an important message to us about forgiveness and the right result it ought to bring to every life.
Look with me at LK chapter 7 ND VERSE 36
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 (Jesus) 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.
45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
To look at the testimony of this woman who visited the house that day where Jesus was, is to understand a heart that… loves much,…
The woman’s loved much….because she understood God’s opportunity for every life concerning our debt problem.
There are three important details that we would benefit in taking note of concerning this powerful testimony of a heart that loved much.
This woman
UNDERSTOOD HER INDEBTEDNESS
SHE RECOGNIZED CHRIST’S WORTHINESS
and
she WAS OVERWHELMED BY CHRIST’S FORGIVENESS
I. She understood her indebtedness
(which Simon clearly failed to do)
V 37 Says
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,
She had lived a sinful life.
Jesus knew it…
Simon the Pharisee knew it…
The verse indicates to us that pretty much everyone in town knew it…
V 37 says she “had lived a sinful life in that town”…indicating that she had a reputation for intentional, repeated, open for all to see sinfulness.
More important than anyone else being aware of her sin was the fact that SHE knew the gravity of her debt of sin. HER OWN AWARENESS of it.
Sin is a debt… that within it,… there is always a price to pay.
The good news is that Jesus takes that debt away.
Romans 3:23 says “the wages of sin is death”…
This is the debt we all owe, because we all sin.
Everyone of us is responsible for paying that price because of our sin…and yet Jesus removes our debt because the rest of that verse says.
“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”…
This unnamed woman whose sin was so well known by all reached a point where the bankruptcy and cost of her sin bothered her enough, that she knew she needed to take it to the only one who could help her resolve the catastrophic cost of her sin.
Have you reached point in awareness of your sin the great debt you owe….are you willing to come to the place in your bankruptcy of sin where no longer you live in fear of the cost before you but rather you are ready to receive the clean balance that only Jesus the reconciler of our sin can bring?
Today you can have the debt of your sin removed if you will come to the place like this woman did of understanding your great indebtedness.
Not only did she Understand her great indebtedness but also she recognized
II. Christ’s worthiness...
(which Simon failed to do.)
In numerous ways we see the humble manner with which she approached Jesus. Additionally we see how she honored Him with a great offering.
We need to bring to mind some of the customs of Jesus’ day to best understand the whole picture of what is going on here.
Custom #1 Univited guests could enter a banquet feast without having received a formal invitation.
Now while Simon may have not invited this sinful woman and would likely never have even imagined inviting someone of such sinful reputation to his event
WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS JUST THE SORT OF PERSON JESUS INVITES to come to Him.
Sinful, outcast, unaccepted, unloved...
Because with Jesus there is forgiveness for sin
There is never an outcast
There is room for all to be accepted by Him
There are none that are unloved by the heart of God.
So while Simon may not have given an invitation to this woman…please understand that JESUS invites ALL to come to Him no matter how unworthy they may feel Jesus with His great worthiness says COME.
Custom #2
(as we think of this woman recognizing Christ’s worthiness…)
Such was the custom of Jesus’ day that it was considered shameful for a woman to be seen publicly with her hair down….
Yet here we find this woman wiping her tears…tears of a grateful heart from the feet of Jesus with her hair
Custom #3
Keep in mind that there were no paved streets in the days of Jesus and so feet became very dusty or even muddy at times.
Therefore it was the custom that a guest’s feet would be washed at such as occasion as this.
Remember that Jesus told Simon he had provided no water for His feet.
Customer #4 -Anointing ones head-
It was a normal accepted custom to show respect to someone by anointing their head with oil or with perfume.
This woman chose not to use the head but the feet. Therefore showing her reverence and humility before Christ.
Such was the case of people of that culture and day that the men thought it perfectly acceptable to greet one another with a kiss. Jesus said to Simon that he had failed to do this.
The kissing of feet however was reserved for those being recognized as an individual of great reverence or importance.
Jesus said to Simon
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.
46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
Make no mistake about what was taking place here in this moment of history….This sinful woman recognized Jesus’ worthiness…but do you?
What way do you show Jesus that you recognize His worthiness?
Stop right now in your thoughts and clear the slate just long enough to develop in your mind that mental list of the things that prove out that you love Jesus much and that you recognize His worthiness…
Is your list complete…or is their a need for you to recognize more fully the worthiness of Christ?
Simon had that need to more fully recognize the worthiness of Christ....…do you?
The unnamed woman
Understood her indebtedness
She recognized Christ’s worthiness
But the best part of this true story is that she was
III. Overwhelmed by Christ’s forgiveness. –
You see this is why she loved much.
She felt God’s love touching her life through Jesus Christ and the great forgiveness of her sinful debt being removed and it caused her to LOVE MUCH!
Simon loved little….if at all.
But this woman…. she loved much!
She did not love Jesus… to be forgiven...
she loved Jesus…. because she WAS forgiven.
We don’t love God in order that He might forgive our debt…
We love God because He DID forgive our debt.
We need to regularly place before us again and again and again that reminder from God’s Word of Roman’s
5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When we did not love God…God loved us.
When we did not understand our debt of sin…
God had already established the settlement for our sin.
The only way our debt could be resolved was through the sacrifice of the Son…Jesus Christ.
Where there is great love…I am convinced there is great sacrifice.
God loved us enough to sacrifice His one and only Son for us, and if we love Him much….
if we are truly overwhelmed in a good way by the forgiveness Christ brings...the result will be our sacrifice as well.
Where is the great love you have for God?
Do you love Him little or do you love Him much?
Is you life a living testimony of loving God much as was the life of that woman at Simon’s house that day?
Have you understood your sin…your great indebtedness?
Have you recognized Jesus’ worthiness that He is worthy of your love and sacrifice?
Are you awe struck, amazed and overwhelmed in a good way by the marvelous immeasurable love that God has for you….. demonstrated by His forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ?
The question is simple and your life is the evidence of it…
Do you love little or do you love much as the result of your sins being forgiven.
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The movie clip illustration I mentioned is available at sermonspice.com and is produced by Angelhouse Media. It is nice but not needed for the sermon to be effective.
Two Debtors, The
Jesus’ parable of the two debtors, told in Luke 7, reminds us that we have the motivation- we have been forgiven a great debt. By: Angelhouse Media
