The Gospel of Luke 7:40-50 Your faith has saved you.
Luke 7:40-50 · Vern Peterman · May 24, 2015
Gospel of Luke, No. 28
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49265513907

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We're going to go through this passage here a little bit at a time. We've got a little preface to do because actually we introduced the passage that Randy just read for us last week with a few verses earlier. This is from Luke 7, 36 through 39, which I've included in your handout just so that we have it. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine, and this is the Simon that we are introduced to by name here, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. Verse 37, and there was a woman in the city who was a sinner, and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume. and standing behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and kept wiping them in the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. So this is the prior passage that introduces the passage that Randy just read for us and will be our subject passage today. So verse 39, and now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, now notice this is what he's thinking, right?

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. This if is in the form in the Greek where it's if and he is not, okay? If and he is not. So now we come into part two in the passage Randy read for us in last Sunday's passage, which we just read We'd introduced the situation. All right, so Jesus had been invited over For a meal by one of the Pharisees and we find his name is Simon when a woman known to be a sinner entered Okay, it's like all right. I live in this city and I know who she is.

Everybody knows that she's a sinner, but Jesus is a visitor and And he must not know, because if he were a prophet, he would in fact know that this woman is a sinner and not be allowing her to do what she does. So, the woman wet Jesus' feet with her tears in a vial of perfume, both of those. And by the way, it was fairly common in the culture for women to go around with a vial of perfume on a string of some kind around her neck. So wiping his feet with her hair, the Pharisee is saying that Jesus is not a prophet because he would certainly know who this woman is and have her stay away. Now, one of the things we have to recognize is that this is a very different culture from our own. Several different things.

One is there was a general bias against women. We mentioned that in more detail last week, but one of the things we pointed out, a woman was not allowed to testify as a witness. A woman's testimony was considered invalid. So, strong bias. The women were, in various other ways, looked upon as second-class citizens.

One of the things we noted, however, was that neither Jesus nor Dr. Luke convey that same bias. Jesus is not biased against women and neither is Dr. Luke, but the culture in general was biased against women. Secondly, mealtime was no guarantee of privacy. In fact, the opposite was true.

In our own culture, we would just be shocked, stunned, probably call 911 if people behaved the way they did then. If you were having a meal, it was considered completely normal to have people standing at the doorway, maybe even looking in through the windows, and making comments about what you're eating, who you're eating with, the way you're eating, and you have people stop by.

If a rabbi was in the room, there was even special permission to enter. If you reckon, oh, that's a rabbi there, you had special permission to enter and you didn't even have to ask permission. You didn't knock at the door or anything. So the rabbi present at the table meant that others could come and in the middle of the meal ask the rabbi questions and things of that sort.

That was just considered normal behavior. The meal was on a low table, unlike ours where we have a higher table and sit. The meal was on a low table, people sat on pillows, and if it was more of a banquet type thing, they might even lie on their front side with their feet behind them. That was common. So our sense of, you know, how would you behave at such a meal is quite different from theirs.

And so as we go through this, just keep in mind some of the behaviors we'd look at and say, boy, that's very strange. It's simply a different culture, a very different one from our own. Now, culturally, how would the woman be viewed? For a woman, any woman, to unbind her hair in front of a man who is not her own husband would have been viewed as shameful and disgraceful. So this behavior would not have been normal.

However, likely she was overwhelmed with gratitude and lost the normal sense of, this is how I'm supposed to behave. So that part of it would have been looked upon as, hmm, that's a little weird. for her to kiss Jesus feet would have showed gratitude and reverence so it's very interesting she's got a mixed this is okay but this is not okay social situation here so the Pharisees doing this thinking this is the end of last week's passage verse 39 so what a surprise the Pharisee is thinking like a Pharisee and he's assuming that Jesus ought to be thinking like a Pharisee too So, the Pharisee also knows who this woman is and that she's a sinner. Now, people like to speculate, you know, what do you mean she's a sinner? And people like to say, oh, she must have been doing this sin or that one.

We don't know really what it is. It may be that she had a particular affection for lots of bacon. We don't know. It could have been that. So we don't know what kind of a sinner she was. She may have just been a bacon lover, and that was just more than the Pharisee could handle.

So the city, though not named, is also a place where Jesus had likely visited before, which is where, likely, The woman would have had contact with Jesus previously that would have brought her to the place of instantly walking in and showing gratitude. It is also possible, I should say, that she was visiting somewhere else where he was speaking. So anyway, both of those are possibilities.

But this Pharisee has concluded that Jesus is not a prophet. That's part one. How good an assumption is that? Not so good, right? And secondly, that Jesus would be thinking like a Pharisee, which is also not a good assumption. So here's Luke 740, which actually introduces today's passage.

So Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he replied, say it, teacher. So we don't know how Jesus knew what this man was thinking. Maybe it was his facial expression, you know, kind of grimacing as the gal came into the room. Maybe it was body language, cross the arms and turn away. I don't know. Or maybe Jesus had knowledge because he's deity and knows what everybody's thinking. Any of those are possible.

But Jesus answered the question that the Pharisee didn't ask. Did you notice that? The Pharisee was only thinking this And so Jesus answered the question that the Pharisee was thinking in his mind, but not expressing. But Jesus knew. The Pharisee ought to have asked this question, except the Pharisees, of course, are assured that they have all the answers anyway.

So first he wanted to get the Pharisee's permission. So he reveals that his name is Simon. Now we'll get that part of the picture. Simon the Pharisee told Jesus to say it even in a form, he actually used the imperative, which is in a form that says, you must say it. You must say it, teacher.

And while Simon did not think Jesus was a prophet, he did call him teacher, which is the equivalent of a rabbi. A rabbi simply means teacher. So he calls him a teacher, same as if he called him a rabbi. So while Jesus was indeed a rabbi with disciples, He often did things that no other rabbi in Israel would ever do.

I think it's one thing that's very interesting is Jesus did some things that were right in line with the rabbi and disciple tradition. Rabbis would go around and talk about counting the cost of being a disciple. They would talk about, you've got to count the cost, and he would challenge them. If you don't do this and don't do that, you cannot be my disciple.

Those kinds of things were things that all the rabbis said. But then Jesus went and did things that no rabbi would ever do. First of all, he healed on the Sabbath. And no rabbi would ever do that because, one, they couldn't heal. And secondly, they all believed that that was not on the list of exceptions. for the Sabbath rules, right? And we're going to see that Jesus does something here that no rabbi would ever do here in this passage.

So here is 7, 41 and 42. He begins telling him a parable. A money lender has two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more? So he gave a circumstance that was actually fairly common in Israel. Certainly this Pharisee would understand, at least directly, what the story was about.

So this is the parable of two debtors. So starting with these verses, Jesus begins to tell the parable of the two debtors. And just so you know, this is parables. That's not what we're talking about. Jesus is telling a parable. Boy, I tell you, I must be slow. These groaners that Verne tells. Oh, anyway. All right. It's so very punny. All right. So Jesus is telling a parable, and then Simon the Pharisee will understand this parable in its direct meaning.

He may not catch up very quickly to what Jesus is trying to illustrate, but nonetheless, in its direct meaning, he does want Simon to get it, to understand what this parable is saying. but he's also very soon going to be just stunned because he thinks Jesus is a teacher not even a prophet and Jesus is going to do something that no teacher no rabbi would ever ever do now also a part of the culture heavy indebtedness was actually pretty common in Israel under the Roman Empire for starters you had to pay Rome and you also had to pay whatever local in this era, whatever local descendant of Herod was ruling. And so taxes would typically take up 30 to 40 percent of the income from a crop in order to keep Herod's family happy and keep Rome happy.

Heavy taxation. A bad crop year could put you under. They said, well, yeah, this cropping is this big and we got taxes and it could put a man under. Heavy indebtedness might even be carried over to the next generation by their rules. So that's when people would sometimes even sell family members as slaves to get out of a desperate situation.

So here's the denarii. Technically, the denarius, single, was about the average pay for a day's labor. So this is what it looked like front and back. And very interestingly, this had on the backside, Maxim Pontiff. That tells you where the title Pontiff comes from.

About 500 denarii was two years wages. And 50 denarii then was about two months' wages, just to give some approximate figures, giving you an idea of what that would be like. So a person who owed 500 denarii would be, you know, that's two years' wages and you don't have anything to live on, you know, if you're trying to pay it back. Whether 500 or 50, these debtors apparently had no way to pay back the debt that they owed.

Now think about this. What's Jesus illustrating here with this parable? He's telling a story that was actually fairly common. But what he's trying to illustrate for Simon is who is the one who writes off the debt? That's God, right? And these debtors, though they owe different amounts, neither of them could pay it. Can you and I pay the debt? is owed to God. We can't pay the price for our sins. So this is what he's illustrating here to Simon. Jesus was making an illustration of sins as a debt owed to God. Now it's not just here in this passage, as we'll soon see.

The one who was forgiven five hundred denarii was forgiven ten times the amount of the one who was forgiven the fifty. Neither of them could pay it, it didn't matter, but It's out of proportion in terms of one owing much more than the other. So Jesus' illustration will be easily seen, at least directly. The one who was forgiven, 500 Denarii, will be far more grateful and relieved and respond with love to the one who did the forgiving. So Jesus next asked the Pharisee to identify who would respond with greater love to the one who forgave the debt.

So Luke 7.43, Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more.

And Jesus said, and you have judged correctly. So here he got Simon to come up with the right answer. Simon to understand that. Because what he was about to do, what Jesus was about to do, would be something that would blow his circuits. And I want you, Simon, to have said, you know, who is forgiven more? All right, so here Simon says, right? Jesus asked Simon to identify which of the two forgiven debtors would be the most grateful, relieved, and loving towards the one who forgave the debt. And Simon correctly says the one that owed more, the 500.

So Simon did respond correctly. the one forgiven the 500 rather than the 50 would be the most loving in return and think about this we love because he first loved us right so this is a response fits very well in here Jesus then acknowledges Simon's answer it says correct right but Simon is not prepared for what's next I guarantee it He is not at all prepared for what's next. So here's Luke 7, 44 through 46, turning toward the woman. So apparently he'd been looking at Simon and just looking him in the eye. Now he turns toward the woman. Do you see this woman? And the Pharisee's saying, yeah, I do. I entered your house.

You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. There's a similar account later on associated with the resurrection of Lazarus. I think that's a different event than this one. And so this one is a separate one from that. In this case, however, she's her tears and also the little vial of perfume, those together she's using to wet feet.

It was conventional or typical for the slave who had the least rank to wash the feet of those who came in as guests. But one of the things that Jesus reveals here is that Simon had not done that, but she had. Simon had not done that. So the best treatment of a guest would be to wash their feet. Simon didn't do that for Jesus. And then verse 45, You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.

One of the things that's also an adjustment, different culture, An adjustment is that it was not at all uncommon for men who were friends to kiss another man on the cheek as a greeting. When I went to Uganda, I didn't have that custom, but I kind of had to get used to it. If a guy felt like he was particularly friendly with me, he would come up and take my hand. And that was just normal behavior over there. And if I were to pull back, they would say, what's the matter with you? There were other things I had to adjust to as well. But nonetheless, in a different culture, a lot of times different expressions of affection and friendliness may be different from our own. So here's verse 46.

You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. Anointing head with oil would also be best treatment for a guest. It would be best treatment for a guest. She anointed my feet with perfume. And so, he's making a comparison in three different respects. She has treated me better than you have. That's basically what he's saying. So though Simon had invited Jesus over to share a meal, this woman's treatment of Jesus is superior in every respect to the treatment Simon had given Jesus. She treated me better in three different ways than you have.

While Simon viewed this woman as a disgusting sinner, Jesus and apparently this woman knew that she was a sinner and that she had been forgiven much more because of it Much more because of it So here we see this washing of feet as Jesus did with disciples and by the way, that's another rabbi tradition and There were various rules that the rabbis put in place as to what you could or could not ask your disciples to do. And one of the things a rabbi could not ask his disciples to do was to wash his feet. But there was no rule against the rabbi washing the disciples' feet. So that's what Jesus did.

For a man to kiss another man on the cheek. would have been an acceptable thing for a friend or a guest. It was a nasty thing in the case of Judas, but that's how he greeted Jesus and how they knew, this is the guy. This is the guy you're supposed to arrest. And then finally, anointing the head with oil would also have been seen as a friendly, caring gesture. Now, 747, Luke 747, 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. Hmm. Forgiven. Jesus compared the woman to the debtor who was forgiven 500 denarii.

Simon, on the other hand, would be the one who would see himself as not needing much forgiveness. In truth, did Simon probably have as much sin to be forgiven as this woman? Very likely. But he would not perceive himself in that light. He would say, I'm pretty good, I don't have much to be forgiven for. What will be said next is going to be shocking to Simon, who at best sees Jesus as a teacher, a rabbi. Nothing more.

Luke 7, 48, Then he said to her, Your sins, are they many? Yes, he just said they're many. And she knew it. Your sins have been forgiven. That no rabbi in Israel would ever say to anyone Simon would acknowledge Jesus as a teacher but as a rabbi he didn't see him as a prophet Simon did see the point of the parable at least directly that Jesus would forgive anyone's sins, however, was very likely more than Simon could grasp. My guess is Simon at this point is just in shock.

This woman is so horrible you should not be allowing her to touch you. She loves bacon too much. You should not be allowing this sinner of a woman Habitual sinner of a woman to touch you and now you're going to come and This is astounding forgive her of all her sins. Oh How could you do such a thing? No rabbi in Israel would ever forgive anyone sins, but Jesus did Sins are seen in the Bible as a debt of Ode to God. When Jesus had finished his work on the cross, he said, it's translated, it is finished. But it's one Greek word, tetelestai. Tetelestai, and it means it's paid in full, completely and permanently. That's what it means. It's all paid.

What? The debt that's owed for everybody. the debt that's owed for everyone. Colossians 2, 13 and 14, He made you alive together with Him, with Christ, having forgiven us all of our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt, by the way, that's a handwritten debt note, right? Certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. It's our debt note. Our debt note is taken out of the way, nailed to the cross, it's done.

It's completely finished. Here's Luke 7, 49. Those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this man who even forgives sins? Now, this is the polite version. This is the polite version. This is indeed a good question to ask about Christ. Who is this man?

Simon thought Jesus was a teacher, but not a prophet. But not even a prophet could simply forgive sins. This was Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who was voluntarily going to take upon himself the sins of the whole world. He could forgive sins because he knew he was the one who was going to pay for them. And, as we'll soon see, this woman is a believer. He really could forgive sins. And he knew that he was going to pay for her sins.

Here's earlier in Luke that we read a couple months back here. One day he was teaching and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there. Luke 5, 17-24. teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was present for him to perform healing. And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of him. But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and led him down through the tiles with his stretcher into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.

Seeing their faith isn't interesting. Can Jesus see faith? Yep. Seeing their faith, he said, friend, your sins are forgiven you. Verse 21, the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? Well, that's a good question, isn't it? However, it's because the Pharisee saw Jesus as just a teacher, he did not understand this is deity that I'm sitting down and having a meal with here. So, this is the attitude of the Pharisees toward Jesus for giving sins.

This man just committed blasphemy. front of me so here's Luke 750 the final verse for our passage and this also completes the chapter and he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace now salvation is by faith from Adam to the last person born during the coming millennial kingdom salvation is always by faith period that's it did the law ever save anyone If you keep 613, that's how many they are. 613 laws in the law of Moses. If you keep all 613, still doesn't save you. The law determines blessings and curses in the land of Israel for Jews. That's what it does.

A person might be saved by faith, but make a mistake in the law and be killed. A person might be saved by faith, and pick up his firewood a half hour too late on a Sabbath, and be killed, stoned to death. Where is he going to spend eternity? The Lord, right? Eternity with the Lord. So salvation is always by faith.

The law never saved anybody. The faith placed in Christ is what saves, and not just faith in something or somebody. Sometimes you will have people referred to those who are religious as people of faith. You can't just put your faith somewhere into something or somebody. It must be placed in Christ.

And the word saved here that Jesus used is in the perfect tense, indicating that it's a completed past action with ongoing results on into the future, implying permanence. Your faith in me has permanently and once for all Saved. She has been completely and permanently saved. Is she going to lose that salvation? No. She's not.

Here's Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 which says something very similar in summary. For by grace you have been saved through faith. Same word Jesus just used. And that not of yourselves. The salvation is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Salvation is a gift. freely, just like the forgiveness of these debts in the parable. There was nothing compelling the man who was owed the money to forgive, but he did. Not as a result of works, as the Pharisee would claim and hope, so that no one may boast. Salvation is by faith. And by the way, This, for by grace you have been saved, that also is perfect tense, just like Jesus used. The Bible is consistent in what it teaches.

Finally, Jesus ends telling the woman, go in peace. We also can go in peace. We can go in peace because we've been forgiven much. We can go in peace because we've been forgiven much. We can go in peace because we've been permanently saved by faith. I don't have to sweat it. I'm not saying, boy, I sure hope I can stay saved all the way to the end. No. It's up to Him, not me. We can go in peace because all our sins, every single one, are entirely and completely paid for by Christ's shed blood. And we can go in peace because nothing on earth can change any of those things. There's nobody, there's no event that's going to happen here that will change any of those things. We can have total and utter peace.

If you put your trust and confidence in the Lord, you will walk through heaven's gates. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that just as you told this woman she could go in peace, we thank you that we too can go in peace as we leave this room. Things happen on planet Earth, things that we didn't count upon, and sometimes some pretty disappointing and scary things. But we can go in peace, and we thank you for that, because what really matters forever is not up for grabs. We just give you thanks and are grateful. That's the appropriate response. And we love you in return. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.