sinful woman brings alabaster vial of perfume and wets Jesus' feet with her tears
37 Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.
38 Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Simon the Pharisee says to himself that if Jesus were a prophet he would know what kind of woman is touching him
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.”
Jesus contrasts Simon's lack of water, kiss and oil with the woman's tears, kisses and perfume
44 Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head.
45 You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
referenced as parallel to the forgiveness declaration, the paralytic lowered through the roof whose sins Jesus forgave and whom he told to arise and walk
1 Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.
2 He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3 He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.”
6 When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking.
7 They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.”
9 For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;
10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.”
11 When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him.
12 While he was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
13 He stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him.
14 He commanded him to tell no one, “But go your way, and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing according to what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”
15 But the report concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
16 But he withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed.
17 On one of those days, he was teaching; and there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them.
18 Behold, men brought a paralyzed man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Jesus.
19 Not finding a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his cot into the middle before Jesus.
20 Seeing their faith, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
22 But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, “Why are you reasoning so in your hearts?
23 Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you;’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk?’
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (he said to the paralyzed man), “I tell you, arise, and take up your cot, and go to your house.”
25 Immediately he rose up before them, and took up that which he was laying on, and departed to his house, glorifying God.
26 Amazement took hold on all, and they glorified God. They were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”
27 After these things he went out, and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and said to him, “Follow me!”
28 He left everything, and rose up and followed him.
29 Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them.
30 Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do.
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
33 They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”
34 He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.”
36 He also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not match the old.
37 No one puts new wine into old wine skins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
38 But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.
39 No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
referenced as last week's sermon: woe to Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum for not repenting despite miracles
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.
15 You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
referenced in passing as the turning toward the man passage in Luke 5 parallel
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness.
announced as a passage to be read aloud in responsorial form during the service
1 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.
4 Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight; that you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity. In sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness, That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
11 Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners shall be converted to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips. My mouth shall declare your praise.
16 For you don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do well in your good pleasure to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings. Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
quoted in full as the benediction about clothing yourselves with humility because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble
5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
paraphrased during communion: on the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread and the cup and said do this in remembrance of me, proclaiming his death until he comes
23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon followed a story from Luke 7 in which a sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet at the home of Simon the Pharisee. The pastor used it to look honestly at the difference between people who know how much they have been forgiven and people who have grown so familiar with Jesus that they have stopped feeling the weight of that forgiveness at all. The service also included a responsorial litany of penitence and closed with communion.
What was said
the pastor opened by noting that Jesus accepted the Pharisee's dinner invitation without hesitation. That detail matters. Jesus is a friend of sinners, yes, but he also walked through the door when a religious insider asked him in. He reclined at the table, feet out, the normal posture for a meal in that time and place, which is why the woman could approach his feet from behind without interrupting the meal.
The woman came in carrying an alabaster jar of perfume. She had intended, the pastor suggested, to anoint Jesus' feet, probably assuming someone had already washed them. Instead she was overcome with emotion, wept over his dirty feet, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them with the perfume. Letting her hair down in public was itself scandalous. She was not thinking about any of that.
Simon the Pharisee watched all of this and said to himself that if Jesus were actually a prophet he would know what kind of woman was touching him and would have nothing to do with her. Jesus heard the thought and answered it with a short parable: a moneylender forgave two debts, one of about a year and a half's wages, one of about two months. Which debtor loved the moneylender more? Simon gave the obvious answer, and Jesus told him he was right.
Then Jesus turned toward the woman and walked Simon through the contrast point by point. No water for his feet, no kiss of greeting, no anointing oil. She had done all three, and more, from the moment she arrived. The conclusion was not that Simon had broken rules, since none of those gestures were required. The conclusion was that the woman's overwhelming love came directly from knowing how much she had been forgiven. She had already been forgiven before she walked in. That is where the emotion came from.
The pastor connected this to the previous week's passage about Chorazin and Bethsaida, the towns that had witnessed miracle after miracle and still did not repent. His point was that people who grow up inside the church are in a similar danger. If you came to faith as a child, it can be easy to think your debt was never really that large to begin with. He brought up the older brother in the prodigal son story as the same figure, and a video he had seen of the guitarist from Korn describing the moment he was overwhelmed by God's forgiveness after a life full of darkness. That kind of flood of gratitude is exactly what the woman in the story shows, and exactly what familiarity with church can quietly drain away.
The service then moved into a litany of penitence, which the pastor introduced carefully, acknowledging that responsive readings feel foreign in a Baptist context. He asked people to read their part only if they meant it, and he was honest that he had spent years dismissing that form of worship before actually reading the words and finding them true. The litany covered pride, self-indulgence, anger, envy, dishonesty, and neglect of prayer, and moved from confession toward repentance and a request for restoration. Communion followed, with the pastor describing the table as open to anyone who has put their faith in Christ, while asking anyone holding something against someone else to make that right first.
The pastor closed with three verses from Luke 8 that are easy to skip over: a group of women, including Mary Magdalene and Joanna the wife of Herod's steward, traveled with Jesus and his disciples and funded the ministry out of their own resources. He used that detail to say something about Jesus' humility, that the one most people would identify as a carpenter chose to depend on the generosity of others to carry out his mission. The sermon ended where it began, with the question of whether we know how much we owe, and whether that knowledge is still alive in us.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor described Simon the Pharisee as someone who invited Jesus in but did not offer him water for his feet, a greeting kiss, or oil for his head. What do you think that kind of familiarity with Jesus, without real warmth toward him, looks like in our own lives today?
Jesus told Simon that the one forgiven a greater debt loves more. The pastor connected this to people who grew up in church and wondered what sins they were even confessing when they first accepted Christ. Do you think it is possible to lose a felt sense of how much you have been forgiven, and what tends to cause that?
Alright. Good morning, church. How are you? Shall we sing together? We'll stand and sing together.
I'd love to do that. Here's a good word from Jesus in John fourteen twenty seven to lead us into worship. Jesus says, peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives.
Don't let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. Let's sing. Leaning on the everlasting arms. What a fellowship.
What a fellowship. What a joy to find
Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Few announcements this morning. First one's gonna be Monday nights at first b. I'm assuming John 21.
What's going on, Carl?
Yeah. That you assumed right.
So we're finishing up the the book of John tomorrow, John 21. We'll go into James next week, but it's been so good. Just going verse by verse, chapter by chapter through the book of John. And Felix in Guadalupe are cooking dinner tomorrow. So meal, music, message, 06:00.
Yep. Sounds good. Restoration of Peter, one of my favorite stories actually. Monday nights, first be gospel conversation to follow which he'll go through and kinda add some thoughts to scripture but then ask us what our thoughts are on scripture too. So, that's fun.
Awana is happening in this room same time. So, 06:00 in the evening, everybody will gather in here to begin with and spread out all over the church. Kids matter to God and that's a great program. It's all over but it's great that it's here, right? We missed it while it was gone a while back.
If you want the Emails from church, you can sign up yourself at firstbjackson.org or you can call the office and we'll put you together with that plan. Also, first be in the Bible is a plan that we're going through together. We just went through Hebrews. It's so good. It's funny that everybody who started Hebrews said, this chapter is so rich.
This chapter is so rich. It's hard to plumb the depths of it in a paragraph or two but it's so, so good. If you want to be involved in that, it's pretty easy to get hooked up through that. If you would, send us your picture. We would appreciate it.
We'd rather it be horizontal or landscape rather than portrait or vertical. Okay? Horizontal is what we're looking for. I'm trying to rush through this morning. Horizontal picture right there.
There it is. There's another horizontal picture. You know what that little bell means up at the top of a YouTube page. You can hit that, and it'll notify you when Firstbee goes live on some morning. I think that's it.
I'm looking for anybody else this morning. We've got about 10 pounds of sugar to put in a five pound bag this morning. Is there anything else? Anything else? How about the if gathering?
Does anybody want to testify? Just stand up and say how do you do about that? What do you think? Amazing time. Yeah, I think
it was awesome because it
Amen. So, this if gathering is basically a worldwide gathering and it was Friday and Saturday here. Y'all are planning another kind of another one will be, I'm saying it on mic. Sorry. I'll just repeat after you.
I'm translating from English to English. Sorry. May seventh and eighth, somewhere around there. In In Bondurant at the At the Browns Farm. There's Natalie back there.
Sorry, we didn't plan any of this ahead. The If gathering was fantastic. I heard it from my wife last night and the night before. I'm glad that we could host it this year. We hope to be a part of what's going on in the worldwide church.
If y'all would, stand up with us. We're gonna stand in the love of Jesus and sing about it. In Jesus name, amen.
Darkness tries to roll over my boat, sorrow comes to steal the joy I own. Brokenness and pain is all I know. I won't be shaken. I won't be shaken. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love.
My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. Not afraid to leave my past behind. Oh, I won't be shaking. I won't be shaking.
My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a I stand in your love. My fear doesn't stand a chance chance when I stand in your love. There's power. There's power that can break off every chain.
There's power that can make the outer gray. There's resurrection power that can save. My feet doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My feet doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love.
Here's a good word from second Timothy. It says, if we are faithless, he remains faithful. This is God's character, his nature. He doesn't he doesn't turn away from that. He remains faithful.
He cannot disown himself.
Begin. Our probation through the days. You see it through to the end. You see it through to the end. The Lord our God.
The Lord our God is ever faithful, you're the Lord our God. In the silence, in the way, still we can know you are good. All your plans are for your blow. Yes. We can know you are good.
Yes. We can know you are good. The Lord our God is You will lead us and forever we will say you're the Lord our God. And we won't move. We won't move without you.
We won't move without you. You're the light of all the know that we need. We won't move without you. We won't move without you you're the light of all that we need lord our God is ever faithful never changing God,
we thank you for your faithfulness this morning, that even when we are faithless, you are faithful. And, God, that be let that be our prayer, what we're just saying, that we won't move without you. You truly are. You are the light of all and all that we need. Jesus name.
Amen. Amen. You can have a seat here for a minute. This is the worship through giving part of the service. I'll invite the ushers to come forward and KC and Amy.
And Blake, would you mind just muting me just for a second here? Thank you. So, from Colossians two six and seven, it says this, so then just as you've received Christ Jesus as lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Ray, would you pray?
God almighty, thank you for all that you have done for us, Lord. You are blessing every day. Every day we wake up, Lord. Your mercies are new every morning. I thank you, Lord, that you are leaning towards us with your goodness and your grace, that you're welcoming sinners home, Lord.
Sinners, contrite, humble before you, and you're welcoming them home. The whole prodigal son story comes to mind, Lord, where you hike up your road and you run out to meet us. In Jesus' name, Lord, we pray that we would be the continuing body of Christ on earth, really seeking to to be a part of the process of you saving someone. In Jesus' name, we thank you, Lord. We pray that you would advance your good gospel through the the offering this morning, that it would go exactly where it needs to go to accomplish exactly what you want to have accomplished.
We pray, Lord, to be doing your will and your way. And in Jesus' name, Lord, we pray that you'd show us that collectively but also individually, that we would know, Lord, when to speak a word or when to hold one back, that we would know when, Lord, is the opportune moment, the kairos moment. In Jesus' name, may we stand ready with a word of defense for the hope that is within us, Lord. Defense, not offense. In Jesus' name, we pray that we would be ready.
Amen.
So I'm gonna sing a prayer over you. So whatever your posture is, if you just wanna close your eyes, if you wanna hold out your hands, whatever posture you wanna choose, this is a prayer for everybody today.
I speak the name of Jesus over you. In your hurting, in your sorrow, I will ask my God to move. I speak the name because it's all that I can do. In expectation, I'll seek heaven and pray this for you. I pray for your healing, that circumstances would change.
I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus' name. I pray that a breakthrough would happen today. I pray miracles over your life in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. I speak the name no grave could ever hold he is greater he is stronger he's the God of possible I pray for
Amen. Amen. Thank you, Casey and Amy. Children's church is happening downstairs. Uh-oh.
Here it is. It's not clicking like it's supposed to here, Blake. There we go. So, this morning, I grew up I've said this many times here. I grew up in a baptist church that's nine months before I was born, Southern Baptist Church in Georgia, and that was my tradition.
Every Sunday by my account over the years, I've been keeping up. Whenever somebody tells me the background, I just write it down. We've got a list of 40 something denominational backgrounds in this church, and probably 25 of them are represented every Sunday. Okay? I attempt, I try to just stick with what it says.
Y'all know that if you've been coming for a while. We just stick what it says. I went with Tanya this week to St. John's Episcopal. And Jimmy is a friend of mine.
Jimmy the rector over there is a good friend. And when he saw me and I saw him from a little bit of a distance, he looked and goes, like this and I did the same thing. He goes, I'm not supposed to smile today. But it was Ash Wednesday. That's why I was there for Ash Wednesday and it's a time of year in the church calendar where we kind of take time for penitence and contrition and thinking about soberly our life and the life of the body of Christ as a community.
Still can't hide that there's great joy in seeing another believer, right? But it's a time for it. So I'm gonna go through a story that I think is rather simple this morning. I'll add to it the way that I usually do, but it's not long. It's one story.
And then I'm a read Psalm 51. Psalm 51, I'm not gonna do a responsorial for Psalm 51 because I didn't put the words up on the screen and I doubt that many of us know it by heart. But I'm gonna read Psalm 51 when we hit a place, and then I'm going to give you all a chance to do sort of a responsorial reading and it'll be up here on the screen. The green part is your part, the highlighted part. I'll read the first portion.
I'm saying this at the beginning for some of y'all like me to adjust. Okay? I'm saying it right now. I know how I grew up. I know what this does to people.
I know that it kind of bristles like we're doing what? So in the back of the hymnal over here, there are responsorial Psalms. We just don't do them very often. Okay? If you don't mean it, don't say it.
Alright? If you don't mean it, don't say it. And I promise you, nobody will judge you sitting next well, no, I can't promise that. But I tell you what, the sermon's gonna get to them. If if they're judging you for that, they're gonna it's gonna get to them.
So, God, would you help us this morning? Would you help us with our blind spots? Would you shine up the reflection on our rearview mirrors, lord? Would you allow us to see the things that we have done in a new and different light? Would you allow us to see, Lord, our own need for you?
Would you allow us, Lord, for the sake of repentance, would you allow us to see what we need to repent from? Lord, in Jesus' name, we pray. The blessing that was just spoken over us, I pray every day for circumstances to change for people. I pray every day for addictions to be dropped, for relationships to be mended, for people to be healed, and I pray that, Lord, but today, is a somewhat somber day for those of us who are, admittedly, pharisees. In Jesus' name, I pray that we would begin to recognize our own lack and our own need for you.
And I thank you, Lord, that you've given us story after story in the Bible that puts pride against humility, and you've shown us your example of humility, Lord, for David and the life of David in the Psalms where he had extreme pride in some moments and extreme humility in others, Lord, and he had a heart that sought after you. I pray, Lord, that you would reach us today in your old and new testaments in this place right now that you would bless and that you would transform us, that we would be after your heart. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Alright. Disclaimer over. It is working now. Now one of the Pharisees, one of the Pharisees was requesting actually, says, yeah, one of the Pharisees was requesting him, Jesus, to eat with him. And he entered the Pharisees' house and he reclined at the table.
So this says something right here right off the bat. I've talked a whole lot about the legalistic ditch and the licentious ditch, and we know that Jesus is a friend of tax collectors and sinners. We already know that. We cover it all the time, but he got an invitation from a Pharisee. He didn't say no.
He went. Praise God. He went. He's open to the invitation, and so he went into this Pharisee's house. He reclined at the table.
We, through the Renaissance and seeing the history of the paintings of Jesus at the Last Supper, we see him sitting upright in a chair, but that's not the way they ate there. Still not the way they eat in some places in the world. Tanya and Pascal and I had a chance to go to Morocco and the norm for the way that you eat is this. It's rested upon your left elbow laying down horizontal, like Carl was in the picture actually. If you're like this and you're eating with your right hand, you don't use your left hand to eat.
That's just not kosher. That's not cool. You're sitting there, and normally, this would be where the table is and your feet are outer, reclined at the table, meant your feet are sticking out. Are you with me so far? Why is the pastor laying down?
This is crazy. I've heard of kneeling, but laying down, he's not even prostrate. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to eat with him, and he entered the pharisee's house and he reclined at the table. He was gonna eat with him. Table fellowship is a big deal.
A big big deal in the New Testament. A lot of what Paul talks about in the aftermath of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, ascension is about table fellowship and who and how and what and what the new rules are. Right? Now one of the pharisees requested to come meet with him and Jesus accepted the invitation, went into the pharisee's house. He reclined at the table
And And
so, we're because anybody who touches do dead bodies is ceremonially unclean and would be a sinner. Still gotta have tanners. Still gotta have people that do that job. There are collection people, like people who collect the taxes, not just tax collectors, but even the Jewish taxes. Those people, because money, you don't know where it's been, touching that makes you unclean.
There are a lot of different occupations that just make you ceremonially unclean. Could have been that, because sinner, that's just what it means, somebody, who falls short. Wouldn't it be terrible just to know that in your occupation you just fell short all the time? There's nothing you could do about it. But that's not what this is.
That's not what this is. This is this woman was a sinner. We see it by the way the pharisee reacts to her even if it's in his own thoughts. And it is no doubt this is a woman of some sort of ill reputation. Okay?
She's a sinner. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner, and when she learned that he, Jesus, was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume. Pretty common there. Thousands and thousands of these things have been collected, these little alabaster vials. It's what they kept perfume, precious liquids in.
And she brought it. Now right here, some of y'all are going, Wait a second. I've heard this story before. Monday night. Carl just went through, all of John, and I know in John 12, there's this lady who does this, but she's named there, and we know who that was.
And actually, there are lots of folks named Mary in the New Testament, and so people put this. Luke does not name this woman. He puts it in a different place entirely. We believe that this happened twice, perhaps three times, at least twice though. And so this is fairly early in his Galilean ministry.
It is not the later one with Mary of Bethany at Jesus' table. Don't conflate the two. But the alabaster vial of perfume she brought in and standing behind him at his feet his feet are out, he's reclined at the table, his feet are out and she's standing behind him at his feet. She began to wet his feet with her tears. And she went in there with alabaster jar of perfume to anoint his feet to clean them, but he she was overcome with emotion, began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head.
Now that in itself is scandalous. I mean, a married woman who let her hair down in public could be divorced for such an offense. She didn't care anything about social mores at all. She was overcome with emotion. We'll see why in just a minute.
She let down her hair and began to wipe the tears, clean his feet as it were, and she began kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, and this is he's saying it to himself, Jesus can hear what he's saying to himself. He said to himself, if this man were a prophet that is contrary to fact statement. In Greek, it's obvious. It is in English too.
If you if you stick to the subjunctive rules, it could be a couple of different things. But if this man were a prophet, and he's not, he's saying to himself, even though he invited him in, if this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this is, who is touching him. That she is a sinner. It's a moral situation going on, not just that she works in a job where it makes her unceremonially unclean. This is somebody who has done something that everybody knows about.
Oh, it's heartbreaking. Now when the pharisee who had invited him in, he invited him in. Jesus came. He said to himself, if this man were a prophet, and I know darn well he's not, I can tell because he would know if he were a prophet, and he wouldn't have anything to do with her. Oh.
And Jesus responded and said to him, Simon Simon actually is a very common name too. So if you look at this story and you look at the story of in John, it's Simon the leper that Jesus went to eat with. Simon the leper, formerly leper, but Simon the leper. This is Simon the Pharisee. It is the most common name in Judaism at the time.
It's all over the place. Shimon, Simon. One of his disciples. Right? At least one.
And Jesus responded and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he replied, say it, teacher. Teacher, in Luke, is always used for an outsider. His disciples call him master. That's cool.
Say it, teacher. Teach on, buddy. Basically, I know you're not a prophet because you wouldn't have anything to do with her. Go ahead, teacher. Teach.
A money lender had two debtors. The one owed 500 denarii. Five hundred days wages. Year and a half worth of wages. That's a lot.
And the other, 50, about two months, little less than two months. Money lender had two debtors. Actually, if you consider workdays, it's two months wages. Money lender had two debtors. One owed a year and a half's worth of salary and the other owed a couple of months.
And when they were both unable to repay, they could not repay, they didn't have the means, He canceled the debts of both. So which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, Well, I assume, I guess, the one for whom he canceled the greater debt. And he said, You have judged correctly. That's right.
You got it. Ding ding ding. And turning toward the woman, just seeing that little phrase right there, turning towards the woman. In Luke, we've already seen a place where it says, and turning to the man, in Luke five. And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, do you see this woman?
Do you see her? Well, of course, he sees her. They're right there at the same table. I entered into your house you gave me no water for my feet. Now it was not that he had to.
He didn't have to do that. There was no requirement that he had to. It was a cultural blessing, if you would. It was something that if you had invited a teacher into your home or someone who's passing through town into your home, it was a kind gesture to do it. It showed respect.
It showed care, concern. But you didn't have to. It wasn't a requirement. You didn't have to do it. Some people are saying, oh, it's such a social faux pas that he didn't do it.
It was it would have been a blessing to Jesus to do that, but he didn't do it. We see Jesus doing that. Right? We just covered that in John. While his disciples are fussing about who's going to be greatest in the kingdom, Jesus pulls out the basin and washes their feet.
Turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, you see this woman? I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet, But she has wet my feet with her tears and she's wiped them with her hair. You kind of have the sense that she didn't know she was going to wash his feet. She knew she was going to anoint him. I think she probably had the assumption that certainly everybody would have already washed him.
She didn't bring a towel. She didn't bring a basin. She came in and she just was overcome, and she's crying over Jesus' dirty feet. You gave me no kiss. That's not a requirement either.
I mean, if you come to my house, I'm probably not going give you a kiss, you know? Not in this day, not anytime. Probably not. It wasn't a requirement, but it was customary. It was something that people did.
It was something that when you respect and love someone, was a normal thing. It was a firm handshake, you know, in a church. You gave me no kiss. But she has not stopped kissing my feet since the time I came in. You didn't anoint my head with oil, which is actually that one is a little bit more customary and normal.
If we're going to be together for the evening, when you come in, I wanna give you a blessing and anoint your head with oil. Do you remember there's a proverb that says or psalm that says, how good it is when brothers can dwell together in unity. It is like the oil running down Aaron's beard. There's something to be said for that little act of anointing. You did not anoint my head with oil.
You didn't have to, but you didn't. But she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, no doubt. You know it. I know it.
She knows it. There's not anybody here that doesn't know it. For this reason, I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven for she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little just loves a little. I I feel like what this sermon is saying is for those of us who have grown up familiar with Jesus, and the reason I say it is because of last week's sermon.
Last week's sermon where he says, woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if Tyre and Sidon had had the miracles performed in them that you've had performed in you, they would have turned. They would have repented long ago. And I tell you what, Tyre and Sidon are gonna do better on judgment day than you are.
And then he says to Capernaum, where he lived. Capernaum, where he lived and did lots of miracles. And woe to you Capernaum, for I say to you that if Sodom and Gomorrah had had or Sodom had had the same miracles done in them, they would have turned long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And I said last week, and I'm saying it again today, for those of us who have grown up in church, we kinda sometimes just start feeling like we don't have much of a debt to owe. Yeah.
We might have one time long ago, but a lot of us who accepted Christ when we were little were thinking about, what did I even when I was accepting Christ, what were the sins that were running through my head? Sticking gum under the desk? Like, what could I have possibly done at that point? You know? It's real.
Don't get me wrong. It can be certainly real, but if you start feeling like, well, I never did that. I never ran. You're an older brother in the prodigal son story. Right?
You're the older brother. Well, I never did that. I've always done
exactly what you expected of me.
I never went away and had a wild time. I didn't do all that fun stuff. I stayed here and worked. I think that Jesus is saying, he still comes in when you invite him in as a Pharisee. He still comes in and he's saying, it's still a debt that you can't pay.
It you don't have the means to pay. You may be forgiven. He doesn't exactly say that the Pharisee is forgiven right here. He's just saying that if you have a little debt that you can't pay or you have a big debt that you can't pay, the one who has the big debt that can't pay and it's forgiven oh, just imagine somebody paying your student loans. Just think about that.
Just just imagine that for a moment. Okay? Big debt. God almighty. May we not ever escape the feeling of joy and the emotion of knowing that you've been forgiven.
I was listening to a little short video this week, and it was the guitar player for of all all all groups. Alright? We're all over the map this morning. Episcopal, responsorial reading, and a Korn guitar player. The guy from Korn, death metal crazy stuff.
Right? He accepted Christ and he was absolutely overcome with it and he just could not stop crying. He couldn't stop telling the story about Jesus and how all of the, he says, dark things that he had done. All of these dark things that this rock and roll millionaire had done. And then he said, the feeling of having been overwhelmed by the forgiveness of God just changed my whole life.
One who's been forgiven little loves little, and I think churchy church folks of I'm including myself in that number. I think that we have a tendency to think, well, I really hadn't done all that much wrong. Oh, pride is the original sin that got the devil thrown out of heaven. And he said to her, and this is where it really reminds me of that Luke five passage, and he said to her, your sins have been forgiven. Right?
The guy who is lowered through the roof in Luke five, his friend's faith, Jesus saw their faith and he's lowered through and he says, so that you know that the starting the son of man has on earth to forgive sins, I say to you, he turns to the paralytic and says, arise and walk. Which is easier? Say arise and walk or your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. He arises, he walks.
Right? He said her, your sins have been forgiven. They have been forgiven. She had been forgiven before she got there. That's where the emotion came from.
She was forgiven. Where Jesus did this, we don't know. Where God did this, where she repented of her sin, we don't know. Not told. He says, your sins have been forgiven.
Indeed, they have. So and then those who were reclining at the table with him, so it wasn't just Jesus and Shimon, Simon, there were other people there too. And then those who were reclining at the table with him began saying to themselves, and Jesus could hear all this too, just like he could in that room, that stuffed room where that guy was lowered through the roof, same thing. Who is this man who even forgives sins? Well, Luke is saying he's the Christ.
He's the Messiah. He's the one we've been waiting for. He's the coming one. He is the tacheb, the prophet that Moses said to be looking for. He is the guy.
And then those who reclined at the table, who is this man who even forgives sins? Same thoughts there. And then the last verse from chapter seven is this, and he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. You know, we always say John is the gospel of belief. If John's the gospel of belief, Luke is the gospel of faith, then they're the same thing.
Okay? It is what you believe is your faith and you act out of what you believe. It does not happen the other way around. Okay? It's not because of what you do that you are, it's because of what you are that you do.
Are you with me? He said to the woman, your faith has saved you and go in peace. That that statement alone is the closing from last week where he said, come to me all of you who are weary, and I'll give you rest. Go in peace. There's no debt remaining.
You can go under my comfortable easy burden of knowing that you're walking forward with a clean record before God, just excited to do whatever it is that he has for you to do. That's amazing. That's the end of chapter seven, and now we'll go to this little part about pride versus humility. So pride versus humility. This is all across the Bible, always, always, always, always.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, I've been thinking a lot about the story of Esther with Haman and Mordecai. Do you all remember that story? I won't go into it, but if you remember the story, you know. Haman sets up all the conditions favorable to persecute a lesser group of people. He makes moves to do so, changes laws, does whatever he has to distort things so that a certain group of people can be killed and because of great bravery.
God's name is never mentioned in Esther. Have you all heard that before? God's name is never mentioned but he's all he's on every he's in everything that's going on. God's person for the moment was Esther to be able to go to the king and say, at the penalty of her own death, this isn't right. And it turns out that the gallows that Haman was erecting for Mordecai and for all of the other was the one that Haman hung from because of his pride.
The humility required of Esther, the humility required of Mordecai, and the humility that is required of us. Pride versus humility is huge. We have it three times in the New Testament. It is throughout the Old Testament. It's basically every story you see.
In the Old Testament, there's an element of pride versus humility. In the New Testament, it says, God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. That's in James.
It's in Peter. It's all over the place. Pride versus humility really comes down to self justification. I am righteous. I do everything that I can.
I think I'm just fine. Versus contrition. If you you look at the heading, like the heading of the sermon today or the heading in NASB, it says, A sinful but contrite woman comes to Jesus. We're either going to be self justifying or contrite, one or the other. And we're either going to be proud and thinking, No, I'm pretty good.
I did it my way. If God had wanted me to do it any different, he'd make me different. If he tells us in his word what is right and what is wrong, and we look at it and say, I think I can get by on this. He made me this way. He made me to be proud.
We all have an element in us that makes us want to self justify. If I were to give up something for Lent, that's what I'd give up, hopefully. Just God, me away from justifying self. May I be more contrite about my sin? May I admit it quickly, more often?
So here, this is the litany of penitence I was telling you about. Alright, I'll read the white part. When it gets to the green part, if you mean it, read it. You don't have to read it. You don't have to read it.
And I can't promise the people next to you won't judge you, I can't promise that, but they probably won't say it either. You know what I mean? No. God help us. I I've always said about liturgic liturgical churches, it's good for me.
Every once in a while, I go in and read what's written. I was brought up my whole life to just reject that out of hand. That's not the way we do things. That's not the way we do things. And then I started reading what it said and went, oh, maybe it should be.
If you mean it, read it. When it gets to the green part, I'll read the rest of it. Most holy and merciful father to prayer. We confess to you and to one another and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth. That's everybody who's ever put their faith in God and been saved.
That we have sinned by our own fault and thought, word, and deed in what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven. Have mercy on us, Lord.
We've been deaf to your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ and we have grieved your Holy Spirit. Have mercy on us, Lord. We confess to you, Lord, all of our past unfaithfulness, the pride and hypocrisy and impatience of our lives, we confess to you, Lord. Our self indulgent appetites and ways, our exploitation of other people, we confess to you, Lord.
Our anger at our own frustration can I get a witness? My goodness. Our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves, we confess to you, Lord. Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts and our dishonesty in daily life and work, we confess Our to you, negligence in prayer and worship and our failure to commend the faith that is in us, We confess to you, Lord. Accept our repentance.
There's a change here. Did you notice that? Have mercy on us first and accept our repentance second and now it's going to sorry. We confess to you, O Lord, second and then accept our repentance. It's a turn.
And one of the reasons I'm going here is because in our study, the Harmony of the Gospels, Jesus makes a turn at that mention of John the Baptist and he takes up the theme of repentance and will for some time now. Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs that we have done, for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty. Accept our repentance, Lord. Praise God that he does. For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt towards those who differ from us.
Accept our repentance, Lord. For our waste and our pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who come after us, accept our repentance, Lord. Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us. Favorably hear us for your mercy is great. Accomplish in us the work of your salvation that we may show forth your glory in the world.
By the cross and passion of your son, our Lord, bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection. Amen. I think that's the last slide and we're gonna go to a time of communion right now. Now usually, I give a little blurb at the beginning and say, this is an absolutely open table. Absolutely open.
If you feel like you're still holding on to something, though, you're holding something against somebody, I I beg you to make that right. If you feel like there's something that you're not willing to let go of and there's something that you're not willing to confess, which what we just said confesses a lot, then let the cup pass. But it's an absolutely open table to anyone looking for God to transform their lives. For anyone who's ever put their faith in Christ, this is an open table. And table fellowship is really important, right, in the New Testament.
So it's communion. We're gonna pass out or the elders will be passing out. You can come on in and do that. I'm gonna pray. And would you play something pretty?
Yeah. Nothing but corn, please. Okay? Sorry. Lord God, in Jesus' name, I'm so thankful that you are reaching out.
And God, I thank you that you allow us the strength to see from time to time a glimpse, Lord, of our own sinfulness. I thank you, Lord, that you have made a way for us to be forgiven and free. I thank you for your good gospel that cleanses us from sin, Lord, that empowers us to go forward lighter without that burden. Lord, having removed the speck from our own eye, able to help others, the log in our eye to help with the speck in theirs. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that we would be transformed.
Would you bless, Lord, this little plastic cup with a little cellophane and tinfoil lid that is representative of your body and your blood? The body you lived this life perfectly, you had no sin debt of your own, but you voluntarily and sacrificially gave your perfect record for anyone who would put their faith in you. Thank you. Your innocent blood that was shed, Lord, that washes us clean. I thank you, Lord, that we can receive the cleansing because if we confess our sins to you, Lord, you're faithful and just to be forgiven our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
That's what we want. In Jesus' name, that's what we're saying by taking this bread and cup. Would you bless it, Lord, as we distribute it? If there's someone among us that doesn't know you, Lord, I pray that the witness of the one sitting next to him would bring them to a place of peace and your forgiveness. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Now on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, and it was after he washed all of his disciples' feet amidst their squabbling, and it was after he had taught them for four chapters in John, and told them about the coming time that he, after supper, took the bread and he said to them that this is my body. Take this and eat of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. And after the bread, he also took the cup, which would have been a common cup. Things methods change, but the sentiment is the same.
He took that cup and he said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink of it and do it in remembrance of me. Paul says that when we do that, we proclaim Jesus' death until he comes again. When Jesus said, do it in remembrance of me, I think he wants us to remember all these stories that we're talking about every Sunday. I honestly am really, really on the hierarchical spectrum.
I am very, very far about away from a high view of the Eucharist myself. I think he's saying every single time you eat, think about me and all that I've done. I love this too. In Jesus' name, Lord, we have been blessed this morning by repenting from sin. Would you help us as we go forward, Lord?
I pray that you would not that you would not leave us the way that we are, but you'd continue your transforming work. In Jesus' name, amen. I have three more verses. I don't know where they'd fit any other Sunday, but this is a statement again of Jesus' humility, think. Soon afterward, Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, which is what we know him to do, right?
Proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God, praise God. The 12 were with him. Okay. We know that. There's disciples that go everywhere he goes.
And also some women who had been healed, Luke says, of evil spirits and sicknesses. He makes a distinction between the two. And also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses, there was Mary who was called Magdalene from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward. So this lady in Herod's household was following Jesus from town to town, going around with him, and Susanna, and many others. It wasn't just a little group of people, it was a merry band.
And then it says right here, these ladies were contributing to the support out of their private means. Think about the humility that takes for a construction worker who has been working with his dad, you know, all the time. He knows how to build stuff. And for his itinerant, missionary means the way that God chooses to provide is just a group of people that are willing to fund them. It's it's it's it's hard.
Making a transition from being somebody who worked your whole life to being in ministry was the hardest transition in my life. One of the hardest ones in my life was just going, This is God's money. People gave this money to God, and I'm the one spending it. That's hard. But Jesus, that's the way he did it.
That's the way he did it. It's an example that we follow. It's just another statement of Jesus' humility and something I think we skip over. If I had asked all of you when you came in, write down what Jesus did for a living. I think most of you would have said carpenter or builder.
But he came to proclaim a message, and that message was of love and forgiveness for all. He went into the Pharisee's house. He allowed the woman to anoint his feet knowing who she was and knowing who he was. Whether your debt is small or great when you came in here today, if you have been forgiven of it, and you have. If you've confessed it, God says you have been forgiven of it.
Will you go forward knowing that this is the place where God's love and forgiveness is found? Faith in Christ. Amen. Amen. That's the blessing of day.
Oh, Blake, what's the blessing today? What's the benediction? Would you stand with me? We're not even singing a song.
Doc songs?
Hey, let's do that.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
Amen.
First Peter five five says, in the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders, all of you, and clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud but he shows favor. He gives grace to the humble. Amen.
