Are You the Expected One Luke 7:18-50

In your Bibles, please.

We're going to be in the Gospel of Luke.

If you've been here before, that shouldn't surprise you at all.

Luke chapter 7.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

You stand with me, please, in honor of reading God's Word.

Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse 18.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

We're going to be going from verse 18 to the end of the chapter, but don't worry, we're not going to read all of it right now, but just going to, as a group, as a congregation, as you're standing, I'm just going to read a few verses, verse 18 through 23, and then a few at the end.

I'll read verse chapter 7, verse 18.

It says the disciples of John reported to him about all these things, summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the expected one, or do we look for someone else?

When the men came to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, Are you the expected one, or do we look for someone else?

At that very time he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits, and he gave sight to many who were blind, and he answered and said to them, Go and report to John what you have seen and heard.

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

And then if you'd scoot down to the very end of the chapter in verse eight, I mean forty-eight.

I love to hear the leaves turning as we're reading.

Luke eight, seven, forty-eight.

Then he said to her, Your sins have been forgiven.

Those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, Who is this man who even forgives sins?

And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you.

Go in peace.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, I do ask that we know who you are.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

If you're familiar with what we've been doing up to this point, as we have gone through the Gospel of Luke, we've we've gone through a number of things that have happened in the story of John the Baptist and Jesus, their birth, and how that has progressed.

We left off with John a number of chapters ago, and now he's coming back on the scene, and he's asking some very curious questions.

For someone who is considered the greatest prophet, someone who Jesus himself, in just a few verses, he's going to read, say that, that he is the one who the best, greatest one who's ever lived.

Why is he asking Jesus through his disciples, John the Baptist's disciples, because he's imprisoned by Herod, why is he asking, Are you the expected one?

We talked about this briefly last week, but let me summarize real quick that John, when he preached back in earlier parts of the gospel, he was preaching both the need for forgiveness, but also the wrath of God.

He was talking about how there will be a day when the Messiah will come, and he understood it a little more compact, a little more urgent than what Jesus is actually doing.

So, yes, Jesus is doing all of these things, but where's the wrath?

Where's the sickle?

Where's the where's the axe at the root of the tree?

Why isn't why isn't more negative things happening?

Why isn't Rome overthrown?

Why don't we have a new Jerusalem?

What is going on?

And so in the midst of John's suffering, he has questions about the identity of God.

Now, if that doesn't sound familiar, if that doesn't resonate, think about what I just said, please.

I beg you.

In the midst of John's suffering, he has questions about the identity of God.

In the midst of your suffering, it is very possible you're wondering, did I get this right?

Did I read the right book?

Did I did I listen to the right people?

Am I in the right place doing the right thing?

And and these seeds of doubt, this doubting castle, these overwhelming questions of, I'm not sure about this.

And so John, who is the greatest, he has at least the honesty and the transparency to send his disciples to Jesus and to ask that very question, are you the expected one?

Or should we expect someone else?

Or do we look for someone else?

Is there going to be another person on the scene?

Now I just read that passage, just to look at it real quick.

In verse 18, the disciples come, verse 19.

Um, John sends them, they ask the question, they get to Jesus, they ask Jesus, Are you the expected one?

Verse 21.

He cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits.

He doesn't answer the question immediately.

He gave sight to many who were blind.

He answered and said to them, Here it is, verse 22.

Go and report to John what you have seen and heard.

And so what we remember and what this is supposed to do is remind us of the commissioning back in Nazareth when Jesus unrolled the scroll and he read Isaiah and all that happened so many months before.

Now he is saying, I am the man, I am the Messiah, I am the anointed one.

Go and say, go and tell John what you've seen and what you've heard.

Then he says in verse 23, I think this is very curious.

Blessed is he who does not fall away, blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

John didn't get the whole picture.

He didn't understand everything.

He was anointed by God, he had a calling, he had a purpose and a role, but he still was limited to understand the big picture.

Jesus, coming in the flesh, God among us, Emmanuel, he knew everything that was happening and why.

And as he's doing this, he wants to assure John in the gracious way.

He doesn't, he doesn't get stern, he doesn't get cruel, he doesn't get mean, he doesn't say, I can't believe after all these years that you're still doubting who I am.

He doesn't get in his face, he doesn't yell, he doesn't argue.

He just gives this calm assurance, verse 23, Blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

So you're in the midst of your mess.

You're in the midst of your struggle.

And how we are able to walk along and read this instead of it just being a history lesson, it is so much more.

It is true, it happened, it's real, and in the midst of that, what God is giving us is principles out of Scripture to draw and to apply in our own lives, and one of them is very solid here, is the fact that you can have a lot of options in your doubting and in your questioning and in your options of what's right and what's wrong.

But there is one thing that you and I have to keep at the forefront of our brains and our hearts and our minds.

We've got to be careful that we don't project or apply to God our inadequacies.

We don't say, God, because I'm doubting, you must doubt.

Because God, because I don't understand, you must not understand.

God, because I'm confused, you must be confused.

God, because I'm depressed, you must be depressed.

God, because I don't get it, you must not get it.

Be very careful about causing offense because of who Jesus is when you say, I don't get it, so that means you don't get it either.

What we have right here and right now as followers of God is the confident assurance, the solid foundation, the rock on which we stand on these promises, that you and I may just get a piece and a part and a vague idea of the big picture, but we serve a God who is sovereign, who is mighty, and has no question about what he's doing and why.

You and I may struggle, but God doesn't.

You and I may not understand, but God He does.

So as we get to this, I there's two options here as we walk through this.

The first is will you accept God's purpose?

Will you accept God's purpose?

So what he's doing, what what's happening with Luke writing at Dr.

Luke, and what's happening in this scene, in this this scenario that's happening in this point in Jesus' ministry, is he's lining up these people who have these different interpretations and these different ideas, and he's gonna show us the contrast, and we're gonna have these questions that are gonna come come up.

And as he's doing it, he's gonna make sure that we get are we going to accept it or are we not?

You go back to Luke chapter 4, verse 42.

Luke 4:42

Let me show you this real quick.

It's not too far, it wouldn't take you a bit of minute.

Just go back a few chapters, chapter 4, verse 42.

When the day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place, and the crowds were searching for him and came to him and tried to keep him from going away from him.

Understandably, all that he was doing, the miracles, the things that were happening, how he was setting the captive free, the possessions and the healings, all that was happening.

Verse 43, but he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.

John didn't get it.

John the Baptist didn't understand why Jesus was doing what he was doing and not doing what John thought he should be doing.

But the purpose is right here in verse 43.

I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also.

I'm not here for the fame, I'm not here for the crowds, I'm not here for the numbers in attendance.

I know that we could get a big following and have a great thing right here and right now, but I need these people to know the purpose I'm here for is so that I can preach the kingdom of God, so that others can know the truth of being set free.

You keep that in mind, you go back to chapter 7, and you see what he does when he starts talking about this.

John's disciples have gone back.

Verse 24, when the messengers of John had left, he began to speak to the crowds about John.

What did you go into the wilderness to see?

A reed shaken by the wind, and what he means by that, he said, did you go in there just to see someone who went one way whenever the wind blew that way, or did you go to see someone who went the other way when the wind blew the other way, someone who had no moral fortitude, who who just tried to be popular and tried to draw a crowd, someone who just tried to say the right things to the right people?

Verse 24, a reed shaken by the wind, verse 25.

But did you go out to see what did you go out to see?

He asked the same question again.

A man dressed in soft clothing, those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces.

So once again, verse 25, he's saying, Did you go out to see someone who would just entertain you?

Did you go out to see someone who was like well done and well off, someone that you could admire and look at and say, Wow, look how successful they are.

No, that's that's not what you were about.

So now he's going to ask the question in verse 26 that should have a positive answer.

But what did you go out to see?

A prophet.

Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.

This is the one about whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, and you will prepare your people, who will prepare your people before you.

Because of what he has done.

Jesus and John weren't what they expected.

But John has come, and because of who he is, he's setting the stage, he's preparing the way for Jesus to come.

Because of John's identity, his purpose, not what you expect, but he came preaching repentance.

Back again, and I won't have you turn there, but back in chapter three, John came and his sermon was very clear in verse four of chapter three.

He said, The voice of the one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, the crooked will become straight, and the rough, rough roads smooth, and all flesh will see the salvation of God.

He is he preached this repentance for forgiveness of sins.

John came to prepare the people for Jesus.

So look at what he says next.

Jesus says next in chapter 7, verse 28.

I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John.

That's quite a statement.

He's saying, okay, all the prophets, all the Old Testament, all the people that we read about and learn about, men of faith, women of faith, all that they've done, no one's greater than John.

But yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

What?

If John's the greatest, and all we have to do is belong to the kingdom of God and we're greater than him, it all ties in with accepting God's purpose.

God's purpose was not to come to this earth, God in the flesh, Emmanuel.

He didn't come here just to make a few sick people well and draw a crowd and make everybody happy for a temporary season.

He didn't come, and this is earlier in the chapter, we talked about this last week.

He didn't come just so that he could heal a dying slave and a centurion could praise his name.

That happened, and that was a fruit of it, but that's not the primary reason.

And then a few verses later in chapter 7, he came to the funeral procession and he stopped the procession.

He put his hand on the casket, and that young man, he came back to life.

He raised the dead.

Jesus came, and as he's doing this, he is the Messiah, he is the anointed one, but that ultimately is not the purpose for which he came.

That's where he's going with this.

He's saying, John, you got part of the picture, but if you come to me and you're a part of my kingdom and you follow me, you're going to have post-Pentecost, post trying to look forward as a prophet.

Now you're going to look back and you're going to realize that Jesus came, and when he came, he became, he gave you the entrance into the kingdom of God, and you were greater than even John or any of the other prophets, because now you know.

You know that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

You know that you were one of them, that there was a point where you didn't have eternal life.

And in your walk with the Lord, as you came to that realization, you bowed your head and your heart and you repented of your sins and you trusted in Jesus as your Savior, and you, as the Bible talks about it, being born again, being in union with Christ, becoming a new creature.

There are so many scriptures that refer to this as it's talking about how your new identity is in Christ.

To live as Christ, to die is gained.

You understand the purpose now.

You have more than John could ever get on that side.

See, John wasn't there when Jesus walked to the cross.

John wasn't there when they mocked him in shame.

John wasn't there when the soldier thrust the spear in his side.

John wasn't there when Jesus said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

John wasn't there when they put him in the tomb.

Borrowed, by the way.

John wasn't there on Sunday morning.

John wasn't there when he rose again.

John wasn't there when they gathered in the upper room.

John wasn't there when they realized that this Jesus, this gospel, is more important than anything on the planet.

It's worth living and dying for.

John wasn't there.

But we are.

I understand.

And I say that tongue in cheek a little bit.

I understand that there are things that you're experiencing right now in your walk that you don't think anybody else gets.

Do you understand that your God is still God?

That He still is on His throne?

And there's nothing that you walk through, that you experience, that you grieve over, that you hurt from, that takes Him away from you.

There is nothing that can separate you from the love of Jesus.

There is nothing that can negate the purpose of God.

See, that's that's where Jesus is going with this.

Yes, it's good that sick people become well, but you know they're gonna die, right?

And you know that those who are dead become alive, but you know he died again, right?

Shouldn't there be something more permanent?

Shouldn't there be something more significant, foundational?

Shouldn't there be something that we have that lasts forever and ever and ever?

Instead of a quick fix, instead instead of a band-aid on a gaping wound, instead of a a temporary solution, is it possible that Jesus came to give you more than just a comfortable life?

Yes.

Now let's read the passage.

I'm gonna show you what he's doing as he compares and contrasts this.

God's purpose.

Continue.

In the passage, in verse in verse 29, Luke chapter 7, verse 29.

Luke 7:29

When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John.

But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

Just think about what that's saying.

This is this is so much more than just getting in a dirty Jordan River.

This is so much more than going through the motions of getting wet and then getting dry again.

This is so much more than the baptism itself.

It includes it and it's part of it.

And please don't separate it from this.

But what he's talking about is if you have the humility to realize that you need forgiveness of sins, and if you have the humility to come before a Savior and say, God forgive me, and have the faith to know that he has forgiven you, then you are going to receive the purposes of God.

But if you're so proud in your self-righteousness, if you're so sure of who you are, and you really don't need anybody's help that you're going to get along just fine on your own, then you are going to, instead of accepting God's purpose, you're going to reject God's purpose.

Instead of letting him save you in your own pride, in your own blindness, in your own futility, you're going to say to yourself, I don't really need that.

And if it ever comes up, I may get it, I may not, it's up to me.

And that kind of stubbornness, that kind of that kind of rebellion, stinks.

It causes you to lose out on the one thing that can help you.

It's the equivalent of being told by a doctor that you're sick and being too proud to take the medicine.

It's the equivalent of realizing that your only hope is in your Savior, Jesus Christ, and saying, Well, let me check my other options first.

Let me let me try to do it the best I can my own way, in my own style.

And so what he's gonna do, he's gonna expound on this, and he's gonna Jesus is gonna continue in verse 31.

And it's like he's having this conversation that's going on inside his head, but he wants everyone to hear it.

He says, Okay, so let me think about this.

To what then shall I compare the men of this generation?

And what are they like?

They're like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and they say, We played the flute for you and you did not dance.

We sang a dirge and you did not weep.

I love the imagery.

Let's not go too fast, come back to verse 32.

He's talking about kids who are playing games.

Some of them are about funerals and saying, you know what?

We're gonna do a dirge and we're gonna weep, and we're gonna act like somebody's died, and we're gonna go through the motions.

Some of them are like weddings where we're gonna play the flute and we're gonna have a dance, and everybody's gonna pretend we're gonna dance.

It's it's the same thing kids do today that I did when I was a kid, and my kids did, pretending to go through the preaching and the baptism and have all the service parts and whatnot.

They're gonna act like all these things.

And then he continues in verse 33, he says, For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say he has a demon.

The Son of Man is come eating and drinking, and you say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Now, if this is you, and and and part of me is so sorry I'm about to say this, because if this is you, you're gonna be so mad at me for saying this.

But some of us can't be pleased, period.

And Jesus is saying, you know, some of you, you're denying what John talked about with repentance and forgiveness of sins because you thought he was weird.

And he never ate and drank with the rest.

He he spent all of his time alone out in the wilderness, don't know who this guy is.

He he did his own thing, he definitely beat his own drum.

He probably had a demon in him because he was acting so funny.

So that's obviously somebody we don't need to listen to.

And so then Jesus comes, almost exactly opposite, same message, but different lifestyle.

He's not in the desert, he's in the people.

He's not starving, eating locusts and honey.

He is actually eating with the Pharisees and eating with the tax collectors and spending time with other people.

And instead of saying, well, he has a demon, then they're saying to Jesus, he said it here in verse 34, Behold a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Is it possible that no matter what answer God gives you, you're going to make some sort of silly excuse where that doesn't count?

Are you the type of person that has the atom?

That no one's going to please me, no one's going to satisfy me.

It doesn't matter what they say, I'm just going to do it my way.

Don't confuse me with truth.

Don't go there.

Definitely don't use logic.

I've already made up my mind, and everything I see and hear is going to fit my opinion, whether it's valid or not.

Okay, you got to admit somebody came in your head as I just said that, right?

I am so sorry.

But that's what's happening.

They're playing games.

Like little kids playing like a funeral or a wedding.

They're saying, hey, we we played the songs, why don't you dance for us?

Why don't you go through the motions?

John the Baptist, I was interested in him as a prophet.

I went out and I listened to him, but boy, he had some rough stuff to say.

He was talking about sin and forgiveness.

And I'm already a Jew, so why should I worry about that?

So I'm not going to listen to John, and I'm going to say it's because of his lifestyle.

Because he didn't do the things I do.

And then you have Jesus, and he's saying the exact same thing about sin and forgiveness and about our need for him.

And I don't like the content, so I'm going to criticize the form of him as well.

You literally are cutting everything off because of your pride, because of your desires, and not because of him.

You're doing it your way.

And so what he says in verse 35, he says, yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

He says, okay, you can talk about John, you can talk about Jesus, you can reject both.

But we got kids.

And those kids are going to be saved.

And those saved kids are going to be lights in the darkness, salt on the earth.

And they are going to advance the kingdom of God in such a way that in just a few generations the whole world is going to hear the news of Jesus.

Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

You're going to say that John was odd, he was possessed, he had a demon.

Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

You're going to say that Jesus was a drunkard and he spent time around people he shouldn't spend time with.

Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

The proof is going to be in the pudding.

It's going to come out.

You may not see it now, but you will.

You may not understand what you're reaping, but what you sowed, that is going to reap, and it is going to happen.

Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.

So my question to you this morning is what is your attitude toward Jesus?

What is your attitude toward this man, this Jesus?

Verse 36.

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner.

Don't make too light of that.

She was immoral.

The word is very strong.

We're all sinners, but she was publicly probably a prostitute.

And she's hanging out in Pharisees' houses.

When she learned that he, Jesus, was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume.

It was probably hanging around her neck.

Women would wear that, a little tiny vial, and she brought the perfume.

In verse 38, standing behind him, behind Jesus at his feet.

So the men were sit were laying down, they were on the ground around the table.

They didn't do chairs like we do chairs, they didn't do dinners like we do dinners.

Leonardo da Vinci, God bless him, did not get it right.

They were on the floor.

They were probably leaning on their left side, lying down and eating with their right hand, and their feet were all out.

And being a rich man, Pharisee's home, it was probably in the open courtyard in the house, and it was very common for people in the community to kind of stand on the background and around the walls and listen to the conversation.

It would be the equivalent of celebrities coming in our town, and we just want to see him, we just want to be around him, and they would stand in the background and not say anything.

I'd guarantee you the Pharisee didn't want this woman in his house.

As this happens, standing behind him in verse 38, at his feet, weeping.

She understood her need for God's purpose in her life.

She had already accepted God's purpose for her life.

And when she got to the man, she was weeping.

Have you ever seen a grown woman cry?

And I don't mean just teary.

I mean snot nose, red puffy eyes, mascara everywhere.

No shame.

And that's okay.

She began to wet his feet with her tears and kept wiping them with the hair of her head.

Wait a minute.

What she was doing at the feet of Jesus, she was for one thing, she sacrificed the vial, the perfume, but she's weeping, and she undoes her hair because she's making such a mess, and her tears are on her his feet.

And she starts, the scripture says, wiping them with the hair of her head.

It was culturally such a taboo.

It was such it was such a social no-no that they would say undoing your hair in public would be worse than taking your clothes off.

It would be so humiliating because a woman was supposed to be married and then she would let her hair down in private and then put it back up and publicly never see her hair down again.

And what she's doing now is shameless.

Totally open.

She doesn't care.

Doesn't matter what people think.

I'm with Jesus.

It doesn't matter what they're judging me, what they're shaming me, what they're talking about me.

I'm with Jesus.

And as she's there at the feet of Jesus, he's up here, his head's up here, the others are staring.

I can't believe this is happening.

She's kissing his feet, anointing them with the perfume.

And then look at this, look at this guy who does not understand the purposes of God.

And this is why we're talking about it.

Verse 39.

Now, when the Pharisee who had invited him, Saul saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of per person this woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.

Jesus knew she was a sinner.

And Jesus knew that she was she was forgiven.

He knew that's not the issue.

So here we have this contrast.

The woman comes before Jesus.

She gets at his feet, and she's broken.

This is why, this is why we we read Psalm 51.

Are you broken before this Jesus?

Are you broken?

Now when we talk about that, the scriptures talk numerous times, especially in the Psalms, about how God is near the brokenhearted, how he heals the brokenhearted, how he receives the broken heart as a sacrifice.

As we see this, we realize that our only way to receive Jesus as our Savior is not in presumption or pride.

It's not in our doing our own thing our best way, but it's our brokenness before Him.

See, this is why the beauty of the gospel, this isn't about us pretending to look good and to act good and everybody think well of us.

Honestly, where's that going to get you?

But what if, what if your heart was more tuned, more desperate to make sure that you were pleasing in the eyes of God rather than other people?

And then what if you realized as you reflected upon the glory of God and the authority of God, you realized that you are lost without him.

But in his grace, he reached down and he let you become a part of his family.

He saved you.

And then all of a sudden, all the things that you thought were so important now seem so insignificant.

All the things that you were striving for, and the popularity and the prestige and the power, and any other words, you start with a P.

You had all of these things, and you thought to yourself, I really want this.

But now to live is Christ, to die is gained.

Now you've got Jesus.

Doesn't matter if the Pharisee doesn't like me, it doesn't matter if he kicks me out of the house.

I've got Jesus.

Are you broken before this Jesus?

Or are you are you self-righteous before this Jesus?

I wish I wish we could have this conversation one-on-one.

Because if we were sitting across from each other at a table and you were having your coffee or your coke or whatever, I would definitely not have coffee, no offense.

Not a big T fan either, no offense.

Probably have a Coke, but I'm sitting there and we're talking.

What we would talk about is you have no idea how desperately I need Jesus.

I can't do it publicly, I can't do it justice, but I I can try just a little bit, just for a second, to tell you that without my Jesus, I got nothing.

I can tell you that when he in his grace revealed me to me, I realized without him, I'm lost.

And I would, I would, I would ask, do you know that too?

Do you know I know you're beautiful people, you're smart people, you're well-advanced people, all of those things.

Good, good on you, good on you, good on you, good on you, fine.

But do you know?

Do you know what it is to put your head on the pillow at night and realize that whether you live or die, you're in the presence of Jesus?

Do you know what it is to have a peace that all the things, all of those skeletons and all of those decisions and all of those mistakes and all of those sins are washed away by the blood of the Lamb.

It's not because I did something you don't, it's not because I've achieved something you haven't.

It's because you and I were blind looking for sight, we're beggars looking for resources, we're we're hungry looking for food.

And Jesus is that.

This woman is at the feet of Jesus, not in a self-righteous, I get to do my own thing, and let me just pick Jesus this week and I'll try something else next week.

But she is very transparent, very open, very humbled, and very overwhelmed at who Jesus is.

You know, just a few minutes ago, we were standing there with those children.

And I'll be honest, that's one of my favorite things.

Because of the beauty of family and the beauty of God's creation and how he gives us these connections.

And I can't help but think, and this is once again, I'm presuming on you, I can't help but think for just a moment that there may be some of you in this room who you would die for your family members.

You would die for your wife, for your husband, your your children, your grandchildren.

You would die for them.

You see, Jesus died for you.

This isn't some sort of placid, indifferent, soft, and fuzzy religion.

This is Jesus.

And he loves you.

But if you if you don't know that, if you if you think that self-righteous enough to think that you're okay and I'm okay and everybody's gonna be okay, that's not true.

So Jesus asked Simon this question, uh, verse 40.

Simon, I have something to say to you.

And he replied, say it, teacher.

A moneylender had two debtors, one owed 500 denarii.

That denari is about a day's wage, so 500, that's a lot.

Uh, over a year.

And the other 50, a couple months, when they were unable to pay, he graciously forgave them both.

So which of them will love him more?

I think Simon knows that he's being set up.

So he says, verse 43, I suppose the one whom he forgave more.

And he said to him, You've judged correctly.

Now let me be very clear about two quick things, and then we're gonna wrap this up.

First, in no point am I suggesting from this passage that you do these things for Jesus and that makes you right with God.

That's not what this verse is talking about.

This isn't about us serving Jesus and then he saves us.

This is not about the root, this is about the fruit.

This isn't about us trying really hard to go to church and to say our prayers and to read our Bibles and think to ourselves, now I've done enough that I'm gonna be okay with God.

That doesn't work.

Because that's an that's a that's a goal, that's a that's a goal post that keeps moving.

That's a that's a that's an agenda that keeps shifting according to the day of the week or the month of the year.

And what you're doing is you're continually trying harder and harder, and you're never really sure in the back of your mind, am I getting this right?

Am I really understanding this?

This is the fruit of a relationship with Jesus, not the root.

And what I mean by that is this woman, she had already come to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

She had already exposed and repented of her sin.

She is already there.

And because she's there, what Jesus and Simon are witnessing is not someone trying to earn their salvation, but someone celebrating their salvation.

And besides that, as they do that, they become aware of their sin, not the amount, but aware of their sin.

And I love the irony here.

Because do you think for a second that Simon is sinless?

Of course not.

Do you think for a second that Simon doesn't need a savior just like the sinner's sinful woman?

Of course he does.

That's not the issue.

And are we thinking just for a moment that maybe Simon is a little more righteous, a little more holy?

I don't think so.

So why would Jesus make this comparison about many and less and much and a little?

Why would he say 500 versus 50?

Because I think somewhere in the back of Simon's mind, he's thinking to himself, well, I'll get to Jesus a lot quicker because if I ever need him, because I'm a lot closer to him than that woman over there.

You're not as close as you think, Simon.

You're going to be miles away because you're blinded by your own self-righteousness.

You're blinded by what you think is God's purpose because you're not willing to forgive, to ask forgiveness of your sins, to trust in Jesus.

She committed many sins, sins of commission.

Simon committed many sins of omission.

They were both sinners.

She was a sinful woman, he was a sinful Pharisee.

And they both desperately needed Jesus.

So can I ask you this morning, are you forgiven by this Jesus?

That's the last question.

Are you forgiven before this Jesus?

Let's finish this passage.

Turning toward the woman, verse 44, he said to Simon, catch that.

He's looking at the woman, he's talking to Simon.

Do you see this woman?

I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

Now that that was customary.

I don't know why Simon didn't feel the need to do what was custom.

He didn't wash Jesus' feet, he didn't greet him with a kiss, he didn't anoint his head with a little bit of oil.

That was what should have happened, it didn't happen, but Jesus is doing the compare and contrast.

He's saying, You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.

So, Simon, the very minimum you should have been helping me with my head and anointing and washing my feet.

She's not even coming to my head.

She's still down at my feet.

She's kissing my feet.

Verse 46, you did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume.

For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, her sins, which are many, her sins, which are many.

I don't know how this happened.

And I'm going to say this real quick.

I don't know how this happened, but we've got to get over this idea that once we're forgiven of our sins, our sins are not as significant.

We've got to get over the idea that we can talk about our past and say with kind of a nod, well, you know, I was younger then and it's no big deal.

It's just as much a big deal today as it was then.

And it's just as grievous to God today as it was then.

Sin is sin, and we call it sin for a reason.

And what Jesus is doing is in a way, as he's saying this, for this reason, I say to you, her sins, which are many.

He's not downplaying, he's not excusing, he's not saying, well, she didn't mean to do it.

She had a rough childhood, her, her, you know, and her mama made her, and it was all, and then they, and she's a victim, and she she had many sins.

I gotta tell you something.

The darker you are, the brighter he is.

Can I tell you that the deeper he has to go to restore you illustrates the depth of his grace toward you?

Don't don't excuse or minimize or deny your sin.

If anything, just be honest.

And then in your honesty, say, hey, you know what?

I am incredibly sinful.

But you know what's better?

I've got a I've got a savior who saved me.

Have been forgiven, for she loved much.

But he who is forgiven little loves little.

Finishing the passage.

Then he said to her, Your sins have been forgiven.

Those who were club were were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, Who is this man who even forgives sins?

And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you.

Go in peace.

Your faith has saved you.

Go in peace.

Who is this man?

Are you the expected one?

Are you are you the one that was to come, or should we expect someone else?

Look at what I say and what I do.

Look look at what's happening around you.

Are you going to play a song for us?

Are you going to do a dance for us?

Are you going to entertain us?

Are you going to make us happy?

Are you going to fulfill all of our needs?

Are you going to be the genie in the sky?

Are you going to be the one that as soon as I ask for something, you're going to give it so I can be wealthy and prosperous and live long and rich and merry?

Are you going to make my life heaven on earth?

Hmm.

God's purpose is not to make you happy.

God's purpose is not to heal you temporarily.

He may, but that's not his purpose.

God's purpose is to save.

You see, in the gospel, the chapter 7 of Luke, you've got a man who almost dies, you've got a man who dies, and you've got a woman who is forgiven.

The man who almost dies, he's healed.

Thank God.

The man who dies, he's raised again.

Thank God.

But can I suggest to you this morning that more than healing and more than resurrection or resuscitation, more than getting something on this side of glory, the greatest miracle of all is forgiveness of sins?

You can be healed temporarily, you're still going to die.

But when you're healed eternally, you will live forever and ever and ever.

I am the resurrection and the life, he said.

He who lives in me will never die.

Do you believe this?

Do you believe Jesus is who he says he is?

The Christ, the Lord, the Son of God, the Son of Man, the prophet, the coming one?

Do you believe this Jesus?

Who is this man?

Who is this Jesus?

My question to you this morning: are you offended or are you repentant?

Are you independent, self-righteous?

Are you in need?

Do you recognize your sin?

Are you going to remain proud?

Are you going to do your own thing, thing?

Are you going to listen?

You see, the reason that we come together and we read passages like Luke chapter 7 is for the final question.

Luke 7 · chapter mention

Who is this man?

Who is this Jesus?

Who is this Jesus to you?

Please hear my question.

I'm not suggesting to you that you get to create the image of God.

I'm not saying that whoever he is to you, that's valid.

I'm saying that unless you see him as he truly is, that he has come to seek and to save the lost, that he will save you from your sins.

This Jesus to you may just be another prophet who doesn't even know a sinful woman when she touches him.

That he may just be another teacher, he may just be another wise man.

But if you see Jesus for who he is, that he can forgive your sin, he can give you new life, that he can make you new, and in your humility and your repentance and your yearning for him, you're overwhelmed by his grace, then that's the greatest work, the greatest miracle that could ever happen in your life.

For the next few moments.

I'm going to ask you if you'd bow your head with me.

I'm going to ask the musicians to just play this awfully.

And we're going to spend a few moments with an opportunity to come to Jesus.

Every head bowed, every eye closed.

I'm going to lead us in a word of prayer, and then we're going to stand together.

Would you pray with me, please?

Lord, I thank you that you are our Savior.

You're our Lord.

I thank you that you engaged with Simon.

And you engaged with the sinful woman.

And truth be told, we act like Simon a whole lot more than we do the sinful woman.

Father, what do we need this morning?

As you reveal that to us, I thank you in advance.

That you supply all our needs.

I pray for the individual here this morning who needs you.

Who needs to come to a saving knowledge of you.

I pray for the individual who is saved, but somewhere along the way has gotten a little proud, a little stubborn, a little self-righteous, and they're missing out.

They're missing you.

I'm not saying they've lost their salvation, Lord.

I'm saying they've lost the joy of their salvation and they need you to restore it to them.

Just like David in Psalm 51.

Father, I pray for the next few moments that we would have broken hearts, contrite, that you would accept.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

If you'd stand with me, please.

We're going to spend a few moments giving you an opportunity.

The music will be playing.

You can pray where you are if you'd like to come forward.

We'll have a few deacons and pastors who will be standing here just for a little bit, and then Pastor Adam will come and give our benediction.

I pray that the weight and gravity of how great his grace is to sinners like you and I seeks in to the reality of your life over this upcoming week.

Let's close on a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your love and for your word.

We thank you for this account that was given in the book of Luke.

How we can come to you like the woman that we read.

Lord, pray you be with us now as we go our way, and we live as believers, as Christians, in the light and glorious truth of this reality for your Son.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.