Which One Loved More?
Luke 7:36-50
I read something very profound recently. “Appreciation is often
related to contrasts.”
In other words, contrast is important in
developing an attitude of thankfulness in our lives. How many of you
lost your power this week? There are many things we appreciate
when we experience their contrast. How many of you came to a
deeper appreciation of heat, refrigeration, lights at night, or charged
cell phones since that power failure that lasted three and four days?
Perhaps you’ve given up the comforts of home while serving on a
short-term mission trip, or seen the marked difference between
neighborhoods as you’ve left your residence to volunteer at our sister
church, Military Avenue EPC in inner-city Detroit. Or perhaps you’ve
been part of our furniture ministry and delivered items to a family
that’s starting over, with only a table or chair in their entire
apartment.
When we observe the contrasts in our lives, the result is an attitude
of gratitude and thanks. And that’s why some of us are not very
grateful. Because there aren’t a lot of contrasts in our lives.
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Our text today is a lesson in contrasts. The account of Jesus and
Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman. Starting in v.36, we read:
“Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with Him, so
He went to the Pharisee’s house and relined at the table.”
We’re not sure why Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus to his home for
a meal:
 Maybe Jesus had preached in the synagogue and it was
considered a good deed to invite a traveling rabbi to dinner.
 Perhaps Simon was curious, wanting to learn if this Jesus was a
true prophet or merely an impostor.
 Maybe he wanted to boast about the celebrities he knew.
 Or perhaps he had some spiritual interest and wanted to hear
more.
Whatever the reason, Jesus accepted the invitation. Even though the
Pharisees opposed Him, Jesus would accept the opportunity to visit
with some of them. And so Jesus arrives for the dinner. And there
are two ancient Middle-eastern customs that we need to know about.
1. Back then, instead of our table and chairs that we’re used to, the
table was very low to the ground, and the guests would lie on their
sides on cushions, with their head by the table and their feet
pointing away.
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2. When public figures & prominent guests were invited to a meal,
the door to the house was propped open, so that anyone
interested could enter and sit off to the edge of the room and
listen in to the conversation.
That’s right – any uninvited people were free to wander in to observe
the conversation.
Now Simon may have extended to Jesus the invitation to dinner, but
his courtesy ended there. He deliberately omitted the common
courtesies that an honored guest would receive:
1. Normally the host would place his hand on a guest’s shoulder and
give him the kiss of peace. (This was not done for Jesus.)
2. Usually a guest’s sandals were removed and his feet were washed
– to remove the dust of the street and to refresh the person. (But
Jesus’ feet were left dirty.)
3. Dinner guests were anointed with a touch of olive oil. (But Simon
extended no such kindness to Jesus.)
In other words, Simon carefully avoided every custom that would
make the Lord feel at home. And all the guests and onlookers knew
that Jesus had been slighted, as they took their places around the
table. Jesus apparently decided to go with the flow, and he reclines
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with his dirty feet extended for everyone to see. I’m guessing that
the atmosphere was a bit tense as the meal started. And this dinner
seems destined to go from bad to worse. Have you ever been at one
of those dinners? Where you can cut the tension with a knife?
I. THE ANOINTING
But suddenly a woman from the edge of the room – one of the
uninvited ones – steps up behind Jesus and stands silently behind him
by his grimy feet.
Who was she?
What was she doing? Look at v.37.
“When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that
Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster
jar of perfume. And as she stood behind Him at His feet weeping,
she began to wet His feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with
her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them.”
We’re not told the woman’s name. Some speculate that it was Mary
Magdalen. But there’s no proof of that given anywhere. What we are
told is that she had a reputation with the town’s people. She “had
lived a sinful life in that town.” And if you’re not sure what that
means, let me add that when she’s referred to as a “sinner” in v.39,
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the word had definite immoral overtones. She was a prostitute or an
adulteress at best.
And as everyone watches, they know who she is.
Now the woman comes up behind Jesus and she is weeping.
 She’s there because of Jesus.
 She loved Him and knew that He loved and forgave her.
 His love had melted her heart.
 And her tears fall onto the Lord’s dirty, grimy feet.
The woman doesn’t have a towel, so she does the best she can by
untying her hair and letting it fall down. And she wipes the Lord’s
feet clean.
But this is another strike against the woman, because women were
only allowed to loosen their hair in the presence of their husbands.
The Talmud says that a woman could be divorced for letting down
her hair in the presence of another man. The guests and onlookers
must have been in shock.
As they continued to watch, she began wiping the Lord’s feet with her
hair and kissing them. Actually the text means that she was kissing
them “again and again.” And then she takes the alabaster jar of
perfume she has brought and pours it onto the feet of Jesus. She
anoints His feet.
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It must have been an awkward moment. Here stands a woman
crying unashamedly, her nose running, her hair wet and stringy with
the muddy mixture of dirt and tears. I’m sure there was no love lost
between this woman and the guests. But she wasn’t there because
of them. She was there because of Jesus. And as she stood there,
she wept for her sin. She tried to show her love for Jesus by wiping
His feet and anointing them with the perfume she had brought. No
one said a word. But that was about to change.
II. SIMON’S RESPONSE
Simon is not the first one to speak, but he’s thinking to himself, and
Luke records his thoughts for us in v.39:
“When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and
what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.”
Simon responds in harsh judgment. In his heart, he now believes
that Jesus must be an impostor, because He failed to reject the
woman. He should have kicked her back to her sin and misery. After
all, she was nothing but a prostitute! And she had no business laying
a finger on a prophet of God.
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But Simon misunderstood everything. He misunderstood the woman.
He misunderstood Jesus. And he even misunderstood himself.
1. He misunderstood the woman. He watches her perform an
act of repentance and devotion and responds by calling her a
sinner! Simon was looking only at the outward appearance and
not at her heart.
• She had turned from sin to salvation and was now in the act of
worshiping Jesus.
• Her attitude is one of humility. It says that she came up
behind Jesus. She didn’t even feel she could come around
front.
• Imagine that, in contrast to the lifestyle she had lived. A
prostitute is an aggressive person, taking initiative, offering her
body to someone else. But now, she replaces that
aggressiveness with humility. Notice the way she honors
Jesus…She wipes His feet with her hair. She kisses His feet.
Notice how instead of taking money from a client, she extravagantly
pours out her perfume on His feet. She’s giving! Do you see the
contrast in her life?
But Simon could only see her past. He had a heart without grace.
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2. He misunderstood Jesus. He was thinking, “If Jesus is a
prophet, He will know the character of this woman and will have
nothing to do with her. But since He let her go ahead, He must
not be a true prophet. He’s an impostor.”
The flaw in Simon’s reasoning was this:
Jesus did know the woman’s character.
But He also knew her repentance. And as He frequently
said, He came to die for sinners like her.
3. Finally, Simon misunderstood himself. In looking down on
the woman and passing judgment on her, he missed seeing that
he himself was a sinner – and every bit as much in need of the
grace of God.
But let’s go on to the Lord’s response to Simon.
After all, it’s Jesus who first breaks the silence in the room.
III. THE LORD’S RESPONSE TO SIMON
Because Jesus knew what was going on in the woman’s heart, and He
knew what was going on in Simon’s heart, He decides to teach Simon
a few things by means of a parable.
Look at v.40…
“Jesus answered him.”
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Don’t you love it? Simon hasn’t said anything, but Jesus answers him
just the same. And He says: “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, Teacher,” he said.
“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him
500 denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to
pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them
will love him more?”
We need a quick currency lesson here. A denarius was the pay for
one day’s work. Given a 6-day work week, that would amount to 300
denarii a year. So 500 denarii was 20 month’s salary. That’s some
very serious debt!
Figure out what you earn in 20 months. Would you want to be in
debt that much? Now decide if you’d want to take out a loan at
exorbitant rates for that much.
So the one man owed the moneylender a huge amount. The other
person owed 50 denarii, or roughly 2 months’ wages. Both men fell
on hard times, so they go to the moneylender – I suppose to ask for
mercy. And the most amazing thing happens. The moneylender
announces that he will cancel their debt!
Actually the words used here are that the moneylender “forgave”
them the debt. Here’s a great definition of forgiveness. It means “to
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cancel a debt.” Wow! Can you imagine their response? They must
have been in total shock! What a weight lifted! But remember, the
moneylender is not going to get the money back, so he has to bear
the cost himself.
That’s the essence of forgiveness. It’s not just saying, “Oh, forget it.”
No, it’s more than that. Forgiveness is saying, “I no longer hold you
responsible and I will assume the loss myself.”
Jesus concludes by asking Simon in v.42, “Now which of them (the
debtors) will love him (the moneylender) more? The one owing 20
months’ wages or the one owing just 2?” Simon, which one would be
most grateful and would express his loving gratitude the most ?
Simon answers, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt
canceled.” And Jesus says, “You have judged correctly.”
Next comes Jesus’ interpretation of the parable in v.42:
“Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see
this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water
for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with
her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I
entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my
head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you,
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her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much. But he who
has been forgiven little loves little.”
Jesus points out the failing of Simon to show the customary kindness
to Him when He arrived as a guest. In today’s world, it would be like
saying: “Simon, you didn’t come to the door, you didn’t shake my
hand, and you didn’t show me where I could hang my coat and
freshen up. In fact, you weren’t anywhere to be seen.”
Simon, here’s what you need to learn. Both of the people in the
parable had a debt, and neither one could pay it off. Your problem,
Simon, is that it’s not just this woman here who has a debt. You also
have a debt. But here’s the all-important difference. She knows it,
and you don’t.
You’re saying:
“I’m a good person. After all, things are all right in my life. I’m a
decent guy. I don’t break any of the 10 commandments. Well, not
any of the big ones…Well, not very many of the big ones. At least
I’m not a prostitute or a terrorist or someone you read about in Crime
Watch.”
But this woman, she knows she had a debt. You both are in debt,
but only one of you has accepted that fact. Simon, let me put it to
you this way…
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What happened when I came into your house? Nothing from you in
the way of hospitality toward me.
But what has this woman done?
• When you didn’t pour water on my feet, she wet my feet with
her tears.
• When you didn’t wipe my feet, she wiped my feet with her hair.
• When you didn’t greet me with a kiss, the kiss of greeting, she
kissed my feet.
• When you didn’t pour oil on my head, she poured perfume on
my feet.
Now think about this, Simon.
This woman is not used to crying. She’s been a hardened person in
the past.
This woman is not used to kissing feet. She’s used to other kinds of
kisses.
This woman has a past that doesn’t relate to the things she’s doing
right now.
But Simon, she’s done all the things you should have done as my
host, and you didn’t do any of them.
Do you get the point?
This woman made an extravagant, costly demonstration of love.
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But I don’t see anything from you, Simon. And yet you criticize her ?
The reason you’ve expressed so little love for me is because you have
so little understanding of your need for forgiveness. The forgiveness
that I have to give you. Those who really understand what they’ve
been forgiven are the ones who demonstrate extravagant, loving
gratitude.
Simon, all you can see is this woman’s past. You can’t see her
present life – which stands in huge contrast to that. You can’t see
the beauty of her humility. You can’t detect the stench of your own
self-righteousness!
Then in v.48 Jesus turns to the woman and says, “Your sins are
forgiven.” And in v.50, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Now let’s be very clear here.
The idea is not that this woman’s great love for Christ earned her His
forgiveness. That would go against the entire context of the passage.
The Jerusalem Bible brings out the meaning of Jesus’ words: “For
this reason, I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been
forgiven, or she would not have shown such great love.”
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This woman’s zealous display of love was a result of the Lord’s
forgiveness. Such love is the sign of genuine faith! This woman had
sensed from Him acceptance and forgiveness – not condemnation –
and that freed her to pour out her love upon Him. And that’s the way
Jesus receives all sinners who come to Him.
LESSONS FOR US TODAY
1. We all have much to be forgiven.
The biggest mistake you can make is to think that you need God’s
grace less than any other sinner.
Simon compared himself to others and graded himself on a curve. He
figured that he was basically good – and that was good enough.
Especially when he put himself next to this adulterous woman. So he
came to the conclusion that this woman at the feet of Jesus was a
sinner, but he was not.
Like this sinful woman, Simon had much to be forgiven. But he
couldn’t detect the stench of his own self-righteousness!
When Debbie and I were first married, we attended a church in St.
Louis. At Christmas time one of the families from church went home
to their extended family for the holidays – some other state. They
returned a week later at night, glad to be back home. As they were
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settling in, the phone rang. Judy answered it and it was a friend.
Her husband offered to put the young children to bed, so he took
them upstairs. As Judy spoke with her friend, she said, “That’s odd.
I heard a thud upstairs.” Her friend spoke with her a few more
minutes, and then realized that Judy wasn’t responding. She said,
“Judy, Judy are you there?” Still no response. Judy’s friend got in
the car and raced over to discover that all 4 members of the family
were unconscious. They had become overwhelmed by carbon
monoxide fumes from an old furnace.
When they had entered their home, everything looked safe, looked
great. But the invisible, odorless, deadly gas was there inside.
Fortunately they could all be revived, thanks to the quick thinking of
the friend.
Simon was unable to detect the stench of his self-righteousness. Selfrighteousness is just like carbon monoxide. And you and I can easily do
the same thing as Simon. We may look good to others on the outside.
But on the inside, there’s envy, pride, jealousy, arrogance, lust,
dishonesty, self-hatred, etc. And that all separates us from God.
If you go through life just managing the image that you project to
others, you’ll fail to see how sin has corrupted you and driven a wedge
between you and God.
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You know, there are different kinds of sins and different degrees of
sin. But all people – the best and worst of us – are dead in their sins.
Do you ever find yourself feeling superior to others? That’s the sin of
pride. And there are few sins that Jesus hated more than pride.
But we think that we can somehow pay off our debt to God, right?
We say to ourselves:
• I work with compulsive liars. The only honest person I know at
work is myself.
• In this X-rated world, my life is a wholesome G….Or maybe PG.
Or PG-13…
• I’m faithful to my spouse. I love my kids. I’m a good husband
or wife, a good parent.
• I volunteer my time. I give to those in need.
But regardless of all the good that you do, and regardless of how
much better or more moral you are than your neighbors or work
colleagues or friends, you’re bankrupt when it comes to standing
before a holy God.
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Let me give you an illustration to help you with your pride. Because
we all struggle with pride.
How many of you have seen the Mackinac Bridge? Do you know how
long it is? Five miles. It connects the lower and upper peninsulas of
Michigan. We refer to those in the Upper Peninsula as U-pers. They
refer to us as “trolls,” because we live under the bridge.
Imagine with me that you are standing at the shoreline of the Lower
Peninsula, and you’re wanting to build a bridge to God, who is
standing at the opposite shore line of the Upper Peninsula.
And the only tool you have to build that bridge is your righteousness.
And let’s say the prostitute/adulteress of our text is standing next to
you trying to do the same thing.
Let’s assume that the prostitute’s righteousness is enough to build a
bridge a tenth of a mile long. So her bridge falls short by 4
9/10
miles.
Let’s say that all your righteousness and good deeds is enough to
build a span of an entire mile!
But what’s the problem? Your bridge still falls short by four miles.
Would you want to get in your car and drive on it? Of course not.
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Do you get the point? In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you take
the prostitute’s bridge or your own. You’ll end up dead in the water.
You’ll fall short of God’s righteous requirements. In other words, we
are all in the position of the woman at Jesus’ feet.
If Simon had understood this, then he – like the sinful woman –
would have asked God for forgiveness. And he would have received
God’s forgiveness, and he would have been on his knees before
Jesus, washing His feet with his own tears. Just as you and I should.
God doesn’t grade on a curve. You don’t score points by being better
than the worst people. No, the Bible says we’ve all sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God. And the condition for being forgiven is to
realize that we are bankrupt and unable to save ourselves, whether
we’re the accomplished sinner with the 20-month debt or the good,
moral person with the 2-month debt.
2. God is prepared to forgive your sin – the same way that
the moneylender forgave his clients who couldn’t repay
him…by assuming the debts Himself.
The woman realized that she could never pay what she owed. So
God paid it all. Isn’t that what the cross is all about? No one could
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ever achieve the holy perfection necessary to stand before God. Sin
infects every area of our lives, no matter how good we are.
It’s only when you recognize your own spiritual poverty that you can
experience the riches of God’s forgiveness. Simon didn’t get it. The
sinful woman did.
Do you remember the Beatitudes? Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for they shall receive mercy.”
Proverbs 28:13 says:
“He who conceals his sin does not prosper. He who confesses them
and renounces them finds mercy.”
“The blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:7
3. Our spiritual health is tied to the knowledge that we’re
sinners in constant need of the grace of God.
There’s never a point where you can say, “I don’t need it any more.”
And if we start to think that way, we need to see those thoughts as
the poisonous carbon monoxide that they are.
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In 1 Timothy 1:15 we read: “Here is a trustworthy saying that
deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners – of whom I am the worst.”
Do you know who said that?
This is Paul speaking! The rabbi! The “Hebrew of Hebrews.” As he
said in Philippians 3, there was no Jew more zealous than he! He says,
“as for legalistic righteousness, I was faultless.”
Notice that he didn’t say, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners – of whom I was the worst.”
Paul didn’t see himself like Simon the Pharisee saw himself. If Paul
had been in this story, he would have said, “I was worse than this
sinful woman! When I think of all the sins I’ve committed, especially
in my thought life – I realize that I’m the worst of sinners!”
• The longer you walk with Christ, the more you should appreciate
your sin and God’s forgiveness.
• The more you see the magnitude of your sin and what you’ve
been forgiven, the more you see that there’s no place for feeling
superior to anyone.
• The longer you walk with Christ, the more you see that any
righteousness you possess comes because God has worked in
your life.
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• And your response to God’s forgiveness and transforming love
should automatically be thanks and love toward Him.
The more you understand God’s forgiveness, the more you are able
to love.
We must never forget that truth, so that we can show others the way
to the feet of Jesus Christ.
4. Our gratitude to God should translate into offering the
same compassion and grace to others that He has brought
into our lives.
Those who understand extravagant forgiveness respond in
extravagant love.
Passionate, expensive, costly love.
Love for Christ and love for others.
After all, the Bible tells us:
“We love, because He first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
Romans 13:8 tells us:
“Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love
one another.”
Jesus said that the world would judge whether or not He had been
sent by the Father based on the demonstration of our love for others.
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We have a great opportunity coming up on April 29 & 30 to show that
love for others as we once again host the Mobilpack for Feed My
Starving Children. We’ll be turning Hess Hall into a federally
approved packing site for meals that we assemble. Two years ago
our goal was 200,000 meals and we packed 374,000. This year we’re
aiming for 500,000. We’ll need 2,000 volunteers working a 2-hour
shift. In addition, we’ll need to raise $110,000 to purchase the
ingredients for the meal packs. Our purpose is to provide nutritious
meals for children around the world who are starving or at risk of
starving. Some 6,200 die each day due to starvation or related
causes.
These children are in no position to ever pay us back, and that gives
us the opportunity to pass on God’s grace to those in need. Because
our sins have been forgiven, God has set us free to love others and
pass on His grace to them. Come out and join us! You’ll receive a
fresh appreciation of God’s grace. Beginning today you can register
to serve or make a donation at the Livingston Cares website:
LivingstonCares.com
Concluding Prayer
Father,
Forgive us for feeling superior to others. Any others.
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Help us to see ourselves as You see us, to become “poor in spirit” and
to daily see our need for Your grace and forgiveness. And then set us
free to love others, because we’ve experience your grace – day after
day after day. Help us to ask You each day, “Lord, what’s mine to do
for Your Kingdom?”
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.