Luke 7:36-50 | Parables in Practice

Listen to this week’s sermon, Parables In Practice preached by Rev. Benjamin Kandt from Luke 7:36-50.

Transcript

Prayer And Scripture Reading

Rev. Benjamin Kandt 0:06

Hello everyone, this is Pastor Benjamin. You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City Orlando. At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com.

Mendel Julien 0:20

Please join me in the prayer of Illumination. Holy Spirit, open our hearts to hear your word, and through your word, create in our hearts a home at your presence that we might live for the glory of the Father and the kingdom of his beloved Son. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. Please remain standing for the reading of God's Word. Today we're going to be reading in Luke chapter 7, verses 36 to 50. One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisees' house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment. And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, Say it, teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50, and they could not pay. And he canceled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon answered, The one, I suppose, for who he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. Then in turning toward the woman, he said 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. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much. But he who was forgiven little, loves little. And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. Then those who are at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this? Who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. You go in peace. This is God's word. Thanks be to God.

The Woman’s Extravagant Devotion

Simon’s Silent Judgment Exposed

The Two Debtors Parable

Seeing The Person, Not The Label

Extravagant Love Versus Cultural Religion

Free Grace And True Moral Change

Rev. Benjamin Kandt 3:13

This spring we're in a series on the parables of Jesus through the Gospel of Luke. And one of the reasons that Jesus tells parables is to splash cold water on the face of sleepy religious people. That's one of his reasons for telling parables. He wants to wake us up to what Dallas Willard calls the scandal of the kingdom. Now, I'm a simple man, and you can summarize this whole sermon in a simple formula, and that is this forgiven much equals love much. Forgiven much equals love much. That's all I got for you by way of points. If you have the Bible or a device or your guide, go ahead and get in front of you. Let's look at Luke chapter 7, verse 36, and let's jump in. This story uh is good enough in and of itself. Here we go, verse 36. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. Now, last week, Pastor Jason showed us that in Luke 5, it's the Pharisees who were grumbling, saying, What's up with this dude eating with tax collectors and sinners? Why does he have table fellowship with scumbags? And Jesus responded, He said, You don't go to the doctor when you're feeling great. He said, It's not the righteous, but sinners that I've called to repentance. And that's who Jesus came for. But here's what's striking Jesus eats with sinners, but in this passage, he also eats with Pharisees. The reason why that matters is Jesus is not self-righteous toward the self-righteous. Said differently, some of you I know were raised in religious, rigid, rule-heavy environments that kind of suffocated with you with this endless sense that you were never doing enough for measuring up. And anything that smells like that to you, you just reject immediately. But be careful. You can become Pharisaical about Pharisees if you're not careful. And Jesus wasn't even that. You see, he was hospitable even to Simon the Pharisee. So when Simon invites him to dinner, Jesus goes. Look at verse 37. And behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner. Pause. Luke doesn't have to give you the details, but this is a euphemism. You see, everyone at this table knew this woman's reputation. They knew what line of work she was in. That's all enough said in Luke's words here. All right, verse 37, it says this when she learned that Jesus was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster flask of ointment. And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Have you ever been at a holiday meal when someone says something and it gets real? I want you to channel that emotion right now. If you want to get inside this story, you gotta feel that. Or imagine that you've invited a respectable professor or pastor or politician over to your house for a dinner, and a woman whom everybody knows is guilty of flagrant sin shows up at the door and wants to see that man. And then as she comes in, she starts to cry and then kneels down and takes off his shoes and wipes his feet and then pours lotion on them and proceeds to give him a foot massage. Not many people's reputations could handle that, okay? This is uncomfortable, this is inappropriate, this is sensual, this is scandalous. What's happening here is scandalous. And so, what's Jesus going to do about it? Well, that's exactly what Simon wonders. Look at verse 39. Now, when the Pharisees who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, that's important. He says it to himself. Going on. If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman, you can almost hear the contempt, what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. Notice what just happened. Simon doesn't speak this out loud, but he draws three silent conclusions. One, Jesus must not be a prophet. Two, this woman belongs in the category of people called untouchables. And three, Simon is not like her in any way. But listen, Jesus spilled a lot of blood and the apostles spilled a lot of ink in order to tear down the dividing wall of hostility. And yet, the religious spirit that's always striving to rebuild divisions will name people clean or unclean, acceptable, unacceptable, who's in, who's out? Simon's words are loaded here. What sort of woman? We all have a sort. What sort of sinner feels too much for you? It's a question that's worth asking yourself. Who do you instinctively reduce to a label? Who would you quietly prefer stay outside of your home? You see, the text gives us this clue when it says Simon said to himself, one way you can figure it out is pay attention to your inner critic. Pay attention to that voice inside your head. Besides yourself, who does it criticize relentlessly? That's a good way to get at who your sort of person is. You see, Simon thinks he sees clearly, but what he reveals is actually his own blindness. Because notice the irony. He says, if this man were a prophet, and then Jesus answers a thought in Simon's head that he never spoke. Look at verse 40. And Jesus, answering, said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. You see, Jesus knows how to read the room. Simon wonders what sort of woman she is. Jesus already knows what sort of man Simon is. He has something to say to him, but instead of exposing him publicly, Jesus says gently, Simon, I have something to say to you. Now this is a masterful technique. It's called agreement. If you ever have something hard to say to somebody, you just frame it like this, like you're in a disciple-making conversation. You just frame it like this, like, hey, there's something I've been noticing, but I'm not really sure if you if you want to hear it. And then they go, Oh, do tell. And you're like, all right, if you say so. Jesus is doing that here, right? He's he's like, hey, I have something to say to you, Simon. And verse 40 answer says, say it, teacher. All right, here we go. Here's the parable, verse 41. A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of both. Now, which of them will love him more? That's the parable right there. Notice the genius of Jesus. In 34 words, he says it all. One denarius equal to about a day of work for a laborer. So 50 denarii is about two months' worth of work, 500 denarii is over a year and a half worth of work. One debtor owes 10 times more than the other, but here's the key thing: both are unequal, both are equally unable to pay their debt. Said differently, let's say one person is an Olympic long jumper and the other person walks with a limp, they both run as fast and as hard as they can to jump the Grand Canyon, neither of them makes it. When they could not pay, verse 42 says, He cancel the debt of both. Do you know that you cannot pay? If God is your creator, then you you owe him your life simply by being his creature. But if God is your judge, then you owe him your life by being a sinner. That's twice over. You owe him your very existence. So, said differently, how could you ever pay God back? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, how could you possibly offer it back to God in the form of payment for anything? When they could not pay, he canceled the debt of them both. You see, Jesus is trying to dismantle any way of relating to God based on merit where you put God in your debt. But this is a strong impulse in us still. I had a friend named Caleb say to me one time, he said, Ben, until you give up being judge, jury, and executioner, you will never receive God's forgiveness. The kisses, the wounds of a friend are better than the kisses of an enemy. Listen, both debtors are bankrupt and both are freely forgiven. Because of their merit? No, but because the money lender was rich in mercy. Elizabeth Elliot was fond of saying that our main problem is that we won't let God be God. We keep trying to pay him back. Look at verse 42. Jesus says, Now which of them will love him more? And Simon answered, The one, I suppose, I love that. He's hedging his bets. He kind of knows what's coming. The one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, This is Jesus, he goes, You've judged rightly. You see, Jesus lets Simon play every Pharisee's favorite game, judging other people. AW Tozer said it like this a Pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself. But a spiritual person is easy on others and hard on himself. Simon had judged Jesus already. If this man were a prophet, he judged the woman already. He knows she's a sinner. And Simon had judged Simon as better than both Jesus and the woman. In verse 44, then Jesus, turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? What a simple indictment. Do you see this woman? In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that first you have to take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother or sister's eye. Modern psychology just recently stumbled upon this and thinks it's special. It calls it unconscious bias. Jesus knew about it a long time ago. If you do not daily say, forgive us our debts, you will have an unconscious bias of judgment towards your neighbor. You need to regularly be reminded of the fact that sin that's not owned and offered for forgiveness to God will distort your perception of other people. Jesus says, Simon, do you see this woman? No. Simon did not see her, but Jesus saw her, and Jesus sees you. And there's something powerful about being seen by Jesus. It's enough, even when you're overlooked by all others. Look at verse 44. 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. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Jesus is so humble. I don't think he would have made a deal, a big deal about Simon's poor hospitality if Simon hadn't expressed contempt for the woman. But Jesus, throughout the Gospels, this is amazing. One of my things I love him the most for, Jesus, throughout the Gospels, always defends extravagant devotion against its accusers, especially pragmatists. You see, Jesus loves the extravagant devotion of this woman. The reason why is because this is the mark of cultural Christianity right here. The mark of being a Christian in name only and nothing else is that Jesus is peripheral to your life, but you do not host his presence in daily life. Said differently, maybe you've even let him into your house, but you don't love his presence. Verse 45 says, She has not ceased to kiss my feet. One of the ways I prepare a sermon is I spend some like long, unhindered time just lingering over the text, asking the Holy Spirit to illumine things to my attention. And he made me linger over these words right now. She has not ceased to kiss my feet. And I wrote in the margin, I wrote, Lord, inflame in me unceasing affection for Jesus. That's not fake, it's not counterfeit. Unceasing affection for Jesus is what it looks like to receive the forgiveness of Jesus. Jesus' feet are mentioned in this text seven times. They're kind of like a main character. The feet of Jesus. Why? What's the big deal? Well, if you read the Gospels and even Acts 20, verse 3, it becomes 22, verse 3, it becomes clear the feet of your rabbi is the place of discipleship. But even more, Isaiah 52, 7 says this how beautiful are the feet of him who brings good news. There's a beauty to Jesus' feet. At this point, they weren't even nail scarred yet. Our devotion poured out on the feet of Jesus with scars that still remain to this day, even as he's exalted and throned over all things above heaven and earth. The feet of Jesus are an object of devotion for the disciples of Jesus. Want to find people who get the gospel? Look for them at the feet of Jesus with unceasing affection. Look at those who don't mind to bow their knees, not out of obligation, but out of joy, out of delight, so they can get low where their Savior is. But here's the thing: if we mix even a little bit of rule keeping into the gospel, we create distrust between us and God. Put some conditions in there, and it changes everything. We weaken the gospel's power to soften our hearts. The freer grace is, the more powerful it is to change a sinner's heart. But some people worry that if grace is too free, it's gonna lead to moral laziness. But the opposite's actually true. In fact, people use conditions and qualifications to stay distant. Flannery O'Connor wrote about one of her characters named Hazel Moats, she said this. He knew that the best way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin. You see, the very thing that people fear, which is free grace, is actually what changes the human heart to hate sin. The very thing that we need, I'll just say it differently. Maybe one of the reasons that some of you are stuck in sin today is because you're still trying to earn your way out of it. You see, when the light of a free gospel shines on someone's heart, love begins to bubble up within them naturally as a response. The deepest moral change in a person does not happen when they fear punishment. The deepest moral change happens when they become convinced that they are saved by grace and grace alone. And that grace compels them to give their heart fully to God and to turn away from sin. And the result, empirically, is people who have a more hospitable presence about them. Like, have you ever been around somebody who, whenever you see them, you feel like you kind of need to tuck your shirt in and like sit up straight and you know talk good and stuff like that? You've been around somebody like that? Or have you ever been around somebody who, whenever you're with them, you just feel like you can relax? The pressure's off. You see, forgiven much, love much people create a free space for other people to enter into a space where they can finally be accepted and actually change. Said differently, I think a healthy church should look less like an HOA meeting and more like a 12-step meeting. What I mean by that is not yet disciples are attracted to the disciples of Jesus through the hospitable presence of those very people. They get grace, they know it's not based on merit, they're not Simon's. Look at verse 47. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many. Notice this, if you look closely at this text, Jesus is the only one who says out loud what everyone else was thinking. She's a varsity-level sinner. Everybody's thinking it. He's the only one who says it. That's important because Jesus doesn't downplay or dismiss her sins. Let's just put on 21st century lenses here. She's probably got a trauma story that explains her, but it does not excuse her. There's a story of a pastor, of a woman who goes to a wise, seasoned old pastor. And as she sees him and sits down before him, she begins to unpack how she's been working with a therapist for years, and she can rehearse her dysfunctional behaviors that arose from underlying relational dynamics because of her family of origin. She can tell him her personality type or Enneagram number or strength finders. And when she finishes, this grizzled old veteran pastor just looks at her, gently pats her hand, and says, My dear, do you want an explanation or forgiveness? See, explanations may be necessary for change. I actually believe that. I am a therapist, in case you didn't know. They may be necessary, but they are not sufficient. Our therapeutic culture pathologizes sin and thereby forfeits forgiveness. Jesus doesn't explain sin, Jesus forgives sin. Jesus doesn't dismiss sin. Jesus forgives sin. That's the hope of the world. He goes on in verse 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. For she loved much. This is important to get love does not earn forgiveness. Forgiveness. Love reveals forgiveness received. Unceasing affection flows from experienced grace and nowhere else. The heart of Christianity is not about doing good, but loving much. There's plenty of people who can do good without being good. But you cannot love much without doing good. The great love of unceasing affection for Jesus poured out on him will be evident in your life. Notice this woman never speaks a word in this text. But it was evident to all. Her actions tell the story. So if someone followed you around for a week, would they look at your life and say, Wow, she loves much? He loves much. Verse 47, but he who is forgiven little loves little. So let me just ask you, what's the culture of your home or your marriage or your family? What does it feel like? If I asked your spouse or your kids, who's the biggest sinner in your house, what would they say? Is your house, is your home a meritocracy? Is it a place where you keep records of wrong? Or is it a race to the bottom? Is it a place where you are willing and able to acknowledge yourself as the chief of sinners in your own home? Is it the kind of place where rapid repentance is celebrated? Is it the kind of place where Jesus' definition of greatness is on display, which is to love God with all of ourselves and to love our neighbors as ourselves? He's giving us a clear path how we get there. Forgiven much equals love much. Look at verse 48. And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this? Who do you think you are? Who is this who even forgives sins? Now listen, that's actually the right question, especially if you don't know Jesus personally. It's a great question. Who is this? And Simon thought he was a teacher, maybe even a prophet. Yes, and more than a prophet. You see, this the people ask, who can forgive sins? And the cross of Jesus Christ answers, Jesus does. Fast forward a little bit, and some of Jesus' last words on the cross were, Father, forgive them. If you know the story, you know that Pharisees are the sort of people who crucified Jesus. It's totally speculative. Maybe Simon was in that crowd. But Jesus prayed for their forgiveness. And you must ask, on what ground? The ground of the forgiveness that Jesus is praying for in that moment is the very cross he was nailed to. Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul describes it like this: what happened on the cross in the words of assurance from earlier in our worship service, Colossians 2, 13, says this, you who were dead in your trespasses, God made alive together with Christ, having forgiven all our trespasses. How does this happen? How does he do this? On what basis? By canceling the record of debt. Hear the language from our story? Canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. The cross is God's way of canceling our record of debt, and the resurrection is God's way of stamping paid in full across the history of this world. Jesus Himself is the certain money lender from verse 41 who generously gives everything to cancel your debt. And not an ounce was wasted, which means your debt was pretty great. But if you belong to Jesus by simple faith, then as far as the East is from the West, East is from the West, so far does he remove our transgressions from us? I have a friend named Andrew who works in prison ministry, which is the coolest and best place to do ministry, by the way. Many of the people there don't have to have this sermon. They're not the Simon of the Pharisees, they're the woman from the city. And so Andrew goes in there and he has this exercise he does about once a year, I think, where he has them write their worst sins onto a sheet of paper. Now, when they give him this paper, he folds it into a tight little square and they toss it on a cross that he has laying on the floor in this prison. And then he collects them. And as they toss them on the cross, they say out loud, I'm handing over my sins to Jesus who died on the cross for me. Andrew then collects them all, puts them in a bag, and then takes them home. And on video, he burns the bag. Apparently, fire in prisons is not a good idea. And then he comes back and he actually brings the video and he lets them watch the video and he said, they smile, they weep. One man even told him he had the most peaceful sleep he's had in ages. You see, we all have slips of paper that we need nailed to the cross. We all have chapters that we'd rather leave unpublished. We all have those little small pockets of our life where we have difficulty believing that the forgiveness of God even reaches to that place. But the cross of Christ reveals the unshockable mercy of God. You see, either God's forgiving, redeeming, restoring touch reaches down into the darkest crevices of our soul, those places where we are most ashamed and most defeated, or it is worthless. It's either good for everything or it's good for nothing. And so there's a pastor who tells the story of how he preached a sermon like this, and a woman came up to him afterward and she said, I believe in a God of pure love who loves everybody no matter what. Jesus didn't have to die, he just loves everyone. To which this pastor very gently replied, What did it cost your God to love you? And she said, I guess nothing. You see, when the money lender cancels the debt, it means that the money lender rather than the debtor pays the debt. Forgiveness always brings a cost. And that cost, the perpetrator's debt is being borne by the lender. Grace does not merely excuse sin, it pays for sin. And so, what if it's true that Jesus already paid your debt out of love for you? What if it's true that all you need to do right here, right now, is simply receive that forgiveness? How do you do that? Look at the last verse, verse 50. Jesus said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. You see, forgiveness is given freely and received by simple faith, or it's not forgiveness, it's wages. Let me ask you this question. Which one do you think brings more glory to God? When you grovel over what happened last week, what you did last week, until you really express that you're sorry enough and plead that you'll never do it again. And so then maybe God will take you back, does that bring God more glory? Or when you throw yourself at the feet of Jesus and say, Forgive my debt, I know you are rich in mercy. So as we close, the prophet Micah has this beautiful picture in chapter 7, verse 19. And it says that God will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. And Corey Tinboom, one of my heroes, was fond of saying it like this: God throws our sins into the deepest sea and then he puts up a sign that says, No fishing. You see, God has dealt with your sins. Don't go back to feel guilty about them over and over again. Go forward in love because he, she, who is forgiven much, loves much. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you. We praise you for this good news. Splashes with the water of grace even now. Wake us up. Those of us who are sleepy and self-contented, those of us who are nominal and culturally committed to you. Wake us up to the staggering, the scandalous beauty of your grace shown in the cross. Holy Spirit, that's your work. Faith is a gift. Give us the gift of faith that we in this room might all go in peace, reconciled back to our God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.