Luke 7:36-38

Luke chapter 7, beginning with verse 36, 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 meat in the Pharisees’ home, her house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, stood at his feet behind him weeping, began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which had bidden him, sought, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who, and what manner of woman this is, that touch of him, for she is a sinner. Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee, and he saith, master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors, the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and 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, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house. Thou gave this to me no water for my feet. She hath washed my feet with tears. and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many are forgiven, for she love much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her. are thy sins are forgiven. They that sat meet with him began to say within themselves, who is this that forgive us sins also? And he said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace. And God blessed to us, his sacred and his holy word this morning. Augustine, one of the church fathers, before his conversion, person lived with a woman out of wedlock. It was a sinful relationship that lasted for a period of time, and then they went their separate legs. Much later, the young woman saw Augustine walking down the street one day, and she called out after him, knowing how likely he was to fall into sin. He ran away from her with all his might. She ran after him crying out, Augustine, Augustine, it’s I. Why are you running away? And Augustine answered back, I ran away because it is not I. I am a new man. Conversion changes you into a new person. You’re not what you used to be. The woman that is mentioned in our text, I think, is a great example. of this. This unnamed woman had a great change in her life when she was saved by God’s grace. You can see in our text how she demonstrated that she was converted by her actions and her devotion in love to Jesus Christ. Luke is the only gospel that relates this beautiful and instructive incident. Those similar, in some circumstances, this account must be carefully distinguished from the one that’s found in Matthew, Mark, and John, because it is a different account. In that account, we find that John fixes the time. There’s only six days before the Passover, which Jesus Christ was going to be crucial. late in his ministry. The person who anointed Christ’s head and his feet on that occasion was Mary of Bethany, Martha and Lazarus’s sister. And she was a woman of godly character. Our tax speaks about a different woman and she’s unnamed. Now the Roman Catholic Church has said it was Mary Magdalene, but there is no scriptural evidence for this. It’s just bare speculation. The scripture doesn’t tell us who this woman is, and therefore, I’m not going to speculate on who it is. And it really doesn’t matter for the purpose of the teaching of the passage. Let me begin as we look at evidence here of conversion by saying this. You may show some interest in Christ and yet remain unconverting. We’re not going to look at this whole passage this morning, but I’m going to look at verses 36 to 39. And so I want to look at verse 36 with regard to this point. 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. Now, one of the reasons all the Pharisees criticized Christ was the fact that he was a friend of the publicans and sinners. They didn’t like that. They were a separate people. Too good to be around those types of individuals. You’re not told the motive behind the Pharisees’ invitation to Christ here to dine with him. It’s clear from the account, however, it wasn’t because he had faith, and it wasn’t because he loved Christ. It’s possible he was influenced by curiosity or because Christ was a popular teacher. No doubt Christ accepted the invitation because it was an opportunity to proclaim the gospel. Not only to the Pharisee, but also to those who also were at the feast with him. As we see later on in this passage, it wasn’t just him and Christ that were eating at this feast, but there were others that were there as well. Simon here is outwardly respectful of Jesus. Christ, but he’s not converted. He showed more respect to Christ than perhaps many of his peers did, especially those who were of the Pharisee’s sect. But we see here that Simon doesn’t really understand the gospel. He does not understand that sinners can be justified in God’s sight and be totally forgiven and be acceptable in God’s sight. So he’s horrified that Jesus would allow here a woman who is a known sinner to touch him or be close to him. His proud heart found this repulsive. The sight of a poor contrite sinner being allowed to wash it, worship Christ’s feet was too much for him. Even the hospitality that Simon showed on this occasion was also lacking. As you’ll notice what Jesus says in verses 44 to 46, Thou gave us me no water from my feet, thou gave us me no kiss, my head with oil thou that’s not anoint. Some of these things would be just a common hospitality like washing the feet and so forth. The Pharisee was outwardly civil in his actions toward court. Christ, but there was no heart love displayed in what he did. Simon has never been touched and changed by the grace of God so he does not have a deep love for Christ. So we see his interest in Christ here. Now let me say this morning that you may have a respectful attitude toward Christ and still not be saved. Remember the case of this Pharisee that he was a religious man who certainly would have concern for the law of God. He respected Christ, it seems, as a religious teacher, but clearly he did not see the Lord as Savior. He didn’t see him as the Messiah because as we see in verse 39, he couldn’t even acknowledge this guy of being a prophet because if he is a prophet, he would have known this woman’s and c. Now you can be just like Christ today, or just like this man today. Perhaps you attend a church faithfully somewhere. Maybe you treat Christianity with respect. You never say a bad word about the church. You may even know some of the key doctrines of the true faith. You would not blaspheme Christ’s name or use it in vain. But do you actually believe? believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you really love the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you embraced him as your Lord and as the Savior? Can you say with Peter, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Are you resting your entire hope of heaven upon Christ’s work, upon His blood and his righteousness? Is your hope of forgiveness based upon Christ’s sacrifice as a substitute for sinners, that he has washed us from our sins in his own blood. Are you basing your hope of acceptance with God on the imputed righteousness of Christ? That you will be accepted on the basis of Christ’s righteousness being given to you and be found in him not having your own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, as Philippians 3-9, says. These are questions you ought to carefully consider lest you perish, even though you are religious. There was a minister that was visiting one of his members who was a farmer, and the farmer asked Pastor Harvey one day, he said, what he thought the greatest hindrance was for a man’s salvation. The pastor responded by saying, a man’s sinful self. No, said the farmer, I don’t think that’s it. I think self, a righteous self, is a greater hindrance to a person’s salvation. His reasoning was, only when you know you were a sinner are you going to go to Christ. But if you think you’re acceptable as you are, then you’ll never go to Christ. So you may show some interest in Christ and yet be unconverted, and that’s the sad case here of the Pharisee that Jesus is going to address in this section. Now notice secondly, your conversion will be evidenced by acts of love to Christ, verses 37 and 38. And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus, sat at meat 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 did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment. Now, the Pharisee, which had bidden him, saw it. He spake within himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known, who and what man or woman this is that toucheth him, where she is a sinner. We see here this woman’s former life. It’s just described with this little phrase, a sinner. While dining with Christ, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, approached Jesus Christ. She must have just entered into the house. Now, we don’t know which city this is. Some have suggested it could be Jerusalem. The last city that Lucas mentioned is named, and so could well be named. We just are not positive here, but that was the last city mentioned. We’re not told this woman’s name. We’re not even told about her specific sinful history. But what is emphasized as she is a sinner? Now, you might say, well, pastor, everybody’s a sin. In one sense, this is true. There’s not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sin if not. For all have sin and comes short of the glory of God. But sometimes in Scripture, when the word sinner is used, it’s used for someone who is an open or more victorious sinner, a flagrant violator of the law of God. and this seems to be perhaps the way it’s used here. She was a sinner by profession. Now it’s interesting that she was known to be such. When he saw her, the Pharisee, he knew that she was a sinner. She had a reputation. Her way of life was common town talk. She was not part of what we call respectable society. It would appear then that she was probably maybe a prostitute or something of that nature. And this is publicly known. Jesus would later say about her. Her sins which are many, verse 47, indicating to us that she was a very sinful woman at one point. However, she came to Simon’s house, and it’s clear that she was a believing center. Because Jesus goes woman says here, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. Verse 47. You’ll notice in verse 48, he says, thy sins are forgiven. But I like verse 50, in particular, the last part, thy faith, have saved thee. Go on peace. She’s a woman of faith. She is a woman who believed in Christ as the Savior. That’s why she has her sins forgiven. Now, we’re not told how she heard the gospel. We’re not told when she came to know Christ and believed on him. But Jesus did tell the religious authorities who challenged his authority. Verily, I say unto you that publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. And may we have an example of that here. Now, you’ll notice in verse 37, it says, behold, here, to begin, behold, a woman that is a sinner. She’s a forgiven a sinner. But this is going to be a wonder to behold here, this woman, the great change that has taken place in this woman. She had many dark, notorious sins that had been washed away. So she’s a new woman. So here you find a wonderful thing about salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Even the chief of sinners. She was a sinner in her past life. She’s had Christ’s righteousness imputed to her. She has been forgiven. She is full of aware of her blackness. Like the bride that we saw in the Song of Solomon, you know, she bemoans the blackness of her condition. She recognizes that she hadn’t forgotten it. Even though the groom, the bridegroom, looks upon her as pure and forgiven and so forth. But all her sins are buried in the depth of the deepest sea, aren’t they not? So here she is. She’s lovingly devoted to Christ or Savior. She loves him supremely. On June 8, 1856, Charles Haddon’s Spurgeon preached a sermon on Hebrew 725, wherefore he is able to save him the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveeth to make intercession for them. The sermon was published under the title salvation to the uttermost. 30 years later, Spurgeon heard how a convicted murderer in South America came to salvation in Christ by reading that sermon. He was an Englishman. He committed murder during a state of drunkenness, and he was in a South American prison at the time. Sentenced to life in prison. But he happened to be, visited by a member from Spurgeon’s Church who was on business in South America at that particular time. And this man had received a package of books from England, and among them was a volume of Spurgeon’s sermons. And so this inmate relates to this member of Spurgeon’s Church, how he was converted by hearing a reading actually, a Spurgeon’s sermon. In that sermon. Spurgeon mentioned a man who had committed several murders and was in Stadford prison under the sentence of death. And Spurgeon emphasized that even such a man if he repented, could know God’s pardon and peace. Well, the inmate here, the prisoner in Brazil, said to himself, if Palmer could be saved, so could I. And so he turned. to God in repentance and found Christ to be Lord and Savior of Him. He said, I sought the Savior and blessed be God, I found him. And now I am pardoned. I am free. I am the sinner saved by grace. There is forgiveness in Jesus Christ, even for the most notorious of sinners. He’s able to save you regardless of what you may have done. So the woman’s former character is a sinner. Now, as we look at this, let’s talk about how you may show evidence of being saved by God’s grace as we look at how she responded to this matter of salvation. First, we see, in a sense, here, an open profession of faith in Jesus Christ. What courage it must have been to enter into this Pharisees’ house knowing how well she would be received when she got in there. But she goes in there. anyhow, boldly. She’s making a public confession through her actions here of the fact that she has turned from her sinful ways and she has turned in faith to Jesus Christ. She didn’t come secretly by night. She didn’t talk to him when Christ was alone, perhaps like Nicodemus did. She goes openly by day. She goes when there are many witnesses there. And she’s she goes in a sense to declare Christ as their Savior. She’s been ashamed of what she’s been, but she’s not ashamed of what she’s become. She probably would be turned out of Simon’s house with disdain, but for now she comes forward. She will confess Christ, regardless of who frowns upon her. Now, can I say this morning that one of the characteristics, I think, of every true child of God, is they will make an open confession of faith in Christ. They will make known the fact that they are trusting in Christ for their salvation. All there may be some shyness in some cases, but the true believer cannot be ashamed to acknowledge the Savior. Jesus Christ himself said in Matthew 1032, Whosoever shall confess me before men, Him will I confess also before my. my father who is in heaven. The same feeling which urged this woman to come forward and to perform this act, I think is common in a sense in every true child of God. Christians cannot ultimately hide their faith. They desire to openly profess it. Let me ask you this morning, have you ever openly confess Christ? Have you publicly acknowledged? that he is your Lord and your Savior before others. So one of the things is open profession of faith in Christ. Secondly, a readiness to do something to honor Christ. We see that in verse 37 in the second part. When she knew that Jesus said it meat in the Pharisees’ house, she brought an alabaster box of ointment. She goes to anoint his feet after washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair. She thought, what can I do to honor Christ? How can I serve Christ? So she resolved to bring an offering, and this was an alabaster box of ointment of some sort, some precious ointment, no doubt costly ointment. And she goes to anointment Christ’s feet. We go through this life. There are many people that are very inventive when it comes to making money. It comes to adding to their bank account. But I wonder how many are as inventive as this woman was when it came to thinking about, well, how can I honor Christ? And finding a way to do so. I think sometimes there’s a lack of imagination in that direction on our part. Our minds are not as engaged as they should be. in this area. But this woman showed some original thinking here. She didn’t honor Christ in a routine manner. Remember, this is the first time no one before her has done this. Mary of Bethany will do something like this later. But this is the first time this has been done. I think we mean more invented planning when it comes to honoring our Savior. Sometimes we have to think outside the box. This takes some thought. The real desire that somehow we can honor our Savior. Now in this regard, I remind you that we should remember the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 2540. Verily, I say unto you in as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me. We don’t have Christ’s bodily presence with us, so we can’t do the same thing here. but Jesus says if you do it to a brother and sister of Christ you’re doing it unto me. And so there are ways we can honor Christ by helping our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should pray about that. We should put some thought into how we may do something beneficial to help our fellow believers in the Lord. Consider what need this person may have. How you may be able to help them. I read in the book of Acts. chapter 9 about a woman who was a disciple of Christ her name was Dorcas and we read there that she was full of good works and alms deeds which she did and then as you read the passage you begin to realize what those om’s deeds were she became sick and she died and Peter was summoned from where we were staying to to Joppa to see what could be done and we read there in verse 39 of that chapter all the widows stood by peter weeping and showing the coats and garments Dorcas made the widows needed help they did coats they needed garments so she she sewed them she made them she was part of her alms giving she helped those believers around her the readiness to do something for Christ that’s what we should have something else we should have humility of heart now this woman was courageous as we talked about but she wasn’t proud she approached Christ here in a very humble manner she didn’t ambitiously you know I seek to attract attention by going to the head of the table or anything of this nature she stood at his feet behind him began to wash his feet feet someone said that this to weep at his feet was on her high enough for her and then he added she sought the uppermost seat at the banquet at this time meals were so served at a low table one would lean on their elbow and with their feet behind them and so she would come up from behind Jesus and that’s when she began to wash his feet and annoying him from behind she didn’t court any observation The washing of the feet was certainly menial service. Therefore, a strong proof of her humility. You remember Nebald’s wife, Abigail, and when he was telling him to stone because of his treatment of David and God struck him. And then he dies. And then David sends for Abigail to be his wife. And what does she say? Behold, let thine handmaid be as a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord. I’m not worthy to be David’s wife who’s going to be king of Israel. She said, I’ll take the lowest service. And so the washing in the feet here’s a low service to do, menial service. And in this case, she didn’t even have a bowl of water. or a towel. She used her own tears. That’s a lot of, that’s a lot of crying. And her hair. Her long hair. She used it to wipe the feet and dry them. Boy, this is about as humble as you can get, isn’t it? And she was glad to do this. It was nothing too low for her to do in order to serve Jesus Christ. Acts 2019 says, serve the Lord with all humility. And that’s what we should be doing. Nothing is too small to do for Christ. Nothing is beneath your dignity to do for Christ. Didn’t Jesus set the example by washing the disciples feet himself? In John 13. Yes, any humble service that we would engage in to help a brother or sister in Christ will be done willingly and eagerly by a faithful believer. Many years ago, I was teaching the adult Sunday school class on a rotation basis. There were three men in the church that would teach, and we would rotate in cycles, all under the oversight of the pastor at that time. Raina, my wife, was teaching a Sunday school class. She had some little kids that she was teaching, but one week she was sick. And because I wasn’t teaching that week, I thought, well, I’ll just, you know, I’ll just, you know, fill in for her and I’ll do the class. And so that’s what I did. I taught the class that week. I didn’t think too much about it. I thought, well, there’s a need here, and I’ll just go ahead and take care of it. I was surprised by the pastor’s reaction. He was amazed that I was willing to teach children when I was an adult teacher. He thought that showed real humility. Frankly, it never even dawned on me. It was like, here’s a need you just take care of? of it. I never thought of it being beneath me. Children need to hear the gospel too. They need to hear about Christ. See, I believe that true Christians don’t think about things being beneath their dignity. They’re only concerned about how can I honor Christ in this situation. Humility of heart. She had that. And lastly, let me mention this. Love for Christ. She had love for Christ. We’re going to be looking at the rest of this later because Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. is going to go into this in more detail. Our Lord assess this woman’s act of washing and an anointing his feet as being motivated by love. Verse 47, she loved much. A deep love for Christ makes you willing to sacrifice yourself or material things like the ointment that she had in order to honor the Savior. All of Christ’s disciples outwardly manifest this. disregard for him by various acts of devotedness to the Lord. Some of them may be of a costly nature. Some of them may be involved in enduring persecution and suffering for the Savior’s sake. As we will consider this in another study in more detail, I’m not going to dwell on it, but this is a great motivating factor, isn’t it, in the service of Christ? The greater your love, the more devotedness your service. You didn’t wash my feet. You didn’t anoint me when I came here. She did? Why did she do that? She loves me greatly. Here’s another reason why we cannot lose our first love, as Jesus told the church at Ephesus, because then we’ll lose our devotiveness to Christ. Well, let me close by saying this. Augustine responded as former’s lovers called him. Augustine Augustine. It’s I. Why are you running away? With, I ran away because it’s not I. I’m a new man. I’m different. Conversion changes you. And this sinful woman that we have in our text is a prime example of this. She gives evidence of being saved by our actions. Do you give evidence of your conversion by your actions? Let us close. Thank you.