Radical Love
Isaiah 52:7-12
Luke 7:36-50
Have you ever been to a party, where you know that the person’s whose party it was, didn’t really want you there?
Perhaps it was a wedding, where you know you were invited just out of politeness, or to keep granny Bets happy, but really you knew the bride or groom didn’t really want you there?
Perhaps it was a works party or family gathering, where you knew that the person who invited you, didn’t really want you there to help celebrate, whatever they were celebrating, but they invited you for some other weird reason?
Maybe you have never experienced that- good on ya!
In this passage we are looking at today, Jesus was invited to a party by a person who showed by his actions that he really didn’t want him there, although maybe he sort of did?
When Jesus got to this party, there was no welcome for him as other guests would have been welcomed. There was no-one to give him water to wash the dirt of his feet as he entered the house, or to put it in today’s terms, there was no-one to take his coat and umbrella at the door. The host did not introduce himself with a kiss on the check, or to put it in “pommie” terms, the host, didn’t welcome him with a handshake. The host, didn’t anoint his head with oil, or to put it in today’s terms, he didn’t offer him something to freshen him up, like a hand wipe.
This man, this pharisee called Simon, did not invite Jesus to his party, so they could enjoy some good times together, but it soon became apparent, that Simon had invited Jesus to his party, to actually put Jesus to the test. He wanted to check this man- Jesus- out.
Clearly this Pharisee Simon, had heard all the amazing things that Jesus had been doing, and so he wanted to see and test who this so- called prophet was. Perhaps this pharisee had invited Jesus to the party because he wanted to expose Jesus for just the “mere prophet”, that Simon may have thought he was.
We know from this passage that Simon did not believe that Jesus was actually the son of God, who had the power to forgive sins and so he treated Jesus like an unwanted guest at his party.
Perhaps this Pharisee Simon treated Jesus this way, because he wanted to try and save face with his pharisee friends.
The pharisees knew that Jesus was a friend of tax collectors and sinners, they knew that Jesus attended parties of sinners and tax collectors and therefore for this pharisee to invite Jesus to his party, it would mean that by association, this pharisee could be considered unclean. Jesus hung out with sinners, which in the pharisees minds, made Jesus a sinner himself and hence, Simon the pharisee was also in danger of being tainted by sin- through association.
And so perhaps, Simon thought he could keep his good reputation with his pharisee friends, by making sure that if they found out that this “friend of sinners” had been to his party, at least he treated him with utter disrespect.
Now, if Simon was worried about Jesus, an invited guest, who he didn’t really want there, he soon had more worries, as an uninvited guest soon came to the party also.
It was like drunk uncle bob had finally arrived to the party.
Everyone knows that uncle bob, has trouble with the booze, he has trouble with controlling his mouth. This is why no-one invites uncle Bob to the party, every knows that uncle Bob is trouble.
But at this particular party, it wasn’t uncle Bob who turned up uninvited, but it was a woman of the city, “a sinner”, who rocked up. We don’t know what this woman’s name was, we don’t know what sins she had committed, but we do know she was a sinner, and everyone in the city knew she was a sinner.
It was the last person anyone wanted at the party, let alone, Simon the pharisee.
As this woman, this sinner turned up at the party, unlike Simon, she had no-one who she needed to appease, unlike Simon, she didn’t come to test Jesus, but instead she just showed her love for Jesus.
She washed his dirty feet with her tears and hair, she kissed his feet, she anointed his feet with ointment. She welcomed Jesus in a way, which Simon the Pharisee had failed to do. She not only treated Jesus like any other guest, but even better.
And as this woman humbly bowed at the feet of Jesus, this was enough for Simon the pharisee to draw his wrong conclusion about Jesus. It was enough for Simon to confirm in his own mind, what he had already thought was true.
Look at verse 39 with me:
39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “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.”
This pharisee who had already concluded that Jesus wasn’t the Son of God, now concluded that Jesus wasn’t even a prophet who had been sent by God. He figured that if he truly was a prophet, Jesus would have clearly perceived that this woman was a sinner and hence not allowed this woman to touch him, since Jesus too would have been contaminated by her sin. Or perhaps he thought that if Jesus did know she was a sinner, but allowed her to touch him, then Jesus clearly didn’t take sin too seriously and therefore must not be a prophet.
Simon had a preconceived idea about Jesus and from what he saw, confirmed his own wrong idea about Jesus.
Simon, the pharisee had it all completely wrong.
Simon got it wrong about Jesus, Simon got it wrong about the woman.
And Jesus graciously told the host of the party that he had got it wrong.
I can imagine, it was like the party came to a halt, the music stopped playing and everyone was in silent expectation waiting for Jesus to speak.
And look what Jesus said:
Look at verses 41- 48 with me:
41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Jesus tells Simon the pharisee a story of two people who owed money to a money lender. One owed him, 50 denarii and the other owed him 500 denarii, and both of them couldn’t pay their debt and so the money lender cancelled the debt of the them both. One owed ten times as much as the other, and yet both debts were cancelled.
Jesus compares the one who owed 50 denarii with Simon the pharisee and the one who owed 500 denarii as the sinful woman.
And perhaps Simon the pharisee would have recognised himself as the one who owed less. He would have been quick to recognise that he was far less sinful than the woman, he would have recognised that his debt would have been much less because he had kept more parts of the law than the sinful woman. May be he thought his sins were not as bad as the woman’s.
Perhaps Simon would have been comparing his sins to that of the woman, and perhaps he would have come up with the calculations that the woman’s sins were 10 times worse, - everyone knew her sins, and perhaps they would be considered more frequent and worse.
What Simon may have failed to realise was this……and this is crucial for us all to understand.
No matter the size of the debt, no-one could pay the debt back, whether that was 50 denarii or 500 denarii, no-one could pay back the debt- and so the money lender cancelled both their debts.
Friends, sin separates us from God, the wages of all sin is death- eternal death- and there is nothing we can do to pay the debt for our sin, whether that is a debt of lying, a debt of gossiping, a debt of murder, a debt of omitting to do the right thing, we cannot pay out debt of sin.
Whether we owe 50 denarii or 500 denarii, we cannot pay the debt, we cannot unite our place back in God’s family.
And so, it is pointless for us to compare sins.
It is useless to try and keep a record of sins and give them a score, because if we do that and take on a pharisaic mindset, we will actually break our relationship with God, and we will find ourselves outside of God’s family, as we try and pay back a debt which we simply can’t do!
If we try and compare sins, we will not understand the depth of our own sin, but more importantly we will not know the depth of Christ’s forgiveness for us.
Simon was unaware of the seriousness of his sin, and so he didn’t know the forgiveness of God. He was unaware that even his sin, whatever it was, was going to separate Him from God.
The sinful woman, was fully aware of the depth of her sin, and so she knew the limitless depth of God’s forgiveness.
And here is the wonderful about knowing the seriousness of your own sin.
Knowing the seriousness of your own sin, leads you to a deeper understanding of God’s forgiveness to you, which in turn leads you to be able to love more.
Just look at verse 47 with me again,
47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Jesus said that this woman’s sins were forgiven for you could see that in her actions as she loved much.On the other hand, Simon, didn’t recognise the depth of his sins and therefore didn’t understand the depth of his forgiveness which was shown in his complete lack of love. He thought he was forgiven just a little tiny bit and so he loved just a little tiny bit.
Friends, knowing your sin, knowing that Christ’s forgiveness and his alone covers those sins, actually gives you freedom to love others.
Love others a lot, love others radically.
Love others despite what others may think.
I can only imagine what people may have thought of Jesus and that sinful woman at the party that day?
Perhaps some people thought this woman was wasting her expensive perfume on stinky feet. Perhaps some thought she could have sold the perfume and used the money for something else. This woman didn’t care what others thought- she knew she was a sinner, she knew she had forgiveness in Jesus, and therefore it gave her freedom to love Jesus.
Friends let me encourage you today and I am preaching to myself first and foremost to radically show love for Jesus. Show love for Jesus because he first showed love for us by paying the debt of sin that we couldn’t pay ourselves, by dying on a cross for the punishment of all our sins.
Friends, how are we going to show our radical love for Jesus this week?
Perhaps it is forgiving that person?
Perhaps it is getting alongside those who no-one else will help?
Perhaps it is giving up some expensive perfume for the benefit of someone else?
However, we show our radical love for Jesus this week, we can only show our love, knowing that we have been overwhelmed with forgiveness ourselves.
Let us pray
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