THE GRATEFUL SINNER – Luke 7:36-50

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 24, 2019 under 2019 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; November 24, 2019 from Luke 7:36-50

Theme: Our gratitude to Jesus shows how much we realize that we have been saved by Him.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.

This morning, let’s consider the story of a truly thankful woman. You’ll find her story in Luke 7. The Gospel writer Luke was telling us some of the stories about Jesus’ earthly ministry. And he wrote;

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace” (Luk3 7:36-50).

I have truly grown to love this woman and her story. I expect to meet her in heaven; and when I do, I look forward very much to hearing about her encounter with Jesus—and to thanking her for the encouragement her story has given me. I identify with her very much; and I suspect that many here today do so as well.

* * * * * * * * * *

As I was reflecting on her story in this passage this week, I couldn’t help thinking about my own. My story is, of course, quite different from hers. We’re told that she was “a woman in the city who was a sinner”. I was more of a rural sinner. Her sins were out in the open. Mine weren’t so much so. But I, like her, am a sinner who is eternally grateful to have been saved by Jesus.

I grew up in a family that wasn’t a church-going family. I didn’t have very much in the way of any kind of church-life or Christian input. I knew that Jesus was important, and I knew that the Bible had some important things to say about Him. But that was about all that I knew.

I have shared with you before that, at a certain point of my childhood, I had made the decision to no longer believe in God. I didn’t come to this conclusion as a result of any sophisticated ‘philosophical’ consideration; because I was far too young for that kind of thing. Instead, my reasoning was purely practical and self-serving. I had decided that if there was no God, I could do whatever I wanted to do. I declared myself to be an ‘atheist’ (as far as I understood what an atheist was); and I went on for much of my childhood and into my teenage years living and thinking and speaking and behaving as if there was no God.

I am deeply ashamed of all the things I did in those days. I had a very dirty mind and a very filthy mouth. Some of you know that I have a talent for drawing; and because I wasn’t very popular in school, I would use my drawing talents to try to impress my friend by drawing lots of dirty pictures. I also used lots of dirty language and told lots of dirty jokes. I was also cruel and insensitive to the people that I should have shown love and kindness and respect to. By the time I was almost at the beginning of adulthood, I felt like a very, very dirty person inside—and often was a very dirty person on the outside too. I made a public show of not believing in God. But inwardly, I knew all along that He was really there … and I felt horribly guilty before Him. I knew that I was going to go to hell; and I knew I deserved it. So; on top of being dirty and filthy and mean and cruel and insensitive and disrespectful, I was also deeply sad, and fearful, and hopeless, and pretty much resigned to going to hell. I went through life just as Paul the apostle described in Ephesians 2:12; “having no hope and without God in the world.” I wanted to die; but was terrified of what would happen after I did.

So; that was the condition I was in. I didn’t know it could be any different. But I have also shared with you before that, in the summer of 1973, I happened to watch a Billy Graham crusade on television. I heard from him that Jesus died for my sins; and that if I believed on Him, God would declare me “justified”a—’just-as-if-I’d’ never sinned at all. I listened to what he had to say; and remember thinking how I had never heard such a thing before. I wanted so very much to start my life over; and Billy Graham was telling me that if I placed my trust in the cross of Jesus, I would be ‘a new creation’ in God’s sight. The Holy Spirit graciously opened my heart to the good news that I was hearing; and I prayed the prayer that evening to receive Jesus as my Savior. And no sooner had I done so than I felt every stain of filthiness and guilt before God fall away from me. I was suddenly made clean inside; and I experienced the love of God for me for the first time in my life!

I was so excited and happy about what had happened to me that, the very next day, I called my best friend and told him about it. I told him, “Do you know what I did last night? I got ‘just-as-if-ied’!” I was so very grateful that the Lord Jesus saved me—and because of it, I loved Him very much! I was thankful to Him that I was no longer living under the burden of the horrible things I did and said and thought. I was grateful to know that I was not going to hell. And I even remember the day—not long afterward—when I came to understand that I was not only no longer destined for hell, but was now destined to be with Jesus in heaven forever.

That was forty-six years ago. I am still unspeakably grateful. Ever since then, I have sought to live my life as one big “Thank You!” to the Lord Jesus for having saved me. I don’t always do very well at that, I’ll admit; but I still try to live a big “Thank You!” to Him just the same.

So; I love the story of this woman. She’s was grateful sinner; and so am I.

The gratitude of a redeemed sinner to the Lord Jesus is the greatest kind of gratitude there is. It’s what we might call a ‘foundational’ kind of gratitude; because it serves as the basis for true thanksgiving in every other area of life. We can be thankful for our family and friends, or that we have a home, or that we have good food to eat, or jobs to go to, or fun things to do. We can be thankful for our nation and for the freedoms we enjoy. We can be thankful for our health, and our strength, and for the meaningful things that we get to do. We should be thankful to God for all of those things. But not all of us can have them; and not all of us who have them will necessarily always have them. If our thankfulness to God is based on our possession of those blessings alone, then we may lose our grateful attitude toward Him once those things are gone. But if we have our thanks based upon in the fact that we have been saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, and that our sins are completely forgiven by God and are washed away by His blood, and that we are now destined to go to heaven and enjoy the glory of the inheritance of Jesus Christ forever, then we have a basis for thanksgiving to God that outlasts everything else.

If we have been saved by the blood of Jesus, then our thankfulness as redeemed sinners is the kind of thanks that makes us thankful with an enduring thankfulness—no matter what else we may have besides. And the story of this woman in Luke 7 is all about that kind of thankfulness. It’s about knowing what it is that we have been saved from by Jesus—and how it should make us want to live a life of thanks to Him. It teaches us that our gratitude to Jesus is an indication of our awareness of how much we have been saved from by Him.

Let’s consider her story together. And as we do, may the Holy Spirit help us to rest our faith completely upon the cross of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins—and as a result, grow in our thankfulness to Him.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; I suggest that we think of this story in terms of the people that we find in it. We find three main people—the woman, the Pharisee, and the Lord Jesus Himself.

First, let’s consider the woman. She’s described to us as “a woman in the city who was a sinner”. And that, most likely, was a euphemistic way of saying that she was a prostitute. She not only sinned; but other people sinned with her. We don’t know by what tragic course of life she came to be ‘a woman in the city who was a sinner’; but there probably had not been a day that went by that she didn’t feel horribly dirty inside.

But there must be a part of her story that we’re not told. We’re brought into the story at a time when she was expressing her thankfulness and gratitude to Jesus for what He had done for her. And so, she had most likely encountered the Lord Jesus some time beforehand; and He had revealed Himself to her as the Savior who is authorized to forgive sin. And it must be that she experienced complete forgiveness by faith in Him. All of the horrible burden of the guilt of her sin—guilt that had perhaps accumulated over many years because of the sinfulness of her vocation—was instantly washed way; and Jesus made her finally feel clean inside. He set her free to walk away from her life of sin that had held her a prisoner, and to go forth and live as the woman had God made her to be.

I can understand why she’d be grateful; can’t you?

And it must also be that she had heard that the Lord Jesus was going to be at this Pharisee’s house. Back in those days, a meal was a bit more of a public event than we might be used to today. Everyday folks would come and watch as other people ate. And the way that people would sit to eat was different as well. We sit in chairs at a table; but back then, they would recline on a couch with their elbow resting on the table as they partook of the food, and with their feet behind them resting on the couch. This woman—a woman with a sinful reputation in the city—must have been very brave to have made her way to the home of an ‘outwardly righteous’ Pharisee. But she did so because she was motivated by overwhelming gratitude to Jesus for what He had done for her.

We’re told that she had come bringing an alabaster flask of fragrant oil with her. Such an item was expensive—and someone would only open it and pour out its contents for a very special occasion. It may be that this alabaster flask had cost her all that she had. And we’re told that she came behind where Jesus was, and began to weep. They were tears of gratitude. And as her tears fell onto the feet of our Lord, she began to wash His feet with those tears. Then, she did something that might have appeared shocking to those who were present—especially considering what kind of a woman she had been. She let down her hair. That was not something a woman ordinarily did in public. And she began to wipe our Lord’s feet with the very hair of her head. Then, she kissed His feet; and the word that is used to describe this isn’t the ordinary word for a ‘friendly’ kiss. It was the word for a deeply affectionate kiss. She was demonstrating deep love and gratitude for Him in those kisses. And then—perhaps most shocking of all—she snapped open that expensive alabaster flask, and poured out the fragrant oil upon our Lord’s feet. The room would have been filled with the scent.

And do you notice that we’re not told that our Lord pulled His feet away from her—or that He tried to stop her extreme expressions toward Himself—or that He told her that she really couldn’t afford such extravagance and that a simple ‘thank you’ will do. Instead, it seems that He received her actions toward Him—and even later commended what she had done.

You know; it would not be appropriate for you or me to try to do the same things. Those things were unique to her; and they tell something of her story. The kisses, the hair, the perfume, the money that must have been spent in buying that bottle—those all may have been things that where part of her sinful past. But now, because Jesus had forgiven her sin, they were rendered to Him as holy offerings of thanks. Extravagant thanks indeed!

By the way; what have you offered of yourself to Jesus in thanks for His saving grace to you? This woman’s story teaches us that the degree to which you and I will go to express our gratitude to Him says a lot about how much we have felt His forgiveness. Have you experienced His forgiveness? If so, how do you show your thanks to Him?

* * * * * * * * * *

So; there was this dear woman. I love her for her deep expression of thanks; don’t you? I believe that Jesus loved her for it too. But that brings us to the Pharisee. He didn’t seem to love it at all.

As we read on in this passage, we find that his name was Simon. As a Pharisee, he was a man who was careful to live in strict obedience to the written law of God. He had invited Jesus over to have dinner with him—and it seems to me that he did so in order to get to know Jesus a bit better. Perhaps he wanted to ask Him some questions about His ministry and examine Him about His teaching. People were saying that Jesus was a prophet; and perhaps Simon wanted to know for himself if the things people were saying about Jesus were true.

Now; when I read this story, I have wondered if Simon didn’t even have a bit of a cold attitude toward Jesus. Back in those days, when someone would come to your home, they would have had to travel along dusty roads. Your guest would have dirty and uncomfortable feet. And so, as a common courtesy, you would arrange for one of the servants to wash their feet for them. It was a kind of way, back in those days, of saying, “Take your shoes off and stay a while.” And perhaps because your guest’s journey to your home was long and tiring, it was also customary to pour refreshing oil on their head. Now; I’m glad we don’t do that today. But it was a very common way of making someone feel welcome. And then, it would have been customary to greet your guest with a friendly kiss. It was a way of greeting them with something like a welcoming ‘handshake’ or a hearty ‘hug’.

Simon didn’t do any of these things for Jesus. He didn’t offer Him any of the customary courtesies that he would ordinarily show to a guest in his home—and especially to an esteemed and honored guest. It was as if Jesus was being invited to a dinner—not to be welcomed and enjoyed—but in order to be put under the microscope and investigated and examined. Was this man Jesus a true prophet of God? Perhaps Simon thought that only a learned and righteous Pharisee such as himself could tell.

And when this sinful woman came in and began to do these things to Jesus—to draw so close to Him, and kiss His feet, and pour expensive oil upon Him that she had probably bought with sinful money … well; that settled the matter for Simon the Pharisee! Luke tells us that he spoke within his heart and said, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner” (v. 37). He assumed that a true man of God would never have permitted a sinful woman such as this one to touch him in that manner. And since Jesus was permitting it—and even appeared to be accepting it—then He must not be a prophet at all.

Simon was certainly gracious to have invited Jesus to dinner. He was certainly gracious to have brought Him into his home. But Simon did not go out of his way to show gratitude to Jesus; because he didn’t think that he needed anything from Jesus. He was quite a contrast from the poor woman—who knew, without a doubt, that she was sinner who had been washed clean by Jesus.

The degree to which you and I will go to continually express our gratitude to Jesus demonstrates how much we feel the need for His forgiveness—and how much we believe He has washed us clean and set us free. Simon didn’t feel much need for forgiveness because he didn’t see himself as that much of a sinner. And so, he didn’t express much in the way of gratitude to Jesus.

Do you feel the need to be saved from your sins? Have you placed your trust in Him? Have you experienced His forgiveness? If so, do you express very much gratitude to Jesus for it?

* * * * * * * * * *

So; there’s the woman, and there’s the Pharisee. There’s quite a contrast between the two! And now, let’s consider the Savior Himself.

He was very gracious to Simon. He came to his home when He was invited—even though He would have known that it was to be examined rather than to be loved and trusted. Jesus knows the deepest thoughts of all people.

Do you notice that, when the woman came in and did these things to Jesus, Simon didn’t say anything aloud about it? We’re told that he only spoke those things to himself. But Jesus knew what he was saying and thinking. So; we’re told that Jesus “answered” him—even though he didn’t ask Jesus anything. He said,“Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” And Jesus went on to tell him a parable:

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty” (v. 41).

A denarius was a Roman coin that was the rough equivalent of a full day’s wage. The first man owed his creditor 500 denarii; which would have worked out to be about $100,000 in today’s terms. That’s an enormous debt that would have taken a long time to pay off; and this man had nothing to pay it off with. The second man owed 50 denarii; which would have worked out to about $10,000. It was not as great a debt as the other man’s. But he didn’t have anything to pay it off with either. The amounts of the two debts were quite different from each other; but both debts were equally impossible to pay. Jesus went on to say to Simon;

”And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more” (vv. 42-43a).

Now, dear brothers and sisters; Simon gave the right answer. But do you notice the way he gave it? He said “I suppose …” There was, of course, no ‘supposing’ about it. The answer to Jesus’ question was obvious. And so, I wonder if we can’t detect just a little bit of an attitude in Simon’s answer. I wonder if Simon wasn’t just a little bit ‘put-out’ by the fact that the ‘Teacher’ was asking him a question as if he needed to be taught something.

And it may be that Jesus answered back in a way that responded to Simon’s pride when He told him,“You have rightly judged.” But then—with Simon’s attention captured to His words, we’re told that our Lord turned to the woman and said to Simon;

“Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (vv. 44-47).

He had just—in effect—said that Simon didn’t realize the reality of his debt of sin, or hadn’t experienced the cleansing of forgiveness, because he clearly didn’t love very much. And it wasn’t that Simon just didn’t need as much forgiveness as the sinful woman did. He may have been only a ’50 denarii’ sinner, and she may have been a ’500 denarii’ sinner. But the point is that they were both sinners; and that neither of them could pay the debt they owed to a holy God. They both equally needed Jesus to forgive their debt of sin. The woman knew this and rejoiced in receiving our Lord’s forgiving grace. The Pharisee would not.

Please; don’t be like Simon. Don’t ever compare your debt of sin before God with that of others in order to make yourself out to be ‘less of a sinner’. If you don’t feel all that much of a need for Jesus to save you—or if you don’t feel all that much gratitude toward Him for His having saved you—then go to Him and ask Him to open your eyes show you the truth. Ask Him to open up the ‘record books’ and show you what your debt before God truly is.

When you see the truth—that you are as hopeless and helpless a sinner as this sinful woman; and if you place your trust in Him and see the judgment and loss that He has saved you from—then you won’t be able to help it. You’ll earnestly long to show your deepest gratitude to Him. You’ll be a grateful sinner! You’ll want to thank Him joyfully with your whole life.

* * * * * * * * * *

And let me close by showing you that Jesus truly is the one to go to.

After He spoke to Simon, we’re told that He turned again to the woman and said, “Your sins are forgiven” (v. 48). And why would He tell her this? Hadn’t He already forgiven her? Why would He say again that her sins were forgiven when she clearly already knew this? I suspect that He said this in front of Simon and all the other dinner guests in order to evoke the response that came afterward. They all asked, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” (v. 49).

Who indeed can forgive sins committed against God? Well; only He who is God in human flesh—the one who would then go on to pay for those sins Himself upon the cross. He alone is authorized to say to the woman—and to all who come to Him—what He said in verse 50; “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

I absolutely believe that she did go in peace! Don’t you? I believe her life went on to be one, big, ongoing “Thank You!” to Jesus from then on. May our whole life be a great “Thank You” to Him too.

Because to the degree we realize how much He has saved us from, it will be!

Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.

EA