Luke 7:36-50 ‘Something to be thankful for!’

In 1992 the Christian Union at Oxford University asked the Australian evangelist John Chapman to take a series of outreach meetings.  Every evening, before he would speak, someone would share their story of coming to faith.  On the last evening the person to do this had to be lifted onto the platform because he was in a wheelchair.  This young man spoke:

I have been in a wheelchair since I was eight.  It was the result of a family car accident, however that is not important.  I am a forth year classicist at this university, and that is equally unimportant.

Several years ago my uncle wrote a book called ‘The Enigma of Suffering”, and he gave it to me to read.  I found it difficult and technical, but because he had given it to me I pressed on until I had finished it.  

By the time I had finished reading it I had concluded that God was there and that he was basically good.  So I said to my uncle, ‘would you like to further direct my reading?’  He gave me a book the name of which I have since forgotten.

By reading that book I recognised myself to be a sinful man in desperate need of forgiveness.  I also read in that book that in the death of Jesus was sufficient for my complete forgiveness, and I availed myself of it. 

Then although it sounded a bit odd from someone sitting down he said, ‘I stand before you tonight as a totally forgiven man, and that is important.  And there is only one other thing that and want to say, it is that God has been so good to me during my lifetime that I want to spend the rest of my life serving him, and I think that that is important too.  And that is all I want to say.’  The student manoeuvred his wheelchair to the front of the stage and was lifted down by the ushers.

Perhaps that student would be forgiven for thinking that God had not been good to him.  He could have looked around and felt sorry for himself because he can neither walk nor run.  But something wonderful put everything else in perspective.  He has experienced the most wonderful of all God’s gifts—forgiveness and peace.  Because of that he wants to spend his life in grateful love and obedience.

As we study this morning’s passage I hope that we will realise that God has been good to us; I hope that we will be able to declare ‘I stand before you as a forgiven person’; and that we will be inspired to respond to that forgiveness with a love that expresses itself in adoration and action.  

Who needs forgiveness? (36-43)   

Over the next few weeks we are going to see Jesus having meals with people.  He seems to be willing to eat with anyone.  He goes to the homes of those who were morally outcast, like Zacchaeus the tax-collector, and to those of the religiously self-righteous, like Simon the Pharisee. 

I suspect that Jesus went to these meals with a different attitude than we might.  He is not primarily interested in how good the food or drink is.  He is seeking to engage with people and is willing to take the opportunity to speak spiritual truth.  Do we pray before we go to someone’s house for a meal?  Do we long for the conversation to be wholesome and up-building?  Do we seek to be a good witness and speak as ambassadors for Christ?

Don’t think of your dining room when you read of Jesus reclining at the table.  The scene was very different.  The table would have been low.  They ate lying down on their sides with one elbow propped up.  Their legs would have been stretching out behind them.

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 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.

What sort of life had this woman led?  The suggestion is that she was a prostitute or perhaps that she had committed serial adultery.  We all know the sorts of names people would have called her.  Yet she acts with love towards Jesus.  She must have heard Jesus’ gospel somewhere and now wants to express her thanks.  These are tears of gratitude and awe.  Simon the Pharisee looks down upon her! 

How do we view people that others look down upon?  I wonder what we have thought of Iris Robinson in the last week.  Of course there are differences between this woman and Iris.  This woman had committed her sexual sin before she became a follower of Jesus—but does our attitude towards Iris reflect a Jesus-like compassion for those who have blown it?  Jesus calls his people to a holy life and even instructs us to discipline those who claim to be Christian but refuse to repent of sin—but do we share Jesus-like sorrow when one of his people goes astray?  I hope that we will not laugh at any of the jokes being told at Iris’ expense or be so unkind as to tell them!

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus 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.”  Jesus demonstrates that he is a prophet by showing that he knows what the Pharisee is thinking.  Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender.  One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he cancelled the debts of both.  Now which of them will love him more?”  Note that both were debtors and neither could pay their debt.  Similarly the Pharisee and the woman were both debtors.  The respectable and the reputable are both debtors.  All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).  None can repay their debt—all the good works in the world won’t make up for our sin.  Our only hope is to have our debt cancelled—we all need the forgiveness that comes through Christ. 

The Pharisee and the woman represent two different types of religion.  Pharisee religion puts the emphasis on what we do for God—‘he should accept me because I go to church; because I grew up in a Christian family and never went off the rails; because I am a respected member of the community; because I am a good person.’  The woman’s religion puts the emphasis on what Jesus does for us—‘I have blown it but he has forgiven me; my sin was awful but he has removed it; I don’t deserve his love but he has given me his peace.’

How should we respond to being forgiven? (44-47)

Something has troubled me with this parable in the past.  Is Jesus saying that some people are actually not very big sinners while other people are?  I think that this is pushing the parable too far.  The Bible is very clear that our sin is vile.  There is no such thing as small sin before God.  Some sins are worse than others but all have been guilty of the worst sin, which is rejecting Christ.

The point that Jesus is making is that if we think that our debt to God is nothing too great then we will have little to be thankful of when he forgives us.  If we realise that our debt to God is huge then we will have a lot to be thankful for when he forgives.  How difficult it is for people who are respectable to embrace the gospel.  How hard it is for them to realise that they are morally filthy, corrupt, spiritually helpless, Hell-deserving, lost, sinners whose only hope is the grace of God.  The morally outcast flocked to Jesus because they knew their need; the religious opposed him because they did not want to admit theirs.

Jesus points Simon to the woman as an example of someone who knows that they have been forgiven much and so loves much.  You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  Why did she love Jesus so much?  Because she realised she had been forgiven a great debt.

Can I suggest that if we are disobeying Christ the problem may be our love?  Elsewhere Jesus taught, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching’ (Jn. 14:23).  If we have a critical spirit; are slow to forgive; have a tendency to gossip; are watching things on our TV screens we should not; are ignoring setting time apart for prayer our problem may be love.  If love is our problem then it may be that we have forgotten the gospel.  We have stopped seeing ourselves as sinful people who have been made righteous by the kindness of God.  We have wanted to see ourselves as inherently people of good standing before God—rather than people whose past history has been forgiven, whose present wanderings are being forgiven, and whose future failings will be forgiven.  Let’s remember the gospel, dwell upon the forgiveness it offers, and live our live in grateful obedience.  

Who can forgive my sin?  (48-50)

In the last week of his life Kinsley Amis was interviewed by the Daily Telegraph.  He wasn’t a Christian but this is what he said, ‘one of Christianity’s great advantages is that it offers an explanation for sin.  I haven’t got one.  Christianity’s got one enormous thing right—original sin.  For one of the greatest benefits of organised religion is that you can be forgiven your sins; which must be a wonderful thing.’ 

The interviewer said that Amis paused for a long time and bowed his head low.  Then he said, ‘I mean I carry my sins around with me.  There is nobody there to forgive them.’

There is someone there to forgive them.  Jesus said to the woman ‘your sins are forgiven … your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ As we place our trust in him we can experience peace with God.

Notice the excellent question the other guests began to say amongst themselves, ‘who is this who even forgives sins?’  They know that forgiveness of sins is God’s prerogative, for ultimately it is him we have wronged.  Jesus is doing what only God can do for he is God the Son.  Indeed, although the woman did not yet know it, he was going to a cross where he took the punishment for her sin and ours so that the holy God could forgive without compromising justice.    

Conclusion

There is a Peanuts cartoon where one of the characters is holding up a placard that confidently reads, ‘Jesus is the answer.’  In the background Snoopy is holding up another placard that reads, ‘What is the question?’

This passage teaches us that Jesus is the answer to the question of guilt.  ‘How can my sins be forgiven?’

Not everyone will see that as a relevant question.  Like the Pharisees they may not be attracted to the gospel of Jesus because they depend on their self-righteousness and reputation.  But for all that will be humble and trust in Jesus for his mercy there is full pardon.  When that forgiveness is understood a life of grateful service will follow.