The encounter between Jesus and a sinful woman in the house of a Pharisee, illustrating the nature of forgiveness and true devotion. The narrative highlights the woman's profound repentance and love, demonstrated by her washing Jesus' feet with tears, wiping them with her hair, kissing them, and anointing them with precious oil. This contrasts sharply with the Pharisee's lack of hospitality and his internal judgment of Jesus. Through a parable of debtors, Jesus reveals that the woman's many sins are forgiven because she loved much, emphasizing that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works. The sermon concludes by urging believers to recognize their own sinfulness and to respond to God's immense grace with heartfelt worship and complete devotion to Christ.
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In the precious name of the Lord Jesus, what a joy and a privilege it is to come under the voice of the Savior and from the record of his precious word. See more of him. I'm sure that the desire of our heart, as already expressed in our head, should be to know him better and love him more. and be devoted to his blessed person. If you have your Bible with you today, we would like to turn to the Gospel according to Luke. The seventh chapter in the Gospel according to Luke.
I would like to read the closing part of that chapter, beginning at verse thirty-six. It is an incident in the life of the Blessed Lord Jesus. My beloved let me reverently say and solemnly say and happily say, No better example have we upon the earth to look upon than the life of the Blessed Lord Jesus when he was here. And here are one of the incidents in his very active life in the days of his public ministry. Beginning at verse thirty-six and reading to the end of the chapter.
and one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisees' house and sat down to meet. And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at me in the Pharisees' house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and in white them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had ridden him saw it, he spoke with his will in himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who in what manner of woman this is that toucheth him. For she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have some what to say unto thee. And he said, Master, say on, there was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed five hundred tenths, and the other fifteen.
and when they had nothing to say, he frightly forgave them both. Tell me therefore which of them will love him most. Well, Simon Absalom said, I suppose, that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman and said unto Simon, Seeest thou this woman, I entered into thine house. Thou gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with tea, and wiped them with the hairs of the hair.
Thou gavest me no kiss, but the woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint. But this womaneth anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins which are many are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven the same lovest little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven, and they that sadly meet with him began to slay within themselves.
Who is this that forgiveth sin also? And Jesus said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. May God bless the reading and the hearing of his own blessed and precious words. Shall we bow in a word of prayer? Beloved Father, we are so grateful to be gathered together in this capacity, reading thy precious and holy words, reading of thy beloved Son when he was here upon the earth.
We thank thee again for singing him to be the Savior of the world. And we pray by the Holy Spirit to teach us precious truth from the incident in the life of the Blessed Lord Jesus. In this story we pray, in our Savior's name for his glory. Amen. A very unusual incident in the life of the Lord Jesus is one of the most fascinating things to read about his life in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
and John. And there are many facets in that life of the Lord Jesus beyond our comprehension. But who I like to emphasize, don't forget as we look at this story. Forget not who he is and who he was when he was here upon the earth. The blessed eternal Son of God. In the likeness of flesh. sinless and holy and pure, harmless, and separate from sinners. So what a testimony he had.
Even in the social life of the Lord Jesus, what an example he is. In the incident that we have read, accepting an invitation from a Pharisee, as you read in verse the first verse that we read. And in that verse that we read, reading verse thirty-six I made, one of the Pharisees declined him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisees' house and sat down to me. You didn't know your Bible from reading it.
May well be familiar. of the hatred, the scorn, and the rejection toward the Lord Jesus manifested by the Pharisees. They were his greatest enemies, but here he accepts an invitation from one of them to come to his house and sit at me. Whatever may be the condition, Whatever may be the attitude, it is certainly evident the Lord never refused an invitation.
We have one or two other incidents in his life when he went into a Pharisee's house. Though they may have hated him, he was willing to accept their invitation, on which occasion here he did, and he sat down. And there was a sudden interruption as they were seated, as we read in verse thirty-seven. And I wish you to dwell for just a few moments with me on the interruption of a woman. Reading in verse thirty-seven, behold, a woman in the city which was a sinner.
When she knew that Jesus sat at me, In the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster bus aboard me. May I emphasize for the time being the interruption? It was not an invited one. She had no special invitation to come, but she came oblivious. not even caring what the audience may have thought. Somewhere we have no record of the story, the preceding the incident, she had met the Lord Jesus and he had met her.
She had a bad reputation. But don't forget, so do you and I. For we're reading the word of God all of sin, and come short of the glory of God. But she's characterized as a woman of the city. But again I say, not knowing the circumstances that are not recorded, she had met the Lord Jesus. He had made a change in her life. She came into his presence on this occasion, a saved sinner.
Whatever may have been the circumstances which we do not know, the Lord had led her from her sin to incest. That is very evident from her action. But as we read in verse thirty-eight, she stood at his feet behind him weeping. She began to wash his feet with her tears. She did wipe them with the hairs of her head. She kissed his feet constantly.
and she anointed them with the ointment. May I suggest to you, this was the action and the attitude and the expression of a pardoned sinner. She had forgiven her sins. Whatever the occasion was when they met, She had come to him and accepted him as her saviour, though she was a sinner and perhaps an outstanding one.
But one thing is very certain, she must have been saved when she came in. She couldn't have come the way she did. She came with a whole heart. She came with her own personal self. And she came with her wealth, possessing a box of ointment of costly Christ. The very actions that she performed could only then be done by a redeemed sinner.
The reaction of the Pharisee, as you well note going down the chapter, please. Let me read verse thirty-nine with you. Now when the Pharisee which had been employed, he spoke within himself. Saying, he talked to himself. Not out loud. Inside, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who, and what manner of woman this is that touches him. For this was Simon's attitude toward her. She is a sinner. She in itself's righteousness would never have anything to do with her. You know there was one thing Simon didn't realize, and no.
The Savior knew what he was thinking about. He didn't have to speak out loud. The Savior in his omniscience knew everything. He knew what was going on in the heart of Simon and recognized his habitus and his condemnation upon this woman, whom by his grace he had saved. And then he gives the Simon attack. You know what he says in verse forty.
Jesus answering Simon said unto him, Simon, I'd like to talk with you. And so Simon said, Go ahead, Master. There's one thing about the Lord Jesus, no matter who Simon may have been, it matter not to him, he would teach him. He would give him God's truth. He said not to say on. And so he relates the parable of the two debtors. One owed five hundred tenths. The other only owed fifty. One owed ten times more than the other.
But the creditor, when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Oh, how we could recognize the allegoriness for as the Lord Jesus was speaking to Simon. The woman was the five hundred tenths deader. Her deader sin was far greater, perhaps, than Simon. But my beloved, may I be reminded with you When neither one of them had nothing to pay, they were frankly forgiven.
My beloved, you were never forgiven your sins. You were never forgiven your sins on only one basis. Christ. On this occasion, the Blessed Lord Jesus had not yet gone to Calvary some time ahead that lane.
So why did he come? Why did he come? Paul writing to Timothy in First Timothy, verse Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul also wrote, there is one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. Peter faithfully declared in Acts chapter four in verse twelve, neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none other name on the heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The sinner is saved when Christ reveals himself, and the sinner accepts the blessed person of the Son of God, and the finished work of his death upon the cross of Calvary, for his and her salvation. Let me repeat the most words that are more familiar than any. John three sixteen. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Then what? Whosoever believeth in him should not perish when I have everlasting life.
It's faith. And thus the parable was given to Simon. His illustration without question or doubt. And he should have meant much to his conscience. He may have been only a fifty-pence debtor. And a woman of five hundred pence. But they both needed forgiveness. My beloved, let me say this. Don't measure your salvation by the measure of your sin. You can only measure your salvation by the infinite cost and the infinite price and the infinite value of the dear Son of God who took your sins and mine upon the tree of Calvary and bore the judgment.
Let us praise and worship God. As John wrote in his epistle, the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanse the Son from all things. And then the Lord has something else to say to Simon as we read on. As we read, as we go on, if you please, Adiaf, Adiaf, Simon, who would love Him most. And that Simon rightly answered the one who was more forgiven or forgiven the most. And the Lord told him he had answered. But now notice.
I want you to notice them in the next verses. What the Lord Jesus had to reduce Simon for. May I pause for just a moment. The Lord Jesus never held back his tongue. when a rebuke was needed. No matter by whom, one incident in the early days of his life, when he was twelve years old, when he rebuked his mother, when she questioned him in Luke chapter two.
But on many other incidents, And here in the case of Simon, through the parable that he told, he illustrated the rebuke that followed. Now know what he says. No first verse forty-four. He turned to the woman and said to Simon, Seeth thou this woman, I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet. But she had washed my feet and with tears and wiped them with the hairs of the head. What was the matter? It was a customary condition in Israel.
When any guests came into the home, water was to be provided for the washing of their feet as they entered. Ah, Simon did not do it. And then second, if you read in verse forty-five, thou gaveth me no kiss. And it was a customary thing to welcome again with a kiss, but not silence. But this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Third, My head with oil thou didst not annoy. Another customary courtesy for a guest. For an anointing of the head, upon the head, the oil. But this woman has anointed my feet with oil. So Simon was completely relieved. Now he says to Simon in verse forty-seven, Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sin which were many, are forgiven. For she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
And then Jesus said unto her with assurance, Thy sins are forgiven thee. And then then decided, meet with him question, Who is this that forgives sin? But then the Savior answered, I want you to know the answer as he speaks to the woman at the end. He said to the woman, Thy faith has saved thee. Go into it. Please, He did not say thy love has saved thee. Thy faith, may I reverently say, She possibly and probably did not want him until he saved her.
For the basis of her salvation was her faith in the person of Christ. She was pardoned. My beloved, you and I who were saved, how were we saved? Let me quote the words of Paul. If you wrote them in the Ephesian epistle, you may well know. Ephesians chapter two, eight and nine. For we are saved by grace, through faith, that none of yourselves. It is the gift of God, none of work, lest any man should boast.
My beloved, whether it's the five hundred tenth debtor or the fifty tenth debtor, whether it be the greatest of all sinners or the least of all sinners, we're saved on the same ground. Faith in the blessed person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, let me say reverently and worshipfully, I'm confident we have it on more than one occasion. Let me mention another occasion in the book of Matthew chapter nine, when certain men brought a friend of theirs to be healed of the Lord Jesus and let him down through the roof of the house in which the Savior was not able to get in by the door.
What did the Lord Jesus say on that occasion? The first thing he said to the man, lowered, sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven me. Be of good cheer. His greatest need was not physical. His greatest need was spiritual. And may I emphasize the greatest need of every man, woman, boy, and girl in the world. His spiritual. to be born again, to be saved, to have their sins forgiven.
And this beloved woman, with all of her sins, came to the Savior of sinners. And her faith in him brought her salvation. Beloved, let me go back in our chapter, please. I want you to follow with me the evidences of a pardoned sinner worshipping the one who saved him. And may I emphasize my beloved fellow believer particularly, when you and I are saved, Then we are to be worshippers.
In John chapter four, the woman at the well, as she began to talk with the Savior about worship, he led her to the truth, the Father seeketh worshipers, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And the occasion in which this woman comes into the presence where Jesus was. I want you to follow it with me. Let me go back to verse thirty-seven with you. Behold a woman in the city which was a sinner.
And let me repeat again. Christ Jesus came into the world to say sinner. When Jesus went home with Zacchaeus in Luke chapter nineteen, many of the people complained, He's gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. Chapter fifteen in the Gospel of Luke, when he declared, He that that he is to hear, let him hear. Then many publicans and sinners came to him. And even then the Pharisees murmured, saying, This man eat us and drink us with who?
Sinners. Matthew, the publican, the Levite. When he was saved, gave the Savior a feast. And he invited the publicans and the sinners. And then again the Pharisees murmured that he was eating and drinking with sinners. That's the only kind of people he wanted to reach. Those that knew they were sinners. And this woman had found, in whatever way the Lord had revealed himself to him, she was a sinner.
You know, let me say, I don't know whether you'll agree with me, but one of the greatest Revelation you can have in your life is to find that you are sinned. You can't deny it anyway. The measure of it, God knows. But we know from the word of God, all that sin and come short of the glory of God. No matter whether we are great in our sins or even small in our sins, we have a condition.
We were born sinners. There have been times when I've been talking to children, or many have been in the audience and have asked them, how many of you boys and girls know how to be naughty? Every one of them put their hands up. Who taught you? They couldn't answer me. They were born sinners. David well wrote, I was born in sin and conceived in iniquity. My beloved from the days of Adam and Eve down, every person born in the world is a sinner.
A nature, a condition. As you know, there's only one person that can change that nature. It's Christ. It's Christ. Reading, if I may, then in verse thirty-seven, let me read again. Behold, a woman in the city which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at me in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster off to her. May I emphasize it's not written in the book. She had only one person before her heart and before her mind.
She cared nothing about the rest of them. Her jet of love was to the person of Christ. And she'd brought her heart. oblivious to the fact. This was a house of a Pharisee. There were guests that would not receive us, but there was one person who had received that. And she had received sin. My beloved me, I raised the question, is your heart and mine like that?
And she came to worship him. We had no record of any conversation she made. But what she did. Pause with me and meditate on what she did. First of all, she made a decision. She wanted to be where he was. The surroundings meant nothing, but the person of Christ. Men never think. He had been the one that had spoken words of love and grace, and mercy to her sins, stricken souls.
Please know, first of all, as she came in with her alabaster watch of ointment in verse thirty-eight, she stood at his feet, behind them. The customary practice in that day was reclining upon couches as they ate at the table. And undoubtedly the Lord Jesus was reclining there and his feet upon the couch. And she stood behind him at his feet. My beloved, the feet of Jesus meant more to us than all the world.
And it was an act of submission, just to be at his feet. May we raise our hearts to question, as we've already done on this occasion today, We have sung words of wanting to have him and him alone. I wonder if that could be the text. But may I lovingly say, I think of the words of Solomon as he wrote them in the book of Proverbs.
Words coming from God as well as from Christ. My Son, give me thy heart. One of the greatest blessings we can minister to the Lord is to let him have our heart completely. And in submission, she stands at his feet. It was a lonely place. May I raise the question, where else should we be?
If I recall the words of Revelation chapter five, that in heaven, when in the grand hallelujah chorus of that day, all the saints will be gathered around the throne of God, And Christ with the Lamb of God will be in the midst. We're going to fall at his feet. And worship him at his feet. One well wrote the word. Lower thy feet, Lord Jesus. This is a place for me. Here I can learn sweet lessons. Truth that can set me free.
And in submission. An attitude of submission, she stood at his feet. Second, she wept at his feet. It was not only an act of submission. It was an act of contrition. But may I go further? There were perhaps not only tears of contrition, not only tears of repentance, but they were tears of love. His grace had never need. The sins were forgiven. And I say very frankly, though the Lord Jesus said to the impudent man, Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven.
Now I want to tell you, it makes you happy enough to cry for joy. And there were not only tears of repentance, conscription, But there were tears of joy to be at his feet. And then the third thing she did, she washed his feet. She washed his feet. Oh, what a condescension. I think of the wise men, or rather the wise men in the book of Isaiah, made the statement in Isaiah, I believe, chapter thirty-five.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings and the gospel of salvation from our God. My beloved, let me say this. No more beautiful feet were ever on the earth than the feet of the Lord Jesus. And she washed them with her tears. There is no question of doubt in her condescension as she did so. The tears were flowing copiously, heavily down from her cheeks, as they fell down upon his feet.
Enough to wash them. Whether she recognized they had not been washed before, that matters not. But she met the need. She washed his feet. She wiped them with the hairs of her head. Only on one other occasion did that ever happen to the Lord Jesus, as I read in John chapter twelve, I believe, when Mary of Bethany, just before the Lord went to Gethsemane and Calvary, Mary of Bethany anointed him and his feet and wiped them with the hairs of her hair.
I'm reading First Corinthians chapter twelve, or rather eleven, that a woman's hair is a glory. And she takes the hairs of her head and uses them as a towel, as an emblem of consecration to him, to do what she could for him to serve him. And she wipes his feet with the hairs of her head. Then she does even more. She kisses his feet. Please note down the chapter, please. I want you to know what the Lord Jesus says about her in verse forty-five.
Simon thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in has not even stopped kissing my feet. So I haven't just one kiss. My beloved, there is no question of doubt. This was the outpouring of her heart's affection as she kissed his feet. Do you ever notice the words in Psalm chapter two? It depicts the end time when the voice of the nation are writing against God and His Christ.
and his word in rebellion. And God says, My son will be made king. And the Lord Jesus as the king says that God said unto me, Thou art my son this day of I begotten thee. I will give thee the nation. Now at the end of that psalm, verse nine to the end, at the end of that psalm, verses ten, eleven and twelve, You have the voice of the Holy Spirit saying, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and his wrath be poured upon you when he rises up even but a little.
My beloved, the joy of knowing she was kissing the blessed Son of God, and ardently kissing his feet, showering upon him by those tokens, her affection and love. May I say lovingly, that's where you and I belong more and more. And then last of all, as we go back in our chapter, the last thing that she did at the end of verse thirty-eight, she anointed them with the ointment, the symbol of her adoration. She had brought this ointment with its fragrance.
No matter the value of him, whatever he may have been, the ointment that Mary of Bethany broke upon the Lord Jesus in that day was spiked on, and very costly, pure, and a wealth of it. There's about a year's wages, I understand, in that day. I don't know what value this ointment was, but she brought her wealth. She laid it at his feet. She anointed it at his feet. with the fragrance of that oil. May I repeat, this was worship. This was worship showing her love and her appreciation.
Now may I honestly apply the truth for you and for me today? I don't know how you feel about what I'm going to say. But it's one occasion that I appreciate in my Christian life, more than any other occasion. It is the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper. That's an occasion when I can come, bending Lord's feet in worship.
Do you remember the words of Paul in First Corinthians chapter eleven, when he declared in verse twenty-three, As often as he ate this bread and drank this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death.