Luke 7:36-50

Luke 7:36-50

True Faith

I. The fruit of true saving faith is loving thanksgiving for Christ; but we must realize the magnitude of the unpayable sin debt from which we need to be saved (Vv. 36-43)

a. A Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner, and prepared a banquet. According to custom, some who weren’t invited were allowed to enter the event, including a woman with a reputation of being “a sinner”, or known prostitute. Apparently, she had previously encountered Jesus, and when she learned He’d be at Simon’s house, she rushed to see Him. Standing behind Him as He reclined at the table, her emotions overflowed as she washed His feet with her own tears and wiped them with her hair. She kissed His feet, anointed them with perfume, and His head with oil. Simon peered in on all involved with a judgmental eye, and reasoned to himself, that if Jesus were truly a prophet, He’d know what kind of woman was in His presence and touching Him. Jesus responded to Simon’s thoughts by telling a story. Two people owed money to one particular lender. One owed the lender 1 ½ years wages, and the other owed him 2 months wages. Neither of the two were able to repay their debt, but the lender graciously, generously, and completely forgave the debt of both of them. So Jesus asked Simon, which of the two will love the lender more, which is to say which one would be more thankful? Simon “supposed” it would be the one who had more debt; Jesus confirmed the accuracy of his answer. (Vv. 36-43)

b. The gracious lender is Jesus. The person who owes 500 denarii is the prostitute. And the person who owed 50 denarii is Simon. The woman was broken before Jesus, because she had put her faith in her body’s ability to provide for her, but all it had brought her was shame, disgrace, and pain. She felt empty inside, judged, marginalized, and outcast. But she had heard Jesus’ words, promising forgiveness and rest, and sought Him out at any cost, desiring to be close to Him because she knew the weight of her unpayable sin debt, and desperately needed rescuing. Unfortunately for Simon, he was blind to his unpayable debt and his great need for salvation, because he had placed his faith in his own ability to maintain the law. So he incorrectly judged Jesus and hypocritically judged the woman because he lived in constant fear of failure to appear righteous and holy. When we think too lightly of sin, we think too lightly of the Savior, and look too highly on ourselves and too lowly on others. (Isa. 6:1-5; Ps. 51:4; Matt. 11:25-30; Luke 5:32; 19:10; John 8:11; Rom. 3:10, 23; 6:23; 1 Tim. 1:15-17; Rev. 1:12-17)

II. The fruit of true saving faith is loving thanksgiving for Christ; we must realize that true saving faith only comes from trusting completely in God’s grace through Christ Jesus (Vv. 44-50)

a. Jesus asks Simon if he sees the woman because He wanted him to take another look; in his self-righteous hypocrisy he had seen her incorrectly before. Simon and everyone there looked on the woman in error. It was the contrasting actions of Simon and the woman which revealed their true hearts. Although not strictly required, it was customary, polite, and hospitable for the host to have their guest’s feet cleaned, especially the guest of honor, to greet them with a kiss, and offer refreshing oil for their head. Simon had done none of these things because he was keeping his distance from Jesus until he could gage whether Jesus really had anything to offer. Simon’s faith was in his righteousness and strength, and he proved it by investing in himself and caring only for how his status was improved or degraded through his interaction with Jesus. Jesus pointed out that the woman wet His feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, never stopped kissing His feet, and anointed them with perfume. She also anointed his head with oil. Her desire to be near Jesus, honor Him, and lovingly thank Him was the evidence of her changed heart. She understood the magnitude of her sin, felt the weight of her brokenness and need, and invested all her faith in Jesus alone. For that reason she let nothing stand in the way of her adoration for her Savior. Jesus pronounced her forgiven of her sins and saved by her faith, and free to go in peace. It was the prostitute who left the banquet freed from her unpayable debt of sin, freed to love God with all her heart, and freed to love her neighbor as herself. She left freed in Christ to live a life of peace, satisfaction, hope, and joy. The Pharisee, whom everyone at the banquet would swear loved God more than anyone, remained a slave to his sinful religious self-righteousness. He remained chained to public opinion, fearful, peaceless, continually unsatisfied, hopeless, and joyless. One trusted faithfully in Christ and had her debt completely forgiven, while the other trusted in himself to repay the unpayable; And both testified to the reality of the nature of their hearts, through their degree of loving thanksgiving for Christ Jesus. (Ps. 32:3-5; Isa. 43:25; John 8:30-36; 14:6; Rom. 5:20-21; 6:10-18; 8:1-4; Gal. 5:6; Eph. 2:8-9)