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“She Loved Much!”

Allen Dvorak
03/02/25 - Sun AM

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Scripture reading for this morning will be coming from Luke chapter 247, verses 23 to 23.

Luke chapter 248, verses 25 to 23.

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him, and he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table.

And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner.

And when she had learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's 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 and that she is a sinner.

And Jesus said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you, and he replied, Say it, teacher.

A money lender who had two debtors, one who owed 63 dnara, and the other 26, when they were unable to repay, he would graciously forgave them both.

So which of them will love him more?

And Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more, and he said to him, You have judged correctly.

Have you ever Put together an event, maybe a dinner at your home or a party of some sort.

And you made all the preparations, you invited the group of folks that you wanted to come.

And then when the event started, here comes somebody who wasn't invited.

Now, maybe Just maybe you decided to quickly adapt and just welcome that person even though they hadn't been invited and let them share in the event.

But perhaps, on the other hand, there was a specific reason you didn't invite that person.

And so now you're dealing with a situation that may be a little tense because you've got an uninvited guest.

The story that we're going to look at this morning, our text is about a man who had that exact experience.

He had invited folks to eat with him, including Jesus.

And once the dinner had started, here came an uninvited guest, a woman who comes into his home and ends up being a part of the event.

The man that I'm talking about was a Pharisee named Simon and you just heard some of the text that talks about this story.

It's interesting that Simon invited Jesus to eat with him because Jesus was often, or maybe I should say generally critical of the Pharisees as a group.

And yet he accepted the invitation.

The story of the woman who crashed the event is told in Luke 250 verses 2500 through 50.

We didn't read all the way through that.

Uh, I didn't ask Elliot to read any further than he did.

I realize that we've had some extra things go on this morning, so I'm going to try to be brief.

Uh, no snickers there, but I kind of expected them.

I'm gonna try to be brief and I'm not gonna try to unpack everything that we might be able to take away from this passage, but I think this passage has a powerful lesson for us, not unlike what Troy had to say at the, uh, as he prepared our minds in terms of the collection.

It's interesting to me when you look at some of the art over centuries past of biblical events, of course, all of these biblical people who lived in Palestine are all dressed in European clothing and, and everything seems to be more adjusted to the time of the Painter or the artist.

And so sometimes when you uh look at pictures of Jesus eating in Simon's house, this is the kind of picture you get.

I, I really enjoy Jesus is the one on the far left, and he's got a hand that looks like a lobster claw.

Uh, I'm just not an art aficionado, so Uh, forgive me for that.

But I'm gonna suggest to you that that's not really a very accurate picture.

Um, if you were to look in the text there, as Elliot read, we're told in the very beginning that one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.

And we're told that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house when this woman came in uninvited, and she is standing behind him at his feet.

And so it's very likely that the scene didn't look like the picture you're looking at now, but probably looked more like this, where the table was in the midst of the guests and they were reclining with their feet away from the table.

That was a common way of eating.

It looks kind of lazy to us, maybe we're used to being up in our chairs, but that's the way that Romans, Gentiles, and Jews ate.

And so one's feet would be pointing away from the table and that enabled this woman as she comes in to Simon's house, to have access to the feet of Jesus.

And what we're told then, is that she did several things.

She came in with an alabaster flask of ointment.

The word ointment there is a word that refers to an aromatic type of ointment, probably expensive.

You would uh either open the flask or in some cases you just break the flask if it had been sealed, and that's what you would use to anoint.

And so able to reach Jesus' feet, she moistens his feet with her tears.

And then she dries his feet with her hair and she kisses his feet.

And then she pours this ointment upon the feet of Jesus, the ointment that she had brought in.

Luke tells us in the very beginning of this story that this was a woman who was a sinner.

That was a euphemistic way of saying in that day of uh describing a woman who had prostituted herself.

And Simon recognizes her.

Whether he knew her by name, that is, he knew her from uh being in the same geographical area perhaps area or perhaps she was wearing some sort of clothing that he associated with uh a woman who was a sinner, but at any rate, he recognizes her and Simon is critical of Jesus for allowing this woman to even touch him as she has done.

Simon as a Pharisee and his, with his concern of all things clean and unclean, Simon would have avoided physical contact with this woman.

He wouldn't have let her touch him under any circumstances.

And Simon assumed that Jesus felt the same way, that Jesus likewise, if he knew that she was a sinner and thus in Simon's eyes, unclean, guilty of sin, that Jesus likewise would not allow her to touch him.

I want you to note Simon's reaction to Jesus.

Allowing the woman to touch him.

He says in verse 39, if this, if this man were a prophet, A prophet, someone guided by God, inspired by God.

If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.

So Simon now lowers Jesus in his estimation or opinion because he assumes that Jesus uh perhaps didn't know this one was a, was a sinner, and that would indicate uh that he was not a prophet.

It's interesting to me from subsequent conversation, the conversation that Jesus has with Simon, and this critical opinion of Simon at this point, I kind of wonder why Simon even invited Jesus.

Was it because he was interested in hearing what Jesus had to say?

Or was it because Jesus was somewhat of a celebrity, very popular with the people who wanted to come and hear him teach.

And so Simon invites this, this well-known rabbi into his home more as a means of elevating his own reputation.

I, we're not really told that.

But the subsequent conversation with Simon, between Simon and Jesus would indicate That Simon was not all that interested in honoring Jesus.

Jesus became aware of Simon's critical thoughts.

The text says that Simon said to himself, I don't know if he muttered this under his breath, and Jesus caught it, or if Jesus just knew what Simon was saying, perhaps by the look on his face.

Sometimes we do that, we decide what somebody's thinking based on their reaction or their facial expression, but at any rate, Jesus was aware of Simon's critical thoughts, and he addresses Simon directly.

Simon, I have something to say to you.

Notice also Simon's response.

Say it, teacher, did Dasklas.

Teacher, and yet Simon really hasn't honored Jesus, has he?

When Jesus comes into his home as an invited guest to this social occasion.

But Jesus is going to tell a brief parable, a parable of a money lender who had two debtors, and one of them owned 500 denarii, a very significant amount of money at that time, and the other debtor only 50.

So the, the one debtor owed 10 times what the smaller debt was.

But the money lender forgave the debts of both men.

And so then Jesus tests Simon by asking him the question, now which of them will love him more?

It's not a difficult test, but Simon answers the one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt, and Jesus confirms that Simon has correctly answered.

That would more likely be the individual who would love the money lender more, the one who had received the greater benefit, who had been forgiven of the larger debt.

But then something interesting happens.

Because Jesus turns to the woman and says to Simon, do you see this woman?

Kind of an odd question to ask, don't you think?

Because it's obvious that Simon has seen the woman.

Jesus has noted Simon's reaction evidently to the fact that the woman has come in and has interrupted the dinner party and she's touching Jesus and Simon is critical of Jesus because of that.

And then Jesus says, do you see this woman?

Of course, Simon had seen the woman in terms of observing that she'd come into his house, but I'll tell you what, Simon didn't really see her.

He didn't see what Jesus saw.

He didn't see the purpose for which the woman had come into the house.

And so Jesus contrasts the woman's behavior with that of Simon.

When Jesus came into Simon's house, As was customary when people would travel on dusty roads or dusty streets and come in with sandals or whatever, it was customary to provide water for the washing of one's feet.

Sometimes a servant would even assist in that, in that particular uh task.

But Simon didn't provide water for the washing of Jesus' feet.

The woman on the other hand, she's wetting Simon's feet with her tears.

Simon Didn't greet Jesus with a kiss.

The woman was kissing the feet of Jesus.

It was customary in those days, even as it is in some places of the world today, to kiss an individual.

Nothing sexual about it, it's just a greeting.

Simon didn't even do that for Jesus when Jesus came into his house as an invited guest.

Another customary thing of hospitality was to provide some oil if you were traveling on dusty roads, that oil, that dust would get in your hair and they would provide oil to uh to anoint the head, but Simon didn't do that.

He didn't even Offer olive oil, which I think would have been the customary thing that would have been offered.

But here's this woman who comes in with what apparently was a somewhat more expensive ointment, and she's not anointing the head of Jesus, she's anointing his feet.

And so Jesus makes it very clear to Simon, Simon, you didn't do any of these things, and look what she has done.

Simon had not even extended the common courtesies of hospitality to Jesus.

Simon could only see this woman.

As a sinner He only saw her sins.

He didn't see the love that she was manifesting toward Jesus.

The point of the parable, as I think is abundantly clear.

Is that greater forgiveness results in more love or greater love.

Which of the two debtors forgiven will love him the more?

It's the one who's been forgiven more.

And so in the parable that Jesus tells, forgiveness results, cancellation of that results in the expression of love.

And the greater the forgiveness, the stronger or the greater the love that is demonstrated or manifested.

In our English translations.

It really sounds like in verse 47, that what's happening here is that this woman comes into the dinner party and she shows her love for Jesus in the ways that we have already described.

And so then Jesus, as a result of her love, tells her that her sins are forgiven.

And yet that's a little confusing because it's opposite of what the parable point was.

In the parable, the forgiveness of the cancellation of debt came first and then the love that would be expressed by the debtor or debtors toward the money lender.

But now, as Jesus speaks to the woman, is it that he's saying your sins are forgiven because you have loved much?

Our English translations, most of them, in fact, really seem to leave that impression.

But that's the reverse order from the parable.

I want to show you something interesting about this text that I think is very helpful in understanding what's going on here.

In verses 503, 48, and 50.

The verbs that are in green font.

are actually in the perfect tense in the Greek language.

The perfect tense in the Greek language is an interesting tense.

We don't really have anything comparable in our English language.

Because the perfect tense in Greek has both a past aspect and a present aspect.

It talks about action that took place in the past, but with continuing present results.

Well, how do you translate that into English if there's no English tense that has a similar significance?

Well, what translators do is they have to choose one of those two aspects to emphasize.

They either emphasize the past aspect, have been forgiven, or the continuing results in the future, the present aspect are forgiven and almost all of the versions go with are forgiven.

And leaving the impression that her sins were being forgiven at that very moment because, or as a result of her love.

But I believe that what's going on here is that Jesus is talking about what has happened in the past with continuing results.

Your sins, if I can give you the sense of verse 47, your sins have been forgiven.

That's the past, point action in the past.

And that was indicated by the great love that he, that she showed.

Someone says, well, is it that important?

Well, actually, I believe it is, because verse 47 has actually 3 different tenses.

There's a perfect tense, she, your sins are forgiven.

And then he who is forgiven little loves little.

She loved much.

Love much is in the heiress tense, is forgiven and loves at the end of the verse is in the present tense.

There are 3 different tenses in this verb, and I think the point is, what happened with her forgiveness is something that happened in the past.

She didn't come here to get forgiveness.

She came because she already has been.

Forgiven Jesus was talking about the forgiveness that the woman had received in the past.

And I think that's why in verse 48, he says to her again, your sins are forgiven.

It's the perfect tense again.

It's happened in the past and she needed to understand that it was continuing the results, she was still forgiven.

She comes into this house.

And Jesus reassures her that her past has been forgiven.

And so like the debtor who had been forgiven a large debt, she showed her love to Jesus because of the forgiveness she had already received.

I wonder If we likewise are showing our love to God for the forgiveness that we have received.

As we think about how we respond to God's will day by day, the choices that we make, the, the priorities that we have in our lives.

I would suggest to you that you really can't feel the release of forgiveness.

You can't appreciate the blessing of forgiveness until you have first felt the burden of sin.

You understand what I'm saying?

That when sin begins to become real to us, when it is so burdensome that we cannot wait to be released of that burden.

When we understand the significance of our sins, what our future is in that condition, it's not until then that we can truly appreciate.

What it means to be relieved, to be forgiven.

And so, that's what I really want you to think about from this text.

Are we showing our love to God?

Well, you know, a lot of people say, well, yeah, I love God.

Here's how John expresses that in First John 5:3, he says, for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome, just like Jesus did in John 14, love and obedience are connected.

You can't talk about loving God without talking about obeying his will.

Someone says, well, I love God.

Well, are you listening to what he's saying to you in the scriptures and are you following his commands?

And that is reflected in the way that we treat one another, our fellow man.

If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar.

For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

If you love God whom you have not seen, it should be easier to love your brother who you have seen.

So those things are connected.

Are we showing our love for God?

And I think this brief story has that powerful lesson to teach us.

That we need to express gratitude and love for the forgiveness that we have received.

I wonder how grateful we would be.

If our own lives, our physical lives had been saved from some Obvious terminal, dangerous, life threatening.

Situation If somebody had saved you from being killed or from being drowned or from being hit by a car or falling off of a, a high place, would you be grateful?

How would you show that gratitude?

You might show that gratitude for the rest of your life if you really appreciated the danger you were in.

How grateful we ought to be that God has provided for us in Christ.

Not just physical salvation.

Eternal salvation.

Do you still owe the huge debt of sin?

It's interesting that in the model prayer that Jesus offered to his disciples and Mark Matthew the 6th chapter.

That he talked about the forgiveness of sins in the sense of or with the metaphor of forgiving debt.

And so when we are living, contrary to God's will, we are incurring a greater and greater debt.

We're not the 50 Daeneryi, we are the 500 Daeneryi.

And then we have the opportunity to obey the gospel.

And to have that debt removed, canceled because Jesus paid the price for our forgiveness when he offered himself on the cross as a sin sacrifice.

My question for you this morning is, will that sacrifice be in vain for you?

Here was a woman who, when she realized that she had been forgiven.

She came to Jesus.

And showed her gratitude, her love for that forgiveness.

The Lord invites you, if you're not a Christian.

To enjoy the forgiveness that's available in Christ Jesus.

And for those of us who are already Christians, Are we showing our love?

In proportion to what has been done for us, that was the point that Troy was talking about, the connection between what's been done for us and how we respond to that grace.

If you need to respond to the gospel this morning, we want to encourage you, and we stand and sing to do so.