Unlikely Followers: Women of Faith in Luke's Gospel

We're in Luke chapter 7 today, verse 36, on through chapter 8,

Luke 7 · chapter mention

really, verse 3, we're going to be looking at.

But one of the key features that we've seen is that Luke's gospel is the role

of the outcast, especially women, that they play in the narrative.

You can go all the way back to the first week in Luke and see that.

In fact, in Luke chapter 8, verses 1 through 3, that we did not read earlier,

Luke 8:1–3

but I want you to read it, Luke explains that in addition to the 12 disciples,

and we'll see this later,

there was with them a group of women, it says in verse 2 of chapter 8,

who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases.

This alone, I just want you all to know this at the outset today,

this alone is extraordinary.

As in that time, if you remember, it was not normal for rabbis to encourage female followers.

But it's also worth noting that these women, all of whose names may have been

known to Theophilus, they came from a wide range of backgrounds.

Joanna, in verse 3 of chapter 8, was the wife of an official in Herod's court.

Mary, verse 2, was a former demoniac who would have been a social outcast,

by the way, because of her affliction.

But this diverse group helped to support Jesus and the disciples,

their ministry. It says in those verses, the first part of chapter 8, out of their own means.

In other words, they came to faith in Christ here, and they helped support the

ministry of Jesus and the disciples out of their own means.

Isn't that awesome that God raised them up to do that? One of the beauties of

the gospel is the way that it applies to and attracts a diverse range of people.

And the story of the sinful woman at the dinner party continues that pattern,

I want you to know, of Jesus having significant interactions with unlikely people.

And to that, I hope all of us can say amen, because I'm telling you, that's who he seeks out.

And in fact, we see here an uninvited guest, if you will. I want y'all to see

in contrast. We've talked about this even back in Luke chapter 5,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

but this is in contrast to the dinner party at Levi's house. You remember that one?

This story actually opens with a dinner invitation from a Pharisee.

That was the first verse we read earlier in Luke 7 verse 36.

Luke 7:36

At Levi's house, if you remember, the guests were sinners and the Pharisees were intruders.

Here at Simon's house that we're looking at today, we learn the host name in verse 40.

The host here is a Pharisee.

And guess what? It is a sinner who intrudes. Look at verse 37 again.

The uninvited guest is a woman who lived a sinful life.

We're not told more about this woman, but some commentators actually speculate

that Luke's vague way of describing her lifestyle indicates that she was engaged

in prostitution, and that may indeed be the case.

We don't know for sure, but it appears that way.

Whatever the specifics of the woman's situation, though, it'd be hard for us

to overstate, wouldn't it, the courage that it would require for her to enter into this banquet.

Just think about it for a moment. Yeah, she was probably anticipating a reception,

maybe much like what is reflected in Simon's disdain for her.

Look back at verse 39, you'll see that. But something about Jesus's teaching,

church, and ministry had given her the strength to approach him with a tearful

faith that she could be forgiven, y'all.

Although her sins, it says in verse 47, were many. Let me tell you,

in this story, the conflict between the three main characters enters and it centers on greetings.

The passionate greeting of the woman is really, it's in marked contrast,

as we see in this passage, to Simon's neglect that Jesus points out.

And Jesus pointed that out in verses 44 through 46 that we read earlier.

And in addition, Jesus' willingness to actually receive this woman,

it scandalizes the Pharisee, it tells us in verse 39.

So I think it's deeply ironic that such a woman, rather than such a man,

is the one who knows how to properly greet Jesus.

Have you seen that contrast? I mean, we got this all puffed up Pharisee.

He's supposed to know everything. I mean, he studied it all, right?

Yet he doesn't know how to properly greet Jesus. Yet this woman,

this woman with a sinful lifestyle, she properly greets Jesus.

You see, this woman's action in verse 38, they're described in great detail

and they're open to a wide range of interpretations.

But whether the specifics, whatever they may be, is clear from Jesus's response

to her in this passage that she was deeply moved by the prospect of what?

Forgiveness and restoration from Jesus. In fact, it's hard to read this account

without being moved by the woman's public weeping.

That's one of the things that we see come out in this passage.

Her willingness, Eastwood, to dry Jesus' feet with her hair and shower them with kisses.

Y'all, that demonstrates a deep and heartfelt reverence for Jesus.

She shows great love, it says in verse 47. Do you see that?

How different from Simon's bare minimum approach to hospitality.

Wow. I mean, the Pharisees here, their contrast here about Jesus is fully on

display in verse 39, the way that they view him.

He has made Jesus the guest of honor at his dinner party, and he even refers

to him as teacher in verse 40.

But clearly, Simon is not convinced about the hype surrounding Jesus.

Verse 17, he's not convinced that it's merited.

Though he keeps his doubts about Jesus to himself, it says in verse 39, guess what, church?

He cannot reconcile the idea of Jesus as a prophet with his willingness,

get this, don't miss this today, with his willingness to allow this kind of

woman, a sinner, to touch him.

As a Pharisee, he would have prided himself on actually being separate from sinful people.

The idea that Jesus might know all about her and yet church still accept her.

Still accept her love, had apparently never occurred to this guy, never occurred to him.

And let's talk just a little bit about this, of debts and love,

just for a moment, because we're not told how Jesus knew what Simon was thinking,

but we do. He addresses a brief parable to him. Y'all remember this from earlier?

Look back at verse 41 and 42 there in that passage of Luke 7.

It has only three characters, right? The story's not hard to understand.

Let's break it down just a moment.

Two men owe money to a money lender. But guess what? What's in common with both of them?

Neither can repay the loan. But the only difference really between them is the amount that they owe.

I mean, one man owes 500 denarii, roughly a year and a half's wages,

while the other owes only a tenth that amount

and the reasons why the men were in debt

were not provided we're not told anything else about

the money lender's motivation here for forgiving the debts but this little scenario

allows jesus to ask a question that provokes a self-judgment from simon which

of the two debtors would love their creditor more for forgiving their debt which one.

Okay. And that's exactly what he said. The answer was obvious.

And to his credit, Simon doesn't try to evade it in verse 43.

And Jesus then applies the parable to their immediate situation right there at the dinner party.

Just as the greater debtor will respond to mercy with greater love,

so the greater sinner, in this case, the woman, right, responds to Jesus's message

of grace, guess what, Eastwood,

with greater love than the old self-righteous Pharisee Simon.

You see, Jesus makes it clear to his host that he knew exactly who this woman was.

She had many sins, he says in verse 47, but those many sins had been forgiven.

Her extravagant show of love for Jesus was evidence that God's extravagant forgiveness

had taken root in her life.

On the other hand, Simon, as a Pharisee, he was most likely characterized by

a confidence church in his own personal righteousness.

You can see that later in chapter 18, verse 11 here talked about,

but rather than an awareness of his sinfulness before God.

And so as a result, he was not thrilled by the prospect of having his debt forgiven.

He loved Jesus little. Do you see it?

Because he had experienced little forgiveness.

Verse 47, Jesus's little parable here serves to illustrate, I think,

why the needy and broken receive him with such joy.

Wow. in verse 16, verse 29, while the Pharisees remain so frustrated and offended by Jesus.

It also presents, I think, an essential principle for the Christian today.

That's for us today, sitting here in these pews.

I don't want you to miss this today, okay? If we would love Christ more,

we must cultivate a greater awareness of how much we have been forgiven. Do you see that, church?

Do you see our need there? If we would like to see manifested in our lives a

passionate love for Jesus of the type that this woman displayed in this passage,

we must have the same awareness of our deep sinfulness that she had.

You see, I just have to say it this way. Love flows from gratitude.

And gratitude, church, comes from a sense of need and an inability to actually

meet that need on our own.

We're humbled at the foot of the cross. You see, that's why that the proud are

not going to really enter the kingdom of heaven.

Because you see, God resists the proud, we're told in his word,

but he gives grace to who?

The humble. Let me just say for the love of God, for the love of God,

how can we cultivate such awareness and gratitude as we go to this next slide?

The passage under consideration here offers little in terms of practical guidance,

but it certainly does encourage us to self-examination.

I have to ask us today, y'all just tune in for a moment because this is so important.

Are we more aware, ask yourself this,

are we more aware of our good deeds and moral rectitude or rightness,

as Simon was, by the way, than we are of our deep need for forgiveness like this sinful woman?

You know, sometimes that can come out and I just can't believe what they did.

Can you? I'd never do anything like that.

That's old Simon. That's the Pharisee talking.

You see, when we humble ourselves before God, we realize, but for the grace of God, there go I.

Do we think about righteousness, our righteousness, in terms of external righteousness,

of external compliance, so to speak, with specific rules?

Or do we see ourselves falling horribly short of the perfect love of God that

we're called to show to the people around us, by the way, as we saw back in

chapter 6, verses 27 through 36.

When we are weak and fall into sin as believers,

does it drive us to Jesus for mercy, or do we merely just, you know,

drive us into a resolution to try harder and do better next time?

Y'all, it has nothing to do with your self-righteousness. When will we get it,

Eastwood, your self-righteousness is as filthy, putrid rags.

They stink in the sight of Almighty God.

You will never enter the kingdom of God with your righteousness.

So when you say, I would never, you are talking in your own self-righteousness.

You see, when you say, but for the grace of God, there go I.

I can have love. I can have mercy extended for people in need.

For people who haven't heard for people who haven't repented and given their lives to christ.

That should be our motivation eastwood not that we're better than somebody else

because if you think that you're probably headed to hell most likely yourself

i got to be honest with you want to tell you the truth i tell it to you in love

but that's the truth if that characterizes is your life, you're headed to hell.

But you don't have to go there. You can repent today of your self-righteous

behavior and put your faith in the one and only who gave his life for you,

and he wants to credit your life with his righteousness.

You see, the example of the sinful woman, I think, encourages us to be aware of our sin.

Not in order to celebrate it, but in order to celebrate how great the grace

and forgiveness is from God Almighty.

How great, how amazing is grace to you today?

According to Jesus, if you think that you're involved in any of this,

that you're doing this or that, it's not very amazing to you, just like Simon.

But if you're falling at the feet of Jesus in humility, bathing his feet with

your tears in repentance, then you find grace amazing.

You find grace amazing. You see, if we find our hearts in need of adjustment

in this regard, there's no better place, I can just say it today,

to go to church than the cross of Christ.

The ground is level, as D.L. Moody said, at the foot of the cross.

You see, this passage doesn't mention the cross or Jesus planned to die for the sins of his people.

But there is a question lingering here in the background of the story.

You know what it is? How can God forgive this sinful woman without himself being unjust?

Romans 3.25, you might want to take a look at that as well.

But how can a holy God forgive someone who has committed many sins?

You know what? God's answer to that question comes at the cross.

Where Christ paid the debt for our sins.

Christ bore our sins on the cross, on himself.

He satisfied, church, God's justice.

All of God's wrath was poured out upon him on our behalf. And he secured there our forgiveness.

You see, God's justice and his mercy and grace are on display.

At the cross and it's at the cross that we

see i believe most clearly how terrible our

sin is how terrible my sin is the

20th century english minister john scott he actually captured this in a very

powerful way i'm going to read you an excerpt he said here our sin must be extremely

horrible nothing reveals the

gravity of sin like the cross for ultimately what sent christ there was

Our own greed, our envy, cowardice, and other sins, and Christ's resolve in

love and mercy to bear their judgment and so put them away.

He says, it is impossible for us to face Christ's cross with integrity and not

feel ashamed of ourselves.

Apathy, selfishness, complacency blossom everywhere in the world except at the cross.

These, there at the cross, these poisonous weeds shrivel and die.

He said, for if there was no way by which the righteousness God could righteously

forgive our unrighteousness, except that he should bear it in himself in Christ.

It must be serious indeed.

And that's in John Stott's book, The Cross of Christ.

You know, the sinful woman at Simon's party couldn't know how Jesus would secure

her forgiveness completely.

She only knew, church, that her debt was great, that she couldn't pay it back.

There was nothing that she could do to pay it back. And that Jesus was able

and willing to sponge it away Imagine how her heart must have actually sung

inside when she heard Jesus say these words to her.

Look at chapter seven of Luke, verse 48. What does he say?

He says, your sins are forgiven.

Jesus made it clear that he knew her shame and sin, and yet,

guess what? He loved her anyway.

She may well have entered the party fearful, guilty, and condemned.

But because she had faith in Jesus, and his salvation she left here in jesus

words here of peace church ringing in her ears in verse 50.

How could she not love him greatly and i have to ask the question today again

to all of us seated here today at eastwood baptist church how can we not also

jesus words of forgiveness sparked a discussion among the other guests about

his identity we see that in verse 49.

Something that's already been prominent theme in

this chapter by the way that we've been looking at

in the previous chapters for the Pharisees it was

obvious that only God can forgive sins

we saw that back in chapter 5 verse 21 and so any man do you get the picture

here any man who claimed to forgive sins here in their eyes was committing blasphemy

because only God can forgive sins but guess what Jesus doesn't back away from his words.

He simply commends the woman for her faith in verse 50.

Yet again, y'all, we see that when Jesus is properly understood,

guess what happens? A decision has to be made.

When you properly understand Jesus' identity, who he is, you have to make a decision.

For those who see their sin and their need of a Savior, an encounter with Jesus

is proof that God has come to help his people. Amen.

Everybody needs to follow him. Anyone can follow him.

From his chosen apostles, as we see in chapter 8, verse 1, to those who have

suffered evil spiritual oppression, as we see in verse 2 of chapter 8.

For those with nothing but a sinful past, like we saw this morning,

to those with money to spare, as we see in chapter 8, verse 3.

Those, church, don't lose this. Those who focus on their own righteousness.

Jesus will be dismissed just simply as a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

But I want y'all to know something.

For those who know that they need his righteousness, his kingdom message is truly good news to them.

They're going to be full of joy, unspeakable, and full of glory.

And having been given all they need by Jesus, guess what?

They happily give all they have to Jesus and his people, just like we see these

women that's talked about in chapter 8 that we open with today, actually doing.

Remember, they supported the ministry out of their own means.

Wow. Talk about a transformed life, right?

So I have to ask you today, I want you to stand with us if you would, just for a moment.

I want you to bow your heads just for a moment. I want you to shut out all distractions.

As we said earlier, when Jesus is properly understood, a decision must follow.

Ask yourself today, what is your approach to Jesus more like?

Honestly, Simon's or the woman's?

Simon's or the woman's? Are you willing to admit your sinfulness both to yourself and to Jesus?

Y'all, today can be your day of salvation. If you don't know Jesus, today could be your day.

Maybe you've been dependent on your own righteousness.

Like this Pharisee.

Today, maybe you need to come in humble repentance and say, Lord, forgive me a sinner.

Throw yourself at the feet of Jesus. Throw yourself into the mercy of God.

I challenge you today, a decision must be made.

What decision are you going to make today? Father God, I pray that you would

move in our lives, Lord, through the power of your Spirit.

Help us to respond to you in obedience.