Consider His Forgiveness

Good morning.

Just before we start, I just wanted to tell Brother Josh that I'm with the disciples on this one.

! Yeah, I'm totally in the boat there. Come on, what are you doing?

I'm working for you, God. Why are you making up the storms and winds? I mean, what's going on here, right?

I'm with the disciples on that. Anyway, open your Bibles this morning, Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 7. So last week, we were given a lesson about God's holiness.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

And we were asked to consider His holiness and whether or not He was holy.

And I would say that God is, in fact, holy.

Today, we're going to consider His forgiveness.

Which, if we want forgiven, we can only be forgiven by a holy God.

No one else can do that.

Luke chapter 7 this morning deals with His forgiveness.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Call your attention to verse 36.

Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

And one of the Pharisees desired Him that He would eat with him.

And He went into the Pharisee's house and sat down to meet.

And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner,

when she knew that Jesus sat at meet in the Pharisee's house,

brought an alabaster box of ointment,

and stood at His feet behind Him weeping,

and began to wash His feet with tears,

and did wipe them with the hairs of her head,

and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee, which had bitten Him, saw it,

he spake with Him himself, saying,

This man, if he were a prophet,

would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him,

for she is a sinner.

And Jesus, answering, said unto him,

Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.

Isn't it interesting that the man said within himself?

Right?

So it's like the bad movie that's got the oration of the guy,

you know, it's all echoey and stuff,

and talking to himself.

But Jesus knew what He was thinking, didn't He?

And decided to answer His question.

Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.

And he saith, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors.

The one owed 500 pence, the other 50.

And when they had nothing to pay,

he frankly forgave them both.

Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most?

Simon answered and said,

I suppose that he to whom he forgave most.

And he said unto him,

Thou hast rightly judged.

And he turned to the woman,

turned to the woman,

and said unto Simon,

Seest thou this woman?

I entered into thine house.

Thou gavest me no water for my feet.

But she hath washed my feet with tears,

and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss.

But this woman, since the time I came in,

hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

My head with oil thou didst not anoint,

but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto thee,

Her sins, which are many,

are forgiven,

for she loveth much.

But to whom little is forgiven,

the same loveth little.

And he saith unto her,

Thy sins are forgiven.

And they that sat at me with him

began to say within themselves,

Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

And he said to the woman,

Thy faith hath saved thee.

Go in peace.

Let's have a quick word of prayer

before we jump into this lesson.

Heavenly Father,

we just come to you grateful

for the day you've given to us, Lord.

Thank you that we could all be together

at this time.

I just pray, Father,

as we go through this lesson,

that you would speak to us through it.

And I just pray in Jesus' name, amen.

The power of sin in the world

is evident.

Everywhere we look.

I mean, every day we hear about

marriages falling apart,

crime,

terrorism,

wars.

People's lives are devastated

through the effects of sin.

You know, sin is like a plague.

And sin seeks to destroy

the lives of all.

Everywhere we go,

we see the effects of sin.

But,

by the mercies of God,

where sin abounds,

God's grace can abound more

and more and more.

Romans 5.20,

Moreover, the law entered

that the offense might abound,

but where sin abounded,

sin abounded,

grace did much more abound.

You know,

Luke chapter 7 today

Luke 7 · chapter mention

shows

how Jesus Christ

displays this truth.

The passage tells

of a woman

who everybody says

was a sinner.

Her reputation

was bad.

Yet this passage

shows how God's grace

changed her life.

So prior to Jesus

meeting this woman,

he had been ministering

in the Galilean region.

He went from town to town,

city to city,

performing miracles,

you know,

healing the blind,

you know,

sick and all that,

proclaiming himself

to be the one

that John the Baptist

himself had announced

and the Old Testament

had prophesied of.

Pretty bold claims.

He was, in fact,

though,

the Son of God,

and he proclaimed

throughout these cities

that he had come

to be the Savior

of the world.

While in this region,

a Pharisee named Simon

invited Jesus

into his home.

Simon was a man

who knew the law.

He knew Scripture,

had memorized

large portions of it.

He understood,

and he knew his religion

so well,

he even understood

parts of his religion

that were not

in the Bible.

There's a lot of religions

like that,

even today,

aren't there?

Yeah.

He was a man,

let's say,

of religious pedigree.

So we don't know

exactly why Simon

invited Jesus

into his house.

Maybe it was

for prestige.

Maybe it was because

he wanted to be like

all the other Pharisees

so he could try

to find fault in Jesus.

You know?

Maybe he just wanted

to hear a teaching

from Jesus.

Whatever the reason,

he had invited Jesus

to be a guest in his home.

So the interesting thing

about first century dinners

around this time,

this region,

they were kind of

a semi-public affair.

They ate in a courtyard

or in a front yard

and uninvited guests

could just come

and mingle around

and there was chairs

and cushions

for them to sit

and they could observe

the dinner

and they could talk

to the guests.

People could come

and go as they pleased.

But during this visit,

something happened

that would show

the divine nature

of Jesus Christ.

Notice several

spiritual truths

we can learn

from this event.

So before we start

on that,

I need four volunteers

to read passages

when I call them out.

So you'll just have to guess.

So James,

1 Corinthians 11.15,

Brother Gray,

1 Samuel 16.7,

Matt,

Genesis 3,

1 through 4.

Lou,

James 2,

2 through 4.

Hang on to yours

for a while, Lou.

It's going to be

a little while later.

Okay, here we go.

So the first thing,

spiritual truth

we want to learn

about this event

was the sacrificial act.

Sacrificial act.

During dinner

at Simon's house,

a woman came

to give Jesus

a gift.

So as we go

through this,

I want you to consider

in yourself

what that gift was.

Okay?

Look at verse number 36.

And one of the Pharisees

desired him

that he would eat with him.

And he went

into the Pharisee's house

and sat down to meet.

And behold,

a woman in the city

which was a sinner,

when she knew

that Jesus sat at meet

in the Pharisee's house,

brought an alabaster

box of ointment

and stood at his feet

behind him weeping

and began to wash

his feet with tears

and had wiped them

with the hairs of her head

and kissed his feet

and annoyed them

with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisees,

which had bidden him,

saw it,

he spake with him himself

saying,

this man,

if he were a prophet,

would have known

who and what manner

of woman this is

that touches him

for she is a sinner.

The sacrifice

this woman gave

was valuable to her.

Else how could it be

a sacrifice

unless it has value?

We give away junk

all the time.

It doesn't mean a thing.

First thing we want

to look at today

is the sacrifice defined.

The sacrifice defined.

This passage does not

give us much information

about this woman.

We're not told her name

in this passage.

We don't know her family

or her city

or her pedigree,

but we do know

that she came

from the city.

We also know

that this woman

was a sinner

and we shouldn't

judge her for that

because we're all sinners.

However,

the Bible does make

a particular point

to point out

that this woman

was a sinner,

which comes

from the Greek word

hamartolos,

which is defined

as devoted to sin,

not free from sin.

The implication here

is that she lived

a life controlled

by the sin

that she had.

Very sinful lifestyle.

Whatever her sin was,

the Bible doesn't say,

she had a bad reputation.

Everybody knew her

wherever she went.

In this particular time

in history, though,

Jewish rabbis

really wouldn't consort

with sinners,

especially women,

that were controlled

by this sin.

So it's interesting to me

that Simon would know her

because he was really quick

to point out,

what's she doing here?

She's a sinner

and Jesus is talking to him.

I don't know.

Is it one of those

small town reputation things

where everybody

knew everybody, right?

Maybe Simon was just guessing,

but I doubt it.

Somehow he knew her.

Anyway, it didn't matter

because as she approached Jesus,

I wonder how she felt.

Was she afraid?

Did she think that maybe

Jesus won't talk to me?

Here's this great man

talking to a Pharisee.

What business do I have

coming here in this presence?

But she came anyway,

didn't she?

And what the woman did next

shows a very deep humility.

Even though she had

a bad reputation,

she was very humble

to come in the presence

of Jesus.

Why was she humble?

Because she understood

who he was

and she understood

who she was.

She knew that she wasn't

worthy to be in his presence.

Look at verse number 38.

And stood at his feet

behind him weeping

and began to wash

his feet with tears

and did wipe them

with the hairs of her head

and kissed his feet

and annoyed them

with ointment.

So when she approached

the feet of Jesus,

she didn't try to talk to him.

She didn't say,

hey Jesus, look at me.

I need to say something to you.

Here I am.

I need your attention.

You need to pay attention to me.

No.

She humbly

knelt down

and began washing his feet

with her tears.

Because something had happened

in her life

that she became aware

who Jesus really was.

And she desperately wanted

to be in his presence

because of that.

And she was willing

to humble herself

before him

just to be with him.

So she defined the sacrifice.

But she also demonstrated

the sacrifice.

We see next how.

The woman demonstrated

her sacrifice.

How?

With her actions.

Right?

There's a lot of people

that talk about Christ.

A lot of people say,

I'm a Christian.

A lot of people say,

I'm God

and I know a lot about him.

But we don't always

pour out our love

in service to him,

do we?

So no doubt,

Simon the Pharisee

could have given

a great speech

on all the attributes

of God

that he had learned

in the Bible.

From all the things

that he had studied

over all the years.

But what this woman

was about to demonstrate

to be true

was a sacrifice

of her actions.

By washing Jesus' feet

with her hair

and anointing him

with this expensive ointment,

she showed how much

she valued the Lord

and wanted to honor him.

And verse 38 shows us

she was also willing

to give all that she had.

You know,

our actions are always

a better indicator

of our hearts

than our words, right?

Actions always speak

louder than words.

We judge people

by what they do,

not by what they say.

So we don't have to wonder

what Jesus thought

about this woman

because he tells us.

She washed his feet

with her hair

and instantly know

that she highly valued

being in his presence

by the things

that she did.

As a matter of fact,

this woman,

who was hated

and disrespected

by all that knew her,

had one little thing

that she gave.

She had one glory

left in her life

and that was her hair.

Right?

1 Corinthians 11.15.

So in this time,

a woman's hair

was her glory.

It was sometimes

even a gift

to her husband.

She gave her hair

to Jesus.

That's all she had.

The other item

this woman had of value

was an alabaster box

appointment

that probably

was very expensive.

So,

with love in her heart,

humbleness in her mind,

she came to Jesus

offering the only

two things of value

that she had

in her life.

Her ointment

and her hair.

And she demonstrated

her sacrifice

saying,

Lord,

I give you

what glory I have.

Furthermore,

she gave with an attitude

of humility.

The Bible tells us

that she was weeping.

We don't know

what brought her

into the state of weeping.

Maybe

just being in the presence

of God in the flesh

and recognizing

what grace is all about.

Her tears may have been

tears for joy

for she believed

Jesus could,

in fact,

take away

the guilt of her sin.

And I would hope

that all of us

that have sin

have guilt about our sin.

However,

because of the

harmony of the Gospels,

we know that shortly

before this event,

Jesus did give an invitation.

In Matthew 11,

verse number 28,

come unto me,

all ye that labor

and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you

and learn of me,

for I am meek

and lowly in heart,

and you shall find rest

unto your souls.

Verse number 30,

for my yoke is easy

and my burden is light.

There's a catch

to that verse,

though,

isn't there?

There's a caveat.

Jesus' yoke

is only light

if you're saved.

If you're unsaved,

it's the heaviest yoke

you could possibly

ever bear.

So it's possible

that the woman

was in the crowd

who heard these precious words

that Jesus said

just before going

to Simon's house.

She could have heard

the man named Jesus speak,

the one that John the Baptist

said was the Lamb of God

who take away

the sins of the world.

As he gave the invitation,

come to me,

my burden is light.

But she may have seen

hope for her own life,

hope for her burden of sin.

Because let's face it,

she knew she had

a bad reputation.

She wasn't oblivious

to the fact that

everybody looked down on her.

Maybe that's why

she was crying

as she put the ointment

on Jesus' feet.

Because she knew

that Jesus was the only one

that could lift her burdens.

So,

the question is,

can Jesus take your burdens

this morning?

Okay,

we're in Sunday school,

right?

I asked you a question earlier.

So,

we're going to have a pop quiz.

Ready?

Pop quiz.

What was the gift?

What was the gift?

During dinner at Simon's house,

a woman gave

a sacrificial gift.

Luke 36 to 39,

chapter 7,

what was the gift

that she gave?

Anointment?

Hair.

Devotion.

Good.

Anybody else?

Love.

Yep.

How about gratitude?

Thankfulness.

Yep.

The ointment was nice.

It was the other things

that Jesus wanted.

Which she gave

all that she had.

So,

this woman,

in a humble,

repentant state,

poured out her love

at the feet of the Lord.

The prideful Pharisee,

however,

what did he say?

Well,

he made a sarcastic

comment to himself,

didn't he?

Right?

Verse number 39,

a sarcastic assessment.

We know that God

looks on the heart,

not on the outward appearance.

And he saw the heart

of this repentant woman.

But sometimes,

right,

or maybe more than sometimes,

men look on the outward appearance.

1 Samuel 16, 7.

So,

I gotta say,

this verse right here

pierces me.

Don't look on a stature.

Come on,

I'm 6'4".

This hurts me.

Height should matter.

When the Pharisee

saw what this woman

was doing,

he judged

the outward appearance

of her.

She's a sinner.

And made a proud assessment

of the situation.

Verse number 39 says,

Now when the Pharisee

which had bidden him

saw it,

he spake with himself,

saying,

this man,

if he were a prophet,

would have known

who and what manner of woman

this is that toucheth him,

for she's a sinner.

His assessment was,

first of all,

directed toward the Savior.

Simon the Pharisee said,

this man,

if he were a prophet.

You know,

the Pharisees were always

trying to fight fault

with Jesus,

weren't they?

Constantly trying to

find fault with Jesus.

So,

why would they?

Because they wanted to show

how they were better

than Jesus.

we know religion

better than you.

We know the law

better than you.

We do it the right way.

You're doing it

the wrong way.

But it's not just Pharisees

that do this.

It's easy for us

to get it caught

into a legalistic trap,

isn't it?

Yeah,

you betcha.

Luke chapter 15,

Luke 15:1

verse 1 says,

They drew near unto him

all the publicans

and sinners

for to hear him.

And the Pharisees

and scribes murmured,

saying,

this man received sinners

and eat with them.

You know,

the Pharisees,

I think,

came that day

so they could see Jesus,

what Jesus was doing,

knowing that he was going

to receive the sinners

just so they can condemn him

for doing it.

Because you weren't

supposed to do that.

They were doing it wrong,

Jesus said.

I didn't come to earth

to save good people.

Right?

Jesus didn't come here

to tell us

how great we were.

Why did Jesus come?

Luke 5, 32 says,

I came not to call

the righteous,

but sinners

to repentance.

Good people don't need

to repent

because they're good.

Luke 19, 10 says,

For the Son of Man

is come to seek

and save

that which was lost.

Seems every time

Jesus tried to help someone,

someone in sin,

someone that was hurting,

hurting.

The Pharisees were there

to criticize him

about it,

weren't they?

Like I said earlier,

though,

we have to be careful

of having this attitude

of a Pharisee also,

though, sometimes.

Because in reality,

the Pharisee also needed

the forgiveness of Christ.

So,

those of us

have been saved

for a while,

30 some years,

right?

It's easy to fall

into the trap of

maybe looking down

on others

from time to time.

We see somebody

out in the world,

people that,

you know,

don't dress very nice,

people that don't

speak very nice,

right?

Whatever it is

about their appearance

that we may

or may not like,

it's easy for us

to judge them,

saying,

I don't want to be around them,

I don't want to talk to them,

I don't want to,

whatever.

But I think it's important

for us to remember

what Simon forgot.

And that's that

all of those people

are carrying a burden

of sin also.

And maybe what that person

really needs

is to see the grace

of Jesus Christ

in us

late in their life.

Simon, however,

was bold in his criticism.

I mean,

that's pretty brave.

Jesus was the son of God.

And for Simon to sit there

and say,

what are you doing?

She's a sinner.

That's pretty bold.

sarcastic

and dismissive comment

of Christ's response

to the woman

is similar to the way

that Satan questioned

the word of God

in Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3:1–4

verses 1 through 4.

Satan had found Eve

in the garden

and convinced her

to question the word of God.

Since the beginning of time,

the devil has done

his best to question

the word of God,

especially towards mankind.

Simon,

very similarly,

questioned Jesus' authority.

as he sarcastically judged

this woman.

She's a sinner.

It's interesting, though,

that Simon didn't stop

his criticism

with the woman,

did it?

Or stop his criticism

with Jesus.

He moved on to the woman.

That's letter B

in your handout.

Toward the woman.

The Pharisee

never saw the hope

that Jesus brought.

I mean,

shouldn't it be that when

someone who is struggling

in life,

when we see them

getting close to God,

shouldn't we be happy

for them?

Not upset that they're

not wearing the right clothes

or maybe they haven't

taken a bath in a day or two.

We should be happy

that they're trying

to get close to God

and encourage them

in every way we can.

Simon, however,

had never experienced

the grace-filled vision

that Jesus has

for all of mankind.

And he had never seen

the change

that can happen

in someone's life

when they go to him.

People ask me,

there's so many religions

in the world.

What makes yours

the best?

What makes yours

the right one?

They respond,

Christianity is the only one

that changes people's lives.

It's the only one.

The grace, however,

always has a vision

for hope of change.

The Pharisees

only had a biased attitude.

James, too,

admonishes us

to not have that type

of attitude.

James 2, 2-4.

When people come to church,

if somebody comes,

take a bath,

comb their hair,

we should be grateful.

We should be happy.

We should be glad

they're there.

But if others come in

that aren't like that,

we should be just as glad

to see them.

Just as glad.

I like how Jesus,

it took me a while

to realize this.

When Jesus went to minister,

he traveled all around

the Holy Land,

he always went

to the regular people.

The riffraff,

if you will.

Always.

Maybe we should, too.

The reason

is that the ground

at the cross is level,

and everybody

matters to God.

Rich,

poor,

tall,

short,

as much as it hurts me

to say that.

Everybody matters to God.

So,

what God wants us

to understand from that

is that everybody

should matter to us also.

The Pharisee,

in his sarcasm

and his disdain

for Jesus doing it

the wrong way,

failed to understand

the grace that Jesus

was giving out that day.

In Corinthians 5.17

says,

therefore,

if any man be in Christ,

he is a

new creature.

Old things are passed away.

Behold,

all things become new.

And I hope that today,

this morning,

you can say,

that's me.

I've experienced

the new

not.

It's still available.

You can have that today.

You can experience

the new.

Jesus heard the proud rebuke,

aimed at himself

and the woman,

who was,

by the way,

repenting.

Jesus gave a spiritual answer

because Jesus

always gives

a spiritual answer

to criticism.

During the meal,

Jesus was observing

everything around him.

And as the woman

was washing his feet,

he heard the Pharisee

speak to himself

and question

his deity.

And in that question,

Simon was saying,

you can't be God

because you're not

doing it right.

You can't be God

because you're not

doing it the way

that we were taught.

That's not how

we deal with sinners.

Jesus chose

to give the spiritual answer

in the form of a parable.

Look at verse number 40.

And Jesus,

answering

Simon's thoughts,

said unto him,

Simon,

I have somewhat

to say unto thee.

And he saith,

Master,

say on.

So I'm thinking,

as I'm studying this,

I'm thinking to myself,

Simon had invited Jesus,

over for dinner.

And when you invite

somebody over to your house

for dinner,

you want to,

obviously,

you want to have

some type of conversation

with them,

you want to learn

something from them,

right?

That happens all the time.

People say,

Lance,

you can fix furnaces.

Why don't you come over

for supper some night?

And I know there's a lot

of you that have

experienced that,

right?

So,

it's not surprising,

Simon wasn't surprised,

that Jesus would have

something to say to him.

But I would imagine

that what he said

to him

probably did surprise him.

Now,

I don't know,

I'm speculating here,

right?

So,

this is a side note.

My speculation

is that

Simon wanted to have,

you know,

deep conversations

about things

of the Bible,

right?

Jesus is going to go around

teaching these things,

you know,

so Simon's going to ask him

all these big questions

because he knows,

he's a man,

he knows everything,

right?

He's studied all these years,

he's a Pharisee.

He knows everything

about all of it.

He's going to ask

these questions.

So,

I wonder if Simon

was taken by surprise

when Jesus said,

in verse 41,

there was a certain

creditor which had

two debtors.

The one owed 500 pence,

the other 50.

And when they had

nothing to pay,

he frankly forgave

them both.

Therefore,

tell me therefore,

which of them

will love him the most?

So,

the parable

has been announced.

And it was directed

at Simon.

Simon,

I have somewhat

to say unto thee.

Jesus wanted to show

Simon the difference

between Simon's hard heart

and the woman's

penitent heart.

And the parable

itself had three thoughts.

First thought

was the debt of finance.

So,

we hear about debt

all the time,

right?

Our national debt

is so big,

I can't even say

how big the number is.

What,

every American,

every man,

woman,

and child in America

is on the hook

for what,

130 grand

if we were to pay it off

today?

Four people in my family,

I don't have a half

million dollars.

In Jesus' parable,

though,

both of the people

were in debt.

So,

a pence was about

a day's wages

during that time.

One man in this parable

owed 500 pence,

the other only owed 50.

They both felt

this heavy

bondage of debt,

but the one

who owed more

felt the greater burden.

However,

the creditor

forgave both

of the debts.

So,

the gift of forgiveness.

So,

whenever forgiveness

happens,

it's a gift

because you can't

earn forgiveness.

You can't buy forgiveness.

It can only be given.

Those who have

experienced

much forgiveness

appreciate it

and understand it

to be the gift

of what the gift is.

When Paul discovered

the forgiveness of God

after he had murdered

scores of Christians,

he understood

that the forgiveness

he enjoyed

was a precious gift.

1 Corinthians 15,

verse number 10 says,

By the grace of God,

I am what I am.

And his grace,

which was bestowed upon me,

was not in vain,

but I labored

more abundantly

than they all,

yet not I,

but the grace of God,

which was with me.

Forgiveness is a powerful,

powerful idea.

Carl Meiniger

was a famed

American psychiatrist

of the 20th century.

And he believed

that if he could

convince his

psychiatric patients

that their sins

were forgiven,

75% of them

would be able

to walk out

the very next day.

Because when someone

experiences great forgiveness,

he understands

how amazing

of a gift it is.

And he understands

his chains

that once bound him

are now loosed.

Now he's free.

Most of us

have a mortgage.

How wonderful

would it be?

Free house.

And I think

that's the appeal

of the lottery,

right?

To get out of debt,

instant

start over.

So apply that.

If we apply

that perspective

to our sin,

what does it mean?

The bigger the debt,

the bigger the gift.

As the woman

washed the feet

of Jesus,

she probably felt

very thankful

for his forgiveness.

Her actions

showed it,

didn't they?

She had been

forgiven

of much debt.

And for that,

she was grateful.

You know,

Jesus had never

told her

how to serve him.

She never said,

okay.

He didn't turn

to her and say,

yep,

you know,

for what I've done

for you,

you need to

do this.

Because that's

not how God works.

Because then the debt

isn't paid,

is it?

Yep.

She did what she did

out of pure love.

So next we see

the debt of love.

The one who was

forgiven more

loved more.

What was once,

what had once

been a debt of money

became a debt

of love.

You know,

when we recognize

how great

the sin

that we have

in our lives,

we'll recognize

how great

forgiveness is.

And our response

will be love.

Our desire

to serve the Lord

should not be

out of duty,

but because

of that love.

because when we

consider all

that Christ

has done

for us,

for me,

should move us

to want to serve him.

The woman knew

she was a sinner,

but she also knew

the Lord had forgiven

all of her sin.

But we can't let

our motivation

for service

be the chains

of bondage either,

can we?

Some legalistic thing.

We don't have

to do anything

to gain the acceptance

of God.

We're saved.

We're forgiven.

That's it.

When you come

to a point

in which you realize

that God brought you

out of a sinful state

and freed us

from our sin,

our life can change.

Not can.

It does.

And we don't serve God

because we have to.

We serve him

because we want to.

2 Corinthians 5.14,

the love of Christ

constraineth us

because we thus judge

that if one died

for all,

then we're all dead.

That's why we serve God,

isn't it?

What great a way

is there to serve

with our lives

and to forever say

thank you

to the one

who gave us

hope of eternal life.

Next,

we see the parable applied.

So Jesus didn't forgive

this woman

just because she had

the most sins.

Right?

It's not a tally book.

And you don't have to be

good to be saved.

Jesus forgave

this woman.

Class,

who can tell me why?

Why did Jesus

forgive this woman?

Yeah,

she came to him.

Jesus forgave

this woman

because she repented.

That's why.

And when we repent

and ask,

Jesus always,

always,

always says yes.

She needed forgiveness.

But you know what?

No one can receive

forgiveness

until they have first

acknowledged

their need for it.

Right?

None of us

can receive forgiveness

until we acknowledge

that we need it.

Notice how the events

unfolded after Jesus

gave the parable

in verse 44.

And he turned

to the woman

and said unto Simon,

Seest thou this woman?

I entered into thy house.

Thou gavest me

no water for my feet,

but she hath washed

my feet with tears

and wiped them

with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss,

but this woman

since the time I came in

hath not ceased

to kiss my feet.

My head with oil

thou didst not anoint,

but this woman

hath anointed my feet.

feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto thee,

her sins which are many

are forgiven,

for she loved much.

But to whom little

is forgiven,

the same loveth little.

And he said unto her,

Thy sins are forgiven.

Simon showed

no humility,

and the woman

showed great humility.

However,

Jesus always forgives

the repentant.

And he can do this

because he's the son of God.

This is the theological

crux of this passage.

How does a person

find forgiveness?

If Jesus Christ

can

and does

forgive sins,

he is indeed

the son of God,

not just a common man,

not just a prophet,

not just a good guy.

Because one of the

attributes of deity

is the power

to forgive sin.

The Pharisees

did not comprehend

that Christ

had this power.

So many deny

that Jesus is God,

but the truth

is that this truth

that Jesus is God

is the bedrock

of our Christian faith.

Because Jesus is God,

he alone can take away

the sins of the world.

Isn't it wonderful

that we don't have to go

to a man

for forgiveness?

Isn't it wonderful

that we don't have to pay

for our forgiveness?

We don't have to

buy our way

into heaven?

Or that our family

doesn't have to

buy our way

into heaven?

Just saying,

if that was the case,

I wouldn't make it.

You guys see my house?

I'm not going to make it.

Here was a woman

with repentance

and faith toward Christ,

and she was saved

from her sins.

The Pharisee

would not even acknowledge

the worth of that woman.

Isn't that interesting?

Christ came to save everybody,

and the Pharisee,

all he could see

was a sinner.

May we never lose sight

of what Jesus did for us

to save us from our sins.

And as we consider forgiveness,

I hope that we all

also decide

to never become

like the Pharisee

who looked at sinners

and saw them

for what they were

and not what they could be.

I mean,

that's a great truth

I have in my life.

I like to think

that even at

a little past middle age,

I can still be something.

I still have potential.

I still have things to do.

I hope we all

look at each other that way,

of what we could be

and not what we are.

In every life

where sin abounds,

grace more abundantly

abounds.

So let's refuse

to be a judgmental Pharisee

who does not see

how people can be

redeemed from their sin.

Pray for the Lord

to work on the hearts

of sinners

so they may find

the forgiveness

that you yourself

may have found.

As we consider

the forgiveness of Jesus,

may we all remember

the reason

why we do what we do.

We do not have to do anything

to gain God's acceptance

or his love.

He loves us

just the way we are

and there's nothing

we can do

to make him

love us any more

or any less

than he already does.

Our motivation

for service

should not be

out of fear or duty

but out of the love

and the joy

that he's given to us.

As we consider forgiveness,

may we consider

where we were

before he saved us.

Like the woman

in this passage,

we all carry

burdens of sin

and sometimes

the burden

is so heavy

that we're bound

and controlled by it.

The Bible teaches,

however,

that before we were saved,

we were slaves

to that sin.

Romans chapter 6,

Romans 6:17

verse 17,

but God be thanked

that you were

the servants of sin

but you have obeyed

from the heart

that form of doctrine

which was delivered you.

Being then made free

from sin,

you became the servants

of righteousness.

So Jesus freed us

from our sin debt

and he made us

the servants

of righteousness.

You know what that means?

We don't have

to sin anymore.

After we're saved,

sin's now

choice,

but we have freedom

through his forgiveness.

Let's pray together.

for heaven.