Recreate Church, Pastor Michael Shockley—Service, Sunday, June 12, 2022

Simon, Jesus and Forgiveness.

Today, Pastor Michael is looking at Simon, when he invited Jesus to dinner.  Simon was the established person of faith and Jesus is this new, up and coming Rabbi.  

Simon being pretty confident in his spiritual position wanted to see what Jesus was all about.  So, he and Jesus and others broke bread together and while Jesus and the others were eating, a woman barges into the room.  Definitely not invited!  Then it gets even stranger…

Simon knew this lady and this lady apparently didn’t have the best reputation in the hood.  One thing for sure, she was not invited and as the stunned onlookers watched, this lady approaches Jesus’ feet and she is crying, crying so profusely her tears are streaming.  She then touches his feet and takes down her hair and used her hair to clean the dust off of Jesus’ feet!

By today’s standards, that sounds weird enough, but it was equally as weird, if not even worse, in those days, in that culture.  And Jesus told Simon the story of the creditor and the two debtors, each of which was forgiven a debt by the creditor, one being a larger debt.  Jesus used this parable to teach Simon that the one that loved him the most was the one he forgave the most.  And Jesus used that story to show Simon that the lady, whom had just washed his feet, had done for him things Simon didn’t even do, even though he was an invited guest in Simon’s home.

(CSB Baker Illustrated Bible Study Notes) 7:44–50. Jesus then applies the parable to the treatment that he has received from Simon and the woman (7:44). Jesus does not criticize Simon for being inhospitable, for these courtesies were not necessarily an expected part of ordinary hospitality. Jesus’s point is not that Simon was rude but that the woman showed “much” love (7:47). One would greet “friends” by kissing them on the head, but the woman kissed Jesus on the feet (7:45). On a special occasion one might put inexpensive oil on a guest’s head, but the woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus’s feet (7:46).

The woman’s love for Jesus is the result of her forgiveness (7:47a). That love and gratitude flow from forgiveness is clearly the point of the parable (7:41–42), and the woman’s actions of love toward Jesus stem from her experience of a forgiveness that has already been received. In 7:48 Jesus simply confirms the forgiveness of the woman. Indeed, 7:50 clearly shows that it is faith that has saved the woman. In the application of the parable, the statement “the one who is forgiven little, loves little” (7:47b) applies to Simon and has an ironic twist. People who assume they are righteous will never experience much love for Jesus since they are so unaware of their sinfulness.

The biggest spiritual obstacle for most people is that they aren’t sinners, in their own eyes.  Only sinners get saved!

Verses can be found today in Luke 7: 36-50.

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.