Don't Be A Pharisee

Luke 7 and the Forgiveness of the Sinful Woman

You'll turn with me, please in your Bibles to the gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7 will be Place of our study this morning and before we hear the words of the Lord, let's ask him to bless our time together.

Our Grace. Heavenly Father as we hear the words of our Lord Jesus this morning we ask that you would Indeed by your spirit minister to us as we hear him speak of forgiveness. And the love that we should have the one who has forgiven us so much.

May you soften the hearts that need to be softened. May you encourage the hearts that need to be encouraged? May we indeed be able to hear what the Spirit says to us this day through the word we pray in Christ's name.

Amen. Luke chapter 7 verse 36 we read of this story. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him and he entered the Pharisees house and reclined at the table. There was a woman in the city who was a sinner.

When she learned that he was reclining the table in the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume and Standing behind him at his feet weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears.

And kept wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him that she is a sinner.

Jesus answered him Simon. I have something to say to you and he replied say it teacher a Money lender had two debtors one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay he graciously forgave them both.

So which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more and he said you have judged correctly Turning toward the woman. He said to Simon. Do you see this woman?

I Entered your house. You gave me no more water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet.

You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you her sins which are many have been forgiven for she loved much. But he was forgiven little loves little.

Then he said to her your sins have been forgiven. Those who are reclining at the table with him began to say themselves With this man who even forgives sins. And he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace.

Seeing the Story with Fresh Eyes

Thus our reading of the word this morning and the basis of our study in the time together. It had been my intention to dive right back into Deuteronomy this morning and was prepared to do that. But this particular text of scripture captured my attention.

I felt it would be appropriate if we would spend our time this morning considering What took place in this incident. I once again would invite you to try to set aside preconceived Ideas of the story and try to see what was taking place.

To see it with fresh eyes we know that there was already a fair amount of Animosity between Jesus and the Jewish leadership. He has already pointed out their hypocrisy more than once and So one of the Pharisees Seemingly in asking him to dine with him wants to observe him at closer quarters to try to sort of see what kind of an individual he really is and so he enters the Pharisees house and reclines at the table now.

I Don't know if you've seen pictures of what this was like and I'll be perfectly honest with you as I try to think about how People ate in that day. I am somewhat befuddled. Because they did not sit at a table they Reclined at the table they laid with their head toward the table and their feet away from the table.

Which I suppose has some advantages, but but in reality Which side do you Recline on because if I reclined on my right side and tried to use my left hand to feed myself I poke my eye out with a fork and there's just no question about it.

So I suppose you had to sort of Recline on the left side, I guess but I've heard other people say it was the right side. I I don't know it would seem it would seem to be difficult, but it's probably just a matter of tradition.

It does explain some things that we have pictured for us in the Gospels like the Last Supper and things like that, but they're reclining at the table and so you would have a a Central table, which would be the primary place of service and that would mean that would be in the in the center of the room and then the the feet would be going out from from there and So what happens is there there is a woman in the city who was a sinner.

Now traditionally there's people have attached this to Mary Magdalene that she's not identified as Mary Magdalene here there's really no reason to do that, but The traditional understanding of her many sins because Jesus does affirm the fact that she was a sinner and That she had many sins to be forgiven and so the traditional understanding is what she that she was a prostitute and in fact a well-known prostitute in the city and Somehow word comes to her and it would be understandable when we talk about a city.

We're not talking about Phoenix. We're talking about much smaller places and so it'd be understandable that the word would go out the teacher. The teacher is is Reclining in the house, and he's he's it's Simon's house.

And so the first thing that strikes us is that she would be bold enough to enter into Simon's house because Simon is known as Simon the Pharisee and Undoubtedly it's the first time she's ever been there.

We would think so anyways and so she comes and She brings an alabaster vial of perfume. Let's be honest ourselves. We watch this picture. We see this in our minds, and it seems like a strange situation to us.

We probably just dismiss it as well. I'm sure there's some some ancient traditions here that we're not understanding or whatever else it might be but I Think it was a strange situation. I think it was a difficult thing for people to observe this I'm sure it was rather distracting to the entire group.

She she brings this alabaster vial of perfume, and I can guarantee you That when she begins to anoint Jesus's feet Everybody in the room knew she was doing that I mean Anything you were eating now became alabaster flavored in the process.

I mean there was no hiding this and And She is weeping and I suppose we could assume that she's weeping quietly but Given that she's wetting his feet with her tears generally, that's not the kind of you know weeping quietly doesn't necessarily produce that level of tears and Then she's wiping His feet with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with perfume now obviously The anointing of someone their head their feet with perfume was Something it was a very special thing in that day perfume was exceptionally expensive.

It was Obviously a sign of great respect and you can recall later on when Jesus anointed when Judas Complains about the cost of the anointing Jesus says she has anointed me for my for my burial. But the point was this is obviously a very special thing to do and would leave a lot of people wondering What is this all about?

Especially given Her reputation that while maybe the disciples didn't know Jesus certainly knew and The rest of the people from the city would have known as well and so here is this difficult situation and As far as we can tell and in fact we are told explicitly Jesus pays her no mind.

He pays her no mind now It seems clear to me That in some way that the gospel writers do not explain to us that Luke does not explain to us here. Something was obviously gone going on in this woman's life.

Something had happened in Some way that God did not see fit to reveal to us there had been a Work of the Spirit in her life and a bringing of conviction in into her experience. But we are not given any of that information because that's not really the central focus of What the story is actually all about you see we See what's happening, and then we get the insight Into the self-righteousness of the religious Pharisee who observes this who sees what's going on.

Knowing who she is. His first response is not. That's wonderful. That's wonderful a well-known harlot in our city. Clearly Clearly she is she's repenting and God is doing a work in her life, and isn't it wonderful?

That's not what he's thinking. That's not what he's thinking. And though in the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him that she is a sinner.

The Self-Righteousness of the Pharisee

And we we with these words come to recognize That in the mind of the Pharisee of this day. You had those who kept the law. Those who observed the law. Who knew what all the laws were and exactly how you were to wash your hands and how many times?

And in what order and how you're supposed to say the shema and at what time of day and you you had it all down and. And then you had the um ha audits the people of the land and They're not like you the Pharisee oh they certainly observed the Sabbath day and and They may even offer sacrifice in the temple, but they're not a Pharisee and They can't name.

They can't even name you all the laws let alone follow them properly and So in your mind the grace of God is yours. He has made you a Pharisee and we know from some of the prayers of that day that that men would pray.

I thank you that you made me a man and not a woman. I thank you that made me one of your people and not one of the Gentiles and and they would go through all these categories of people that did not have the favor of God and It was all based upon who they were.

Oh There was a recognition sort of in a sense That God had graciously Given them the law, but there was a deep seated self-righteousness in the existence of the Pharisee and So deep was it that when you even saw?

The work of the Spirit of God in bringing repentance into a person's life. The first thought is that there that's not a Pharisee that can't really be grace and If this guy was really a prophet then he'd know who she really was and he wouldn't be allowing her to do this.

This is embarrassing. I can't believe this happening in my house. Notice it says he said to himself Within himself literally He didn't say this outwardly. But I don't know about you, but I've seen I've met a Pharisee.

I Met a Pharisee I I mentioned this in discussing in talking with a friend of mine this past week back in 1995 I Moderated a debate out at Arizona State University With a Pharisee and in fact 20 minutes into the debate I wrote on my Sheet of paper the Pharisees still live.

I mean this rabbi ultra Orthodox rabbi he was Simon reborn. I mean a very unpleasant character really was but he was Simon reborn and Something tells me That yes, it does say Jesus answered him and Yes, Jesus knew it was in the hearts and minds of men, but I'm not really sure it took a supernatural Intervention to be able to read Simon's face as he's looking past Jesus to the scene at his feet and Wondering why this supposed prophet this supposed teacher Doesn't know what he knows But does say Jesus answered him and the whole parable of the two debtors is A parable in answer to the attitude of the Pharisee Who seeing the grace of God responds with anything but grace?

And There is the picture of a person Who claims to know God's grace? But is so little thankful for it So little filled with love as a result of it that he can then see God's grace breaking into someone else's life and Be blind to it Be blind to it.

Jesus answered him Simon. I have something to say to you and He replied say it teacher not prophet. Just just teacher a money lender had two debtors one owed 500 denarii and another 50. When they were unable to repay he graciously forgave them both so which of them will love him more now I can't prove this but as I looked at this in the original language, I was sort of struck that the the term sort of communicated to me that Simon's answer was Not one that he spent a lot of time thinking about and almost sort of is almost dismissive.

I Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more so you can hear in the tone of my voice as I say that how I would Understand the original language at that point. I suppose the one whom he forgave more.

He didn't see it as all that much of a deal and He said to him Jesus said to him you have judged correctly. But then notice what happens picture it in your mind's eye Turning toward the woman. So all of this up until this point She has been weeping and Jesus has not responded.

She has anointed his feet with expensive perfume he has not responded. He has not said anything to her and in fact even here it says Turning toward the woman he said to Simon so even now as he turns to her and Away from Simon.

He's not addressing her directly. He's addressing Simon and so the first Aspect of Jesus's response to the woman silence. I Don't about you. If I had been Peter or James or John or Thaddeus or whoever would find it extremely awkward I Would have been looking towards some of the you know some of the leaders the band should we?

Think I you know doing this type of and I bet that was happening, but he said nothing. He said nothing. Some of the old Puritans would speak of that time when someone Coming under conviction would would seek a word from God of peace and forgiveness.

It would not come immediately and there is a Surface level nature too much of what happens in evangelicalism today when You have the instant rubber stamp salvation concept you know. You just shake the pastor's hand and you say a few words and boom it's all done.

I don't get me wrong. God can save. God saves just like that, but we have here a repentant woman and repentance. Especially Repentance in this situation whereas Jesus Jesus can say she has many sins to be forgiven of that repentance need to be expressed.

That repentance had to Breathe out its expression of sorrow and it happened and Jesus Didn't respond. But now here's the second Instance now he's turned toward her she's no longer anonymous. Now he turns to her and we're told nothing more about what She does.

But he says to Simon. Do you see this woman? Now obviously Jesus well knew that he had seen her. He says I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. That was unusual. There was some literally some disrespect that had been shown.

There weren't any paved roads. You didn't take a bus to someone's house. You walked dusty roads shared with animals and So the washing of the feet was a standard procedure. Simon wasn't a very good host.

You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss. Again still standard in those areas of the world. Absolutely freaks me out, but still standard in those areas of the world.

But she since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil but she anointed my feet with perfume and so now in a sense Jesus is defending her against Simon's thoughts and Himself against Simon's internal accusation.

I read the statement of The Prince of preachers at this point, and I again Just wonder Why it is that so few of us today? Can say in so few words? What Spurgeon could say? Long long ago. Listen what he said about this section.

He said our Lord's favorable inclination towards this woman Was still more marked in the second stage of his dealings with her when he began to defend her against her accuser. When Simon's evil thoughts had condemned her and her Lord also Jesus spoke that wonderful parable which set forth the greatness of this woman's love and Justified the extraordinary way in which she manifested it.

Christ did not speak to her but he spoke up for her and Such action as that should be quite sufficient to stay the soul of a believer in him. What though my Lord has not revealed himself to me? He has revealed himself to the father for me.

What if he has not spoken to me? Yet if he has spoken to God on my behalf if he has spoken in the scriptures in defense of poor sinners and Advocated their cause in the high court of heaven then how thankful I may be and how thankful they may be.

How very true? How very true indeed? So he says to Simon This woman has treated me with great love. Why? Well verse 47 for this reason I say to you her sins Which are many have been forgiven for she loved much.

But he who is forgiven little Loves little. I wonder we are not told but I wonder did Simon get it did Simon hear it. Well, will we meet Simon someday in heaven? Will Simon the Pharisee be Simon the believer?

I don't know. I Don't know. We read even today in the book of Acts that there had been many there in Jerusalem that Had come to believe and so we can hope but what a stinging rebuke to Simon because what it shows is he had been forgiven little and she Her sins which are many have been forgiven then he said to her finally.

Finally he says to her Finally she has been waiting. We don't know how long this had gone on in most of our Experiences today if it happened for just a matter of moments. It would have been too long for us but finally After all this time Jesus says to her the words That she could have only dreamed she could possibly hear.

When the thought entered her mind I will take the alabaster perfume the container and I will go and I will express my repentance and maybe Might there be words of grace for me. The Pharisees wouldn't have told her that there were.

The Pharisees will not have told her. There would have been this whole process that she would have had to have gone through and that it really wasn't a possibility. They hadn't said God is gracious in this way their Psalms did their songs did but it's what happens when you Start limiting God's grace down and saying well.

It's it's just our little group That does things the way we do it and so he says to her your sins Have been forgiven. The very first words not introduction. I am Jesus of Nazareth. I am the Messiah. Somehow she I don't know how she knew these things.

I Don't know what happened before we're not told. Will we find out someday. I don't know. No small talk no introduction. The first words your sins have been forgiven. That's all she wanted to hear. That's what she knew she needed to hear and Those are the very words that Simon had no idea he needed to hear.

That's the danger of dead religion, that's the danger of religious apathy. That's the danger of thinking. I have everything figured out. I've got God's grace. I'm better than everybody else. There is no group in the Gospels That receives harsher condemnation and warning Than the religious Pharisees in fact.

When we look at Matthew 12 and the unpardonable sin it seems to me that's all tied up with having so much light and Being able to see that light and say that's darkness. To be able to see the Spirit working because that's what Simon did right here.

The Spirit's working in this woman's life. That's darkness. Don't see it blind to it. She wants to hear your sins have been forgiven. How many times did Jesus repeat this thing? How many times he tell Stories similar to the one of the Pharisee who prays in the temple.

I'm so glad. I'm not like this one and that one and yet the tax collector. Right down there with the sinners same same rank same level. Outside of God's grace. God has no place for someone like that. What did Jesus say?

He beats his chest. Be merciful to me the sinner. Jesus's teaching is he went down to his house justified rather than the other. It was a constant theme of Jesus's teaching. It had to be. So he says to her your sins have been forgiven.

And those who are reclining at the table with him doesn't say the disciples. I hope it didn't include them, but it could have at this point. But I don't think it did. Those who recline at the table with him began to say themselves Who is this man who even forgives sin?

Similar to what we have in Mark chapter 2 with the healing of the paralytic and in case you were a Good Calvinist and were struggling with the idea that she was forgiven because she loved much notice Jesus make sure we understand.

And he said to the woman Your faith has saved you Go in peace. Your faith has saved you go in peace. Action of repentance and sorrow. Was Saving because it was joined with faith that Jesus had the power and ability to bring her forgiveness of sins.

That faith that she had illustrated Was not a tip of the hat. She had not walked by the house outside and It said I believe that the guy in there can forgive my sins and thought that was enough. There is a virulent message Within our nation in our world today that basically says that's what saving faith is.

You can tip your hat to God you Simply acknowledge a bare set of facts and Say yes, I believe points one two three and four and God stamps your visa for heaven, and then you can just go your way. There is no repentance.

There is no changed life. There is no acknowledgement the Lordship of Christ. Everything this woman was doing excess super Christian stuff. No such thing. No such no such salvation. It's a false gospel.

Prevalent as it may be. It's false gospel. Here you have the clear evidence that just as the very first words of Jesus's ministry Will repent for the kingdom of God is at hand that repentance and saving faith are Absolutely Conjoined twins of the work of the Spirit of God in the life of the believer.

They cannot be separated from one another. They cannot be separated from one another and so he does not respond To those who are asking who he is and what authority he has. Instead he says to this woman Your faith has saved you.

Not your faith has begun a process that will now be dependent upon Your conclusion and your completion by doing this that and the other thing. Your faith has saved you. Go in shalom. Go in shalom. Is that not the same.

Is that not the parallel then to what Jesus said when he spoke of the tax collector when he went? Down from the temple he went down to his house what justified justified at peace with God. Think of all the The sins she had committed the the lives that she had been a part of helping to disrupt and ruin.

How can she have peace? Because the one to whom she turned is the one that is powerful enough to redeem all of that. To redeem all of that said to her your faith has saved you. It wasn't the expense of the perfume.

It wasn't her willingness to be mocked by the Pharisees because she had to have known that when she went into there That room that what she was going to do was going to result in her being Pointed to whispered about it.

Wasn't that that saved her. Your faith has saved you go in peace. She Knew how desperate she was she knew the great weight of her sins. She did not try to minimize them in any way. She did not come to Jesus and say I've done terrible things, but you know I know ladies who've done more than I have.

There were no excuses. You can't make excuses when you're weeping the way she was weeping. When you have cast yourself at the feet of Jesus, there's no places. There's no place there for self-righteousness.

Simon wasn't there. Because he didn't know he needed to be there. He loved little. Because he'd been forgiven little as a mean Simon sins were not great before God. He just hadn't received forgiveness.

He he thought in comparison to this woman Simon wouldn't have thought himself sinless. Simon offered sacrifice, but you see he recognized he did not recognize The true wrath of God against his sin. Self-righteousness numbs us to the propriety of God's wrath against our sin and as a result his name is recorded for us in the pages of Scripture as a spiritually blind senseless hypocrite.

And we only know him because it was in his living room his house. The true repentant faith Was illustrated and it was illustrated to his own condemnation. Now I may just be preaching to myself this morning.

I hope I haven't wasted your time. I don't remember when it was somewhere back in seminary I did special studies in The Pharisees found them to be rather important in understanding what Jesus is teaching was and some of the themes that come out and Start picking up a lot of books.

Bought the Sun Sino Talmud. Got to see some real Talmud this past weekend. I did not realize this but every Talmud is Printed in the exact same way. So that a Imagine what this is like might help you understand Simon.

I had this explained to me by a friend of mine this past weekend. Every Talmud is Printed in the same way. So it has the same number of pages. So that The people who become masters of Talmud can be asked What is said on any page of that Talmud just simply by page number and they must be able to recite it and Sometime the testing is done by By just taking a pen and sticking it through a certain number of pages.

And then opening and say what's right there, and you have to know can you imagine how you have to be immersed in? That printed text how much time you have to have and how easy it would be once you have mastered that if you think that that's how you prove your rightness before God to look down on others that don't know what you know, and so as I studied these Individuals and I saw how much time and effort they put in.

I don't remember when it was but I was struck with the fact. First of all God never let me be a Pharisee. Strongest words of condemnation Pharisees. But I also simply had to be honest with myself. I think one of the greatest temptations amongst reformed people Is to Pharisee is to look at others.

And? We've got our theology all in line and the fact the matter is. We take theology more seriously than most people do. Most people don't read from catechisms and confessions. They're not overly concerned about the content of their hymns the theology.

We're concerned about knowing God's law. We're concerned about knowing what the doctrine of the Trinity is and the doctrine of salvation and what justification is and those are all perfectly necessary and right concerns.

But if they are not joined if they are those concerns are not joined With the kind of repentant faith and the love that comes from recognizing the tremendous debt of Sin that I have been forgiven of if those concerns are not joined with a spirit born Recognition of The price that was paid for my redemption and my right judgment before God a holy God well I've seen those Concerns become hard crusty old.

And I think in God's sight Despicable we can have all of the T's crossed and the I's dotted and everything else. But if we don't Love much because we recognize how much we've been forgiven all of that will become empty and in fact ugly before God and so we Who gather in this place?

We are Focused upon remaining faithful to God's Word. We live in a day where there is so much apostasy. We live in a day where where there's so much attack upon the faith. But we must recognize the only way That we are going to remain focused and remain steadfast as if that concern for God's truth is Joined with a deep heartfelt recognition of the price that has been paid To give us that right relationship with God.

A Person who each day Recognizes I am a redeemed Sinner I have been. I have peace with God. But only because of what someone else has done not because of anything in and of myself. That person has a firm foundation for remaining Faithful and for speaking God's truth always in the context of grace.

It's when we start forgetting that. It's when we start comparing ourselves to the Armenians. And saying well you know they They don't they don't get near the level we do. That's dangerous very very dangerous and So we hear the words of Jesus if we want to go in peace today.

That I hope the peace we go in is not a self-satisfied peace. Where we look at others and say well, we've got all the all the checkboxes ticked off today. We've we've done it all. Now the peace that we need to go in.

Is that our faith has saved us. Our faith has saved us, but but but that's what every Christian says that's right. That's exactly right. Let he who boasts boast in what only in the Lord and What a tremendous source of joy it should be for you and I to recognize That we can add nothing To what God has done for us.

We can add nothing To the perfection of the salvation that he has provided for us. This woman with all of her sins. Not a one of us is any more saved than she was when Jesus said your faith has saved you go in peace.

And so as we go today, we have Jesus's promise as well. Have you believed in him? That is your only foundation. That is the only thing you can rejoice in is that you can hear him say your faith has saved you go in peace.

But if there are any Simons amongst us. If there are any amongst us today who you will honestly admit in your heart. I love little. And you simply have to ask you have to beg God. Have I truly repented if I truly turned have I've been playing a game.

You don't want to play a game with God. You don't want to be Simon. Because when Jesus left that house I Don't know what happened to him, but I know that there was one Justified person that peace with God that left that house that day.

And in that situation it wasn't Simon. It was the very person Simon would have thought that morning would be the last person on earth To have ever received the grace of God. May we not be Simons. May God by his spirit Give us broken hearts.

May we love much because we recognize how much we have been forgiven and May that love make us to be a thankful people That serve Jesus Christ and honor his name in this coming week. Let's pray. Our gracious Heavenly Father we do thank you for this story from the past.

That reminds us that every single one of us. Every single one of us Is in the same situation as that woman? Many sins to be forgiven. We are so thankful that we have a powerful Savior. We ask that in the course of this coming week We would live as servants of his Showing by our lives the love that we truly have for him and Lord if there be any in this room today Who have simply been playing at religion?

May today you bring conviction. May today you be the one who reveals Who Jesus Christ truly is and why he was the only one to whom that woman could come? We thank you for the gospel. We thank you for your word.

Bless this time we pray in Christ's name.