Luke 7:39-43

Luke chapter 7 reading verses 39 to 43 will be looking at, we’ll be looking at verses 39 to 43. I’ll begin reading though with verse 36. 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 to 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 the ointment. Now, when the Pharisees, which had bidden him saw it, he spake within 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 somewhat to say unto thee, and he said, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor, which had two debtors, the one owed 500 pence and the other 50. 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 the most, and he, and he, said unto him, thou hast rightly judged. God bless to us the reading of his sacred and holy word this morning. In pilgrims’ progress, the road down which Christian hurried was hedged on both sides with a wall, and it was called the Wall of Salvation. And as he went up this highway he did with a burden run because of the great burden of sin that he had on his back. And we find that he ran till he came to a small hill in which there was a cross. And when he got to that hill and stood, the bottom of which was a hollow or a bottom with a sepulchre in it, when he got to the hill and he looked at the hill, and he looked at the hill. looked at the cross, his bird loosed off his shoulders, fell to the ground, tumbled down the hill, and right into the sepulchre, and he never saw it again, he said. And then Christian, being glad and lightsome, according to Bunyan, said with a merry heart, he hath given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death. Bunyan is describing here the joy, the overwhelming sense of happiness that Mr. Christian had when he had this burden of sin taken off of it. He was relieved of it. And I think he was capturing really how the Christian feels, the believer feels, when he comes when he comes to trust in Christ, and all the of his sin is removed. In our text, Jesus is dining with a Pharisee by the name of Simon when he is suddenly approached by a woman with a notorious past that we looked at last week, you’ll recall. Now, Simon is greatly disturbed because Jesus didn’t rebuke this sinful woman. for touching him, for washing his feet with her tears, and then drying them with her hair, and then anointing them with the ointment or the perfume that he brought, or she brought with him, or to him. Being touched by a sinful woman like this should be something that Jesus abhors, the Pharisee thought. This woman, as we saw last week, once a great sinner, and we’re not told what her sin was. We don’t know if she was involved in prostitution or what the situation was. We’re just told that she was a great sinner. Believed on Christ to the salvation of her soul. We’re not even told how she heard the gospel. We don’t know if she heard Jesus’ teacher, John the Baptist, or whatever. But you’ll notice in verse 5. 50 of our text, he said to the woman, thy faith has saved thee, go in peace, indicating that she had faith and was trusting in Christ. And in verse 48, he talks about thy sins be, are forgiven, so that all the sins that she have are washed away. And what happens here, as we saw last week, as she shows great love and dedicated. to Christ by her actions toward Christ, which Simon the Pharisee here cannot comprehend. He does not get it. So Jesus tells him what we’ll call the parable of the two debtors, a very short parable that he gives, to point out how forgiveness of sin motivates believers to a very short parable that he gives, to point out how forgiveness of great love toward their sacred, which he doesn’t have. He doesn’t have this love. He is without faith. She’s the one that has faith. So we want to talk about the parable of the two debtors. Now, in preparation for that, you’ll notice here in verses 39 and 40, you may be proudly self-righteous when you compare yourself to others. We’re going to talk about two debtors, but before we have to get the mindset here of the Pharisee. Notice we read here, 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 toucheth him, for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said on him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, master say on. Yes, Jesus has something to say to him. We’ll get to that in a second. Now you’ll notice here that you may not always express yourself righteousness, but you secretly contemplate it. This Pharisee didn’t say this out loud. He thought it within a word. his heart. Scripture expressly exposes here the inward sentiment here of Simon the Pharisee. So now we know what he’s thinking. And it shows him to be a proud, self-righteous man. He sees himself vastly superior to this sinful woman, when in fact he’s not. No wonder, Jesus’ has something to say to him. He wishes to keep his distance from her. She contaminates him. He’s considered, he considers himself a very morally excellent person, a keeper of God’s law. In comparison of this woman, who he knows from reputation evidently, that she’s a great sinner. Like many Pharisees, he trusted in himself. that he was righteous and despised others, as we read in Luke 18, verse 9. Now, this is most offensive to God. Here’s what the scripture says in Isaiah 65.5. God describes here the self-righteous spirit of many of the Jews. Those who say, stand by thyself, come not near me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose and a fire that burneth all the day. These self-righteous people who think they’re holier than everyone else, God says, you’re in irritation like smoke in my nostril. It irritates me. It burns me. It angers me. These self-righteous people. Remember, God resisteth the proud. He gives grace to the humble. when you consider yourself as superior to others, keep in mind how God may be looking at you, how he may consider you. The scripture says, all have sined and come short of the glory of God. And therefore we cannot think that somehow rather we’re so superior to everyone else. We’re sort of all. all in the same category, as we’ll see different degrees perhaps, but we’re all sitters. So you may not always express your self-righteousness, but you secretly contemplate it. Now, you’ll notice that Christ knows your secret thoughts, and a self-righteous spirit is offensive to him. This is why Jesus says, Simon, I have something to say unto you. He knows. what he’s thinking. He can read his mind. Nothing is hidden from Christ here. The Pharisee didn’t think Jesus was a prophet, but this is utterly refuted by Christ’s full knowledge what this man is thinking. If this guy was a prophet, he’d know this is a notorious woman. He’s more than a prophet, a greater than a prophet. He knew all men in Scripture says. He needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man. John 225. As we look at this, we begin to realize it’s utterly impossible to keep anything secret from Jesus Christ. It is foolish to think that we can hide anything from God. And our Savior here is one who knows the thoughts and intents of everyone’s heart. As the scripture says about God, He searches the reins and the hearts. The motivations and the inner being of men are known to him. Jeremiah 17, verse 10. So now Jesus thinks, I got to make an application of this situation. I’ve got to drive this truth home to this man. So he relates to the parable of the two debtors to refute Simon’s thinking about being. being superior. The Lord defends the actions of this woman as we see later in this section as a loving tribute to her Savior. And he shows how this poor believer stands in a much more superior position than the Pharisee, Simon. The thing is, man looks on outward appearance, but God looks in a much more superior position than the Pharisee, Simon. The thing is, man looks on the heart. The self-righteous Pharisees thinks he is superior. But here, the woman who has been forgiven is the one who’s superior. She’s the one that’s been covered by Christ’s blood. She’s the one who’s been given Christ’s righteousness. She stands superior. He is without a wedding garment, so to speak. Luke 157 says this. Jesus is teaching. I say unto you that likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over 90 and nine just persons who need no repentance. Heaven rejoices with the calling in of one of the elect people of God. Whereas those who are self-righteous and think they don’t need to repent, there’s no rejoicing in heaven about that. because they see they’re in a wrong position. This woman, a forgiven sinner, finds favor with Christ. Not self-righteous, Simon. Do you remember the story about the publican and the Pharisee when it went up to the temple to pray? It’s the publican, who is the acknowledged sinner, who says, just willing to look up to heaven, God be merciful to me a sinner, who goes down to his house justified. Not the Pharisee. who bragged about how self-righteous he was and what he did. So Christ knows your secret thoughts and a self-righteous spirit is offensive to him. Thirdly, we see this. You may have an inexcusable lack of knowledge of the work of the Savior. Part of the thrust of this teaching on the parable is to relate how God forgives people. Self-righteous people don’t understand the way of salvation as it is revealed in Scripture. Because if they did, they would realize they need a Savior. When you believe you are acceptable with God because of your own righteousness, that somehow rather you can earn favor with God by how you behave, then you don’t appreciate the fact that Jesus Christ came in the world to save sinners. They that behold, behold, need not a physician, but they that are sick I cannot call the righteous but sinners to repentance, Jesus said. So if Simon doesn’t have a right attitude toward this repentant woman, and he retained a negative attitude because of her past life. He can’t appreciate what it means to be forgiven. He can’t appreciate what it means to be given Christ’s righteousness. She’s a reclaim. center. She’s not what she used to be because she’s been changed by the grace of God. And she is treated as righteous in the sight of God because of Christ. Salvation in Jesus Christ puts everybody on equal footing. We are forgiven sinners who do not cling to our own righteous deeds. acceptance before God. All true believers are trusting in Christ’s righteousness, and that is the basis of our acceptance. So you may have an inexcusable lack of knowledge of the work of His Savior. Now, fourthly, you must be willing to hear what Christ has to say to you. In verse 40, Jesus says here, Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee, and he said, Master, say on. I’m ready to hear it. Let me hear it. I wonder if we’re like Simon when the Lord has something to say to us, if we’re willing to say, master, say on. Are you eager to hear what Christ has to say? Because we must be ready to hear what God reveals to us in His Word and what Christ reveals here in this text. Too many people refuse to hear a word from Christ. They turn a deaf ear to the things of God. often you only want to hear the things that are pleasing to you and you would prefer to have someone who says things that are pleasant to the ear, that make you feel good when you come to church or something of this nature. Too many only want a preacher who prophesize as the scripture says, smooth things. Don’t trouble the waters. Don’t stir anything up. Few have the spirit of the Bereans who heard Paul preach and receive the word with all readiness of mind. So you need to say, as Eli told Samuel, speak, Lord, for thy servant here. That’s the way we should be when we come to the word or to hear the word of God. We need to hear what the Savior has to say. Now, it’s true that Christ’s word will come. cut somewhat deeply in the heart of the Pharisee here. But he needed to hear it. It’s good for his soul that this occurs. So he should quietly contemplate the word of the Lord and take it to heart. What Jesus says is always wise and it’s always relevant to the circumstances. So you may be a proud self-righteous when you compare yourself to others. But now when you’re always, you’re always relevant to the circumstances. were given a lesson on forgiveness and love here in the parable. Let’s look at that. Versus 41 to 43. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. One owed 500 pence and the other 50. 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 he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, thou hast rightly judged. Now what this scripture tells us here in this parable is that all men are debtors to God. In this parable, the spiritual application, I think it’s fairly obvious. God himself is the creditor. And all mankind are sinners. Therefore, they are debtors. Now, as a creature, we start out owing a great debt of obedience to God, but then as we violated his law, now we owe a debt of punishment because of our sins for violating his law. Sins in scripture are called debts. You’ll recall that Jesus taught us to pray, forgive us, our debts, with reference to the sin that we commit. Now, while both of us, we’re not. men were in debt, Jesus reveals that one was more in debt than others, that one had 500 pence debt, and one only had 50 pence debt, at least in their thinking. One had a great debt and one had a small debt or smaller debt. Now you’ll notice that although all people are said to be debtors, some sinners are more deeply in debt than others. As we look at people in the this life, some have plunged themselves into great evils. They have defiled themselves in a great way so that they are 500-pent sinners, like the sinful woman in the story here. Others maybe have been kept from the most overt acts of sin, and therefore they may even consider themselves small debtors, you know, 50-pents debtors. Like the Pharisee here, who thinks himself pretty well with regard to his acceptance with God. My point is this, there’s no one who isn’t in debt. Nobody. Just some are deeper in debt than others. Remember what the scripture says in 1.1-8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the Bible recognizes different degrees. of sin, of guilt before God. Remember what our Lord told the pilot, the governor, the Roman governor, when he was before him, he that delivered me unto thee, hath the greater sin. So there are greater sins than other sins. This being the case, there are different degrees of punishment that are meted out. As we’ll see later on in the book of Luke, when Christ talks about. about punishment, some are beaten with many stripes and some with few with regard to their knowledge and understanding of the will of God. So you find all men are debtors to God. That’s one thing. You find no one is able to pay this debt to God. That’s the second thing we see. Neither of these men had anything with which to meet the liability. The scripture just says they had nothing to pay. That pretty much describes the sinner in this life. What can we do? Well, how can you pay the debt? Every day you live, you add to the debt. You’re digging a deeper hole every day you live. Every day you live. No spiritual debtor can pay any part of the debt or make any restitution or satisfaction with regard to his debt. You know, the Koreans have a curious customer. You know, the that they engage in on New Year’s Day. Desiring to forget the unpleasant past things of the year, to make a fresh start, each person determines what bad habits he would like to eliminate and what past deeds he would like to erase. And he writes the names of all these sins and things of this nature on a kite. And then he flies. that kite high in the air. When it’s almost out of sight, he cuts the string. And the kite immediately takes a nose dive and disappears out of sight. And so the person walks away and thinks, that’s all done. It’s all the past. It’s all gone. I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Friends, that’s not how things work in the spiritual realm. Even if you could stop sinning all together today, it wouldn’t remove any of your past dead. that you already owe. If you had $50,000 in credit card debt, and you resolve to do something about it, and you say, you know what, I’m going to stop using that credit card. You get the scissors out, you cut up the credit card, and I’m done with it. I’m not going to charge myself into oblivion from now on. I’m going to pay cash for everything. However, let me say this. You may have changed somewhat your ways, but the credit card company still wants the $50,000. You can say, well, I’m different. I’ve changed my ways. You still owe the money. It doesn’t disappear. In the spiritual realm, your behavior change. If you could change your behavior, it doesn’t erase the past debt. Reforming your life would still leave you these past debts against you and they’d still condemn you. Even if you could reduce your sins from 50 pence down to 50. You’d still be adding to your debt. Maybe it’s to a slower pace, but you’re still adding. God is such a holy and just God that every infraction of his law deserves eternal hell and punishment. Every one of them. He, as he declares in his word in the law, he will by no means clear the guilty. And so punishment of your sin debt in hellfire awaits you, you have nothing to pay. You can’t pay it. what are you going to do? So you find no one is able to pay this debt to God. Then you find that God grants forgiveness freely. You’ll notice how this is stated. In the parable of the two debts, we’re told in verse 42 here, the creditor frankly, forgave them both. The word frankly here means to forgive freely or graciously. It’s charisma. It’s derived from the word charis, which is grace. He graciously forgave them. He just forgave them the debt. He didn’t set up a payment schedule for them. He didn’t say, you know what, I have extra work for you to do. You can sort of reduce the debt as you go he simply forgave them both he wiped out the sin debt altogether isn’t that what the indication here is of the text he didn’t ask for anything from them he knew they had nothing if forgiveness is to come to you at all it has to come freely it has to come to you graciously forgiveness from God is for Christ’s sake it’s by faith. It is received as a gift. Therefore, it’s never merited. Those who are justified, according to Romans 324 and 25, are justified freely by the grace of God. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. We’re justified. graciously, freely. This parable there clearly emphasizes that God’s forgiveness can’t be earned. It can’t be bought. It can’t be somehow or other a matter of us reforming and earning brownie points with God or something of this nature. During the Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt, the American commander, or an American commander at that time, came to Clara Barton of the Red Cross, and he came to buy some supplies from her for his wounded and sick man, who desperately needed the supplies. And so he offered to purchase these needed items and was adamantly refused by Clara Barton. She said, no, I won’t sell them to you. And Roosevelt was troubled and pleaded with Barton, well, how can I get these things? I must have proper food and medical supplies for my man. Claire Barton simply. replied, just ask for them, Colonel. Oh, said Roosevelt, then I do ask for them, and he got them at once. Freely, by grace, without purchase. That’s what we’re talking about here. Listen to Solomon’s request during the dedication of the temple. When thy people Israel have sinned against thee and confess thy name and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people, Israel. Ask God for forgiveness. Pray to him. And God says, I will hear and I will answer the prayer and forgive you. Jesus taught you to pray, forgive us our sins. So you have to ask and God graciously forgives. We don’t have to bargain with God for forgiveness. So you find forgiveness by God is freely granted. And then you’ll notice something else here. You find forgiveness by God draws out a real love for God. Notice verse 43. Or in the last part of verse 42, he says, 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. Now by this parable, Jesus is leading Simon to some key points. And one is this, a sense of forgiveness draws the love, fourth love, and one’s love will be in proportion to the greatness of the sin that’s forgiven. The debt. His question to Simon is, tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? It wasn’t too hard. for Simon to figure that one out. It was a no-brainer, as we say. Love will be in proportion to the greatness of the sin debt that you feel, that you’ve received, the forgiveness of it. The blindness and pride of some people lead them to believe that their guilt is small. What the truth is, it’s very great. You may not comprehend just how value you are on the sight of God. This is the problem we have in dealing with with those around us is most people don’t understand how they are in the sight of God. The self-righteous Simon doesn’t understand the spirituality of God’s law. That the law is more than just the letter of the law. There is a spirit of the law that we violate. The Sermon of the Mount, we have the good example of this, several places where he talks about hatred in your heart toward your brother without a cause. It’s the same as murder. It’s the same spirit as murder and so forth. but the conviction of sin that is produced by the Holy Spirit as such as you see the greatness of your sin. You see how black it is in the sight of God. And you confess, as Paul did, that he’s the chief of sinners. So when persons deeply convicted of sin are forgiven, their joy, their gratitude, their love, their devotedness to the Lord is great. I want you to look with me at 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verses 12 to 17 as we see here something about the apostle Paul 1st timothy 1 1 1 1 1 12 through 15 excuse me 12 through 17 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me or that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the world or Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Howbeit, for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me, first, Jesus Christ, might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to everlasting life. Now, under the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Paul, you recall, was once a self-righteous Pharisee, who thought he could keep the law blamelessly, as he tells us in Philippians chapter 3. However, when he was convicted of his sin by the Holy Spirit, and he was brought to salvation, now he confesses on the chief of sinners. His opposition to Christ, his persecution of Christ’s church, actually made him a blasphemer. a persecutor, injurious to others. He obtained mercy. He obtained forgiveness of sin, which was a great forgiveness because all these terrible sins he committed. He did so because of the patience and the grace shown him by the Lord Jesus Christ. And this draws out a strong sense of love and devotion to Jesus Christ, which comes out in verse 17 when he adores Christ for who he is. He says, this is a pattern in verse 16. What happened to me is a pattern for all those who come to believe in Christ after me. In other words, what God did for me is the way God works in people’s lives. Is this true of you? While you may not have been a notorious sinner with a bad reputation in society, you still have been forgiven very much iniquity if you’ve come to know the Savior. And after deep conviction of your sin by the Holy Spirit, you’ll readily admit that much. And you will see that in your best moments, you never would have been acceptable to Christ, but the wrath of a holy God would rest upon you. This is the secret to why people love the Savior. And why they are done. devoted to him. They’ve been forgiven much. And this will be the theme now which he will drive home on the latter part of this section of scripture, but for this morning, I have to stop. So here’s what you’re given a lesson on forgiveness and love. Mr. Christian in Pilgrim’s progress, comes to the cross, loses his burden of sin, and he rejoices. He’s excited. He is happy. and what love this drew out of Mr. Christian for the Savior, Jesus Christ. This is a common pattern of believers everywhere. This is the way God works. And it’s the teaching of our text. The question is, is that the way you see yourself? Have you seen yourself as a great sinner who has received this great, freely given grace that has washed away all yourself? sense. That’s the person that’s going to be dedicated to Christ. Let us close where the word is.