Eating With Jesus

Introduction

I invite you to please get out your Bible this morning and make your way back to where our scripture reading came from this morning in Luke chapter 7. Please go to Luke chapter 7 and just park yourself in Luke chapter 7 because the vast majority of our study this morning will be coming from Luke chapter 7. It is so good to see you this morning. It is indeed a blessing for us to be together this morning to worship God. I count it as a privilege to be able to stand before you and lead in a study from the Word of God. In fact, the truth is, South Bumby, it’s my personal favorite place to preach the Word of God. But many of you know that there are times in the year, there are instances in a year when I am not preaching here because I am preaching somewhere else.

Because I am holding what we traditionally refer to as gospel meetings.

It is spending time with members of that congregation. It is sometimes eating two or three meals a day with members of that congregation. And I’m going to tell y’all something.

Visiting preacher got to be very, very careful with that. I mean, with all the food that is supplied by the brethren during a gospel meeting. If a visiting preacher is not careful with that, when he gets back home, he may have to buy some new suits. He may be a little bit heavier. His wife may not be able to recognize him once he returns. You see, people usually like to feed a preacher hot during the week of a gospel meeting, and that desire is nothing new. It is nothing unique. It is not something that only preachers who hold gospel meetings have been able to enjoy. In fact, this is something that happened to Jesus all the time. That’s right, throughout the gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

We find Jesus, the perfect and sinless preacher eating with a variety of different people. For example, there are occasions when we find him eating with Mary and Martha and Lazarus, his friends in the village of Bethany. And there’s also an occasion when we read about him eating with tax collectors and sinners at the home of Matthew, the tax collector. And there are times when we find him eating with all of his apostles. And occasions when we find him multiplying a few fish and a few loaves of bread to feed thousands and thousands of people. And there are even occasions when we find him eating with, you ready for this? Pharisees.

Of people who despised him and hated him and wanted to destroy him. In fact, Luke and his gospel alone records three different occasions when a Pharisee invited Jesus into his home for a meal, and each and every time he accepted that invitation. The first one, the first example of that is found right here in Luke chapter 7. In Luke chapter 7, beginning in verse number 36, the Bible says, Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him, was requesting Jesus 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 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 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.

I want you to notice how this incident in the life of Jesus that’s found exclusively in Luke’s gospel begins with an invitation. It begins with Jesus being invited to dinner. He’s extended an invitation to come and share a meal with the Pharisee, and this Pharisee’s name is actually given later on in the text. In verse number 43 of the text, we learn that his name is Simon. Simon. Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to his home for a meal. And the question is, why? Why? Why in the world does Simon do this? Why in the world does he invite Jesus into his home for a meal? Does he do this because he has evil intentions? Does he do this because he’s trying to trap Jesus? He’s trying to trick Jesus.

He’s trying to set Jesus up to be destroyed, like so many other Pharisees tried to do throughout Jesus’ ministry. I wish we had the answer to that question, but the fact of the matter is we don’t. We don’t. We’re not told exactly why Simon invites Jesus into his home for a meal, but what we are told in the text is they’re not alone. It’s not just them at this dinner. Instead, there are other people there. In fact, there’s a woman there.

And this woman is often confused with some other women in the Bible. For example, she’s often confused with the woman mentioned in John chapter 12. Remember the woman in John 12. Remember in John chapter 12, we read about a woman who also anointed Jesus with a very expensive bottle of perfume. Brothers and sisters, this woman in Luke chapter 7 is not that woman. This is not the Mary who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus. This is not the Mary who anoints Jesus’ body towards the end of his life at the home of Simon the leper. This is not Mary from the village of Bethany. She does what she does at a different time and a different place. This is not that Mary, and neither is it Mary Magdalene.

Neither is it the Mary who first saw Jesus after he was raised from the dead and who Jesus cast demons out of. In fact, that Mary, Mary Magdalene, it’s not even mentioned in the Gospel of Luke until you get to the next chapter, Luke chapter 8 and verse 2. This is not the Mary of John 12. And this is not Mary Magdalene. Instead, this is an anonymous woman. This is a woman that we only read about here in the gospel in Luke chapter 7. This is a woman who likely had some interactions with Jesus prior to what we read about here in the text. She is someone who is so moved by his presence that she goes to the table he is sitting at and she touches him.

She serves him. She sheds tears on his feet and begins to wipe those tears with her hair. She also fills the room with the fragrance of a very expensive bottle of perfume that she uses to anoint the Lord’s body. I submit to you that everything we read about in this text is radical. This is some radical stuff we’re reading here in the Bible. It was radical for this woman to just go up to Jesus, a well-respected rabbi and touch him. It was radical for her to shed tears on him. It was radical for her to kiss his feet and wipe tears with her hair. It’s radical for her to fill somebody else’s house with an odor that is so strong from a perfume that this man might not be able to get that smell out for several months.

All of this stuff is extremely radical.

1. Avoid Self-Righteousness

That we were there. Imagine that you were there. Imagine that you were at Simon’s house on this occasion, and you were privileged to witness these things with your own eyes. What are some critical things that you would be challenged to do if you saw this with your own eyes? Well, I want to suggest to you this morning that if we were blessed to be at Simon’s house, if we were blessed to eat with Jesus on this occasion, one of the things that we would be challenged to do is we would be challenged by the Lord to avoid self-righteousness, to avoid self-righteousness. Let me ask you a question. Why in the world is this woman even there? Why in the world is this woman at Simon the Pharisee’s house who invited her to dinner?

How in the world did she even get in through the front door? Well, in order for us to understand how this woman gets access to Jesus and Simon’s house, we need to first understand some things about the customs of the time. We need to first understand that the customs among the first century Jews were very different than our customs today. You see, unlike in our customs today, when you might get shot if you just walk into somebody’s house while they’re having dinner with their family in these times in the ancient world, houses were much more open. Houses were much more public.

Just listen to them have a conversation. Just listen to them talk about different kinds of spiritual things. Just listen to them talk about their views on various issues. You see, because of the customs of the time, it was not weird for this woman or for any Jew to be in Simon’s house on this occasion. But what was weird, at least in Simon’s mind, is what this woman does to Jesus. It’s the fact that she cries on Jesus. It’s the fact that she touches Jesus and he actually lets her do that. That’s what the Bible says. Look at verse number 39 again. In verse number 39, notice how after witnessing this woman wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and began to wipe those tears with her hair and anoint his body with a very expensive perfume.

Simon is not impressed by that. Simon is not full of sympathy and compassion when it comes to that. Simon doesn’t ask her to pull up a chair and get you a biscuit. No, Simon is disturbed. He is disgusted.

In fact, it is interesting how this criticism he makes of Jesus on this occasion is not something he does publicly, right? It’s not something he says, it’s not something he announces to the people in his house. Instead, the Bible says he said this to himself. He said that to himself. If this man were a prophet, he would know that this woman is a sinner who’s touching him. You know what that means? That means he makes this criticism in his mind. He thinks these things, and in the next verse, the Bible says that Jesus reads his thoughts. He reads his mind.

What he finds is arrogance. What he finds is a man who is self-righteous and believe he’s self-sufficient, and because he knows some Bible and can quote some scripture and is a religious teacher. Well, that meant he’s better than this woman. It reminds me of another Pharisee we read about in the gospel. Look at Luke chapter 18. In Luke the 18th chapter, Jesus here tells a parable. And by the way, we have our next parables class next Sunday at 2:30. We’ve been having good attendance at that. And so we want to announce that again. Next Sunday’s the next parables class, and we’re going to be studying another parable of Jesus. We’re actually going to be studying this parable we’re about to read later on this year. But we’re going to be studying another parable of Jesus.

But look at what Jesus says in this parable of Luke 18. In Luke 18 in verse 9, in verse 9, it says, He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt. Doesn’t that remind you of somebody? It should. Two men went up into the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Jesus uses Pharisees in his parables twice. This one and the good Samaritan, and both times it’s bad. Both times. They’re the bad guys. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself. God, I thank you that I’m not like other people, swindlers, unjusts, adulterers, or even like this guy, this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I pay tithes all that I get.

But the tax collector standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift his eyes to heaven, but he was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Jesus says, I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. And there’s so much we can say about that parable, and we’re going to save that till later on this year when we studied in our class. But for now, I just want you to notice the attitude of the Pharisee.

He, when he prays, when he talks to God, he’s self-righteous. He lifts before God, his spiritual resume. He thinks he’s so good because he’s done so many religious and spiritual things. He says, I’m better than this guy over here. Does that remind you of somebody? It should. Should remind you this guy right here. You see, like the Pharisee in this parable. When Simon saw this woman touching Jesus, he saw someone who he believed was beneath him. He saw someone who he believed that he was superior to and was a lost cause and didn’t deserve a second chance. That’s what Simon saw when he looked at this woman. But when Jesus looked at her, he saw something different. He saw her for who she truly was. He saw someone who was made in the image of God and who was loved by God.

He saw someone who needed grace and mercy and forgiveness and who wanted to be saved and that and who he was willing to save. That’s what Jesus saw when he looked at that woman. The question is, what about us? What about me? What about you? Who are we more like? Are we more like Jesus? Or are we more like Simon? Like Simon, are we self-righteous? Are we arrogant? Do we constantly compare ourselves to others in an effort to lift ourselves up? Do we find ourselves around people in our culture and society and then thinking to ourselves, well, you know what? I’m not as bad as those people.

I’m not an alcoholic. I’m not a drug addict. I don’t sleep around with a bunch of people. I’m not in an unlawful marriage. I’m not part of a denominational church. I’m not someone who’s had an abortion. Do we think those kinds of things? When we see the people of the world or like Jesus, when we see those people, do we see them for who they truly are? Do we see them as people who are loved by God and welcomed by Jesus? Do we see them as people who have souls and they need what Jesus has to offer? Do we see them as people who are one day going to die and they’re going to stand before God in judgment? And if they don’t obey the gospel before those things take place, they’re going to be lost forever.

2. Live Thankful for God’s Forgiveness

How do we see the people that we interact with and that we talk to in our community and society? I submit that this story here that is exclusively found in Luke’s gospel challenges us to think like Jesus. It challenges us to avoid a self-righteous spirit and see all people’s need for Jesus. If we were blessed to be in the room on this occasion, eating with Jesus, we would be challenged to avoid a self-righteous spirit. But not only will we be challenged to avoid a spirit of self-righteousness, secondly, we would also be challenged to live thankful for God’s forgiveness. To live thankful every day for God’s forgiveness. And I want to show you that back in the text. Go back to Luke chapter 7, please and look at verse number 40.

In Luke chapter 7 and in verse number 40. After Simon thinks to himself, why is Jesus letting this woman even touch him? And verse number 40, Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he replied, Say it, teacher. A money lender has two debtors, one owed 500 to Neri and the other 50. 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 Jesus said to him, You have judged correctly. Turning to 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.

You gave me no kiss. But see, 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 who is forgiven little loves little. Then he said to her, Your sins have been forgiven. Those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, Who is this man who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. So notice how after Jesus exposes the fact that he knows exactly what Simon is thinking, he then tells a parable. He tells a parable that has to do with something that we talk about a lot in our culture and society today, and that’s debt.

This is a parable about debt. There’s a man who owes a lender 50 dinari, and another owes a lender 500 denari. Question, what is that? What is a deneri? Well, many of you know exactly what a deneri is, right? You you you know that a deneri or denarius was a working man’s daily wage at this time. In other words, words, in the in the ancient world, when you worked a full day, the common man, you worked a full day, you work a nine to five, you get a denarius. You get a denari for working a full day, and that means that the man who owes 50 deneri owes almost two months of salary to his lender, while the man who owes 500 deneri, well, he owes about a year and a half worth of salary.

They have two different, totally different debts that they owe, but here is the key. The keys in verse number 42, neither one was able to repay. Do you see that? The one that owed 50 deneri, he couldn’t repay, and the one who owed 500 deneri, he could not repay. And do you know who that ultimately represents? That ultimately represents the woman who’s called a sinner in this room. And it also represents Simon, the Pharisee who’s hosting this dinner party, and it also represents me. And it represents every single one of us. And I know that because of what the Bible says in the book of Romans. Remember in Romans chapter 3, verse 23, what does the Bible say? All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

I don’t care who we are, one of the things we all have in common, those of us of accountable age, is we’ve sinned. We have transgressed the law of a holy God. And the Bible says in Romans chapter 6, in Romans chapter 6 and verse number 23, that we deserve something because we’ve done that. In Romans chapter 6 and verse number 23, the Bible says, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God, that’s grace, is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Notice how the Bible says that because we’ve sinned, the wage we deserve is not to go to heaven, it’s not to be with God forever in eternity. No, what we deserve because we’ve sinned is we deserve death. What Paul means there is spiritual death.

Even innocent, precious little babies die from time to time in this life physically. Paul’s talking here about spiritual death. That’s what we deserve. Because we’ve sinned. I don’t care who we are. It doesn’t matter if we were raised in the church. It doesn’t matter if we haven’t missed a church service in the last 50 or 60 years. It doesn’t matter how many people we brought to Christ, how many sermons we preached, how many Bible classes we’ve taught, or how many people we have served, we have against us the debt of sin. And we can’t pay it back on our own. I can’t pay it back. You can’t pay it back on your own. The only way the debt for our sin is going to be paid is because of Jesus.

It’s because of the sacrifice of Jesus. It’s because of the access we have to God’s forgiveness through Jesus. This woman who Simon says is a sinner. She clearly understood this. And Jesus won’t Simon understand this. I know that because after Jesus tells this parable, he asked Simon a question. And his question is out of the two guys mentioned in this parable, which one of them loved the lender more? Which one loved more? The one that owed 50 to Nari? Or the one that owed 500 to Nari? And Simon correctly answered the guy who owed more. The guy who owed 500 to Nari loved the lender, his master more. And Jesus then hit him right between the eyes and said, okay, look at that woman now. Look at that woman.

Look at that woman that you’re disgusted by.

Look at that woman who is an outcast and at the bottom of the barrel in society and realize that’s her. She loves me more. She’s more grateful. She is more thankful for God’s forgiveness than you are, and this is proven by her humility. It’s proven by her faith. It’s proven by the actions that she renders on this occasion. You see, here, and listen very carefully, here, Jesus is not overlooking this woman’s sins. He is not making excuses for her sins. He’s not sweeping her sins under the rug and saying, Well, you know what? Her sins are not a big deal. No, Jesus says himself that she has many sins, but he had forgiven her at some point, and he wants Simon to understand she’s grateful. She is thankful.

She is so thankful for the forgiveness of Jesus that she’s going out of her way to show that. She’s thankful for forgiveness. And the question is, who are we more like? Whose attitude do we possess? If we’ve experienced the forgiveness of God, and most of us have because we’re Christians, are we more like the woman? Or are we more like Simon? Like Simon, do we walk around believing we’re so good? And we’re so perfect, and we are entitled to God’s forgiveness. Do we neglect to serve God with zeal and passion and give him maximum effort because we are so thankful for his forgiveness? Because maybe we’ve grown up in the church, or we’re seasoned in the faith, or maybe because we got a lot of Bible knowledge, do we forget that we still need God’s grace and forgiveness just as much as the worst sinners to ever walk on this earth?

We have Simon’s attitude when it comes to forgiveness, or are we more like the woman? Like the woman, do we understand how much of a big deal it is to be forgiven? Do we allow God’s forgiveness to move our spirits? To move us to love God and serve God and worship God and praise Him with zeal and passion. Does the forgiveness of God move us to live for Him every single day? Does it move us to think about how our daily choices have an impact on Him? Does it move us to do what Paul describes in the book of Romans? Look at Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1 and in verse number 14. In Romans chapter 1 and in verse number 14, the apostle Paul says, I’m under obligation, both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

So for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So much we can say about those three verses. But for the purpose of this study, look at verse number 14. Notice how in verse 14, Paul talks about how he’s under obligation. Some translations use the word debtor, right? I’m a debtor. I’m under obligation to do what? To preach, to serve, to help other people, learn about Jesus. Why did Paul feel that way? Why did Paul feel like he was under obligation to serve in the kingdom? It was because of forgiveness.

It was because he was thankful for God’s forgiveness. He was thankful that God was willing to forgive someone even as bad as him. That’s the mindset he carried with him in his life. The question is, do we? Because God’s forgiveness is so big? Because it’s bigger than the sun, the moon, and the stars, because it’s bigger than the Empire State Building in New York, or the Sears Tower in Chicago, or all the Disney parks put together here in Orlando because it’s bigger than Eli Muskie’s net worth. Anything we can possibly imagine, are we compelled to serve God? Are we compelled to love God? Are we compelled to do any and everything God tells us to do? Are we compared, compelled to serve the Lord with every fiber of our being because he forgave us of a debt that we couldn’t pay back on our own?

3. See the Truth About the Lord’s Identity

If we were at this dinner, we’d be challenged to avoid self-righteousness. And we would be challenged to be so thankful for the forgiveness of God. But then, third and finally, very quickly, we’d also be challenged to see the truth about the Lord’s identity. The truth about the Lord’s identity.

I want you to notice how after Jesus tells this parable, there is a question posed by the crowd of people who are in Simon’s house, and the question is who in the world is this guy? Who in the world is Jesus? Who in the world is this man who can even forgive sins? That’s the question that is really posed throughout the gospel. Throughout the gospel, people want to know who’s Jesus. For example, if you go back up to verse number 19 here in Luke chapter 7. After John the Baptist is arrested, he sends some of his disciples to Jesus. And they ask him, are you the expected one? Or should we look for someone else? Who are you? In Mark chapter 4 and verse number 41.

After Jesus calms a storm with just a few words, his disciples ask the question of, who is this man? That even the wind and the sea obey him. And then in Matthew 16 and verse 13, when Jesus is Caesarea Philippi, he asks his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? That’s the question. The question throughout the gospel is who is Jesus? And here at Simon’s house, we get an emphatic answer to that question. We see exactly who Jesus is. We see that Jesus is someone who has authority. He’s got power, unlike anybody else, to walk on this earth. He has the power to not only calm storms and heal lepers and cast demons out of people and give sight to the blind and walk on water and raise the dead, but he also has the power to forgive.

He has the authority to forgive. He has the authority to forgive us of all of our sins. Why? Because he’s God. Because he’s the Son of God. Because He’s the Christ. And He’s the Lord and He’s the Savior. That’s what we learn about Jesus at Simon’s house. And I believe, brothers and sisters, listen carefully, this is something we need to be reminded of from time to time. Every now and then we need to come together and remind ourselves of who Jesus is, because you and I both know that we’re currently living in a culture and society where for a lot of people they are clueless about Jesus. They’re clueless about his identity. Some of them believe that he was just a prophet. Some believe that he was just a good moral teacher and he taught a bunch of good stuff.

Conclusion

Some believe that he was just another famous person to pop up in human history. So many people are confused about the identity of Jesus. But in sections like this, we learn the truth, don’t we? We learn the truth about his identity. We learn that he is God because he’s able to do something that only God can do. And that’s forgive sins. Jesus can forgive sins. The question is do you need forgiveness this morning? If you need forgiveness this morning, I want you to understand something. In addition to being willing to accept this woman who had many sins, if you humbly come to Jesus, he’ll also accept you. He will also forgive you, but you may need to come to him for the first time on his terms.

You may need to believe in him. And repent of your sins and be baptized in water for the forgiveness of your sins. If you’ve done those things in the past, but you’re living in sin, you need to come back to him. You need to repent. And we’ll be more than happy to pray with you and pray for you. There’s anyone here this morning who needs to come to Jesus who’s able to forgive sins. This is your time. This is the place. Come right now as we stand and we sing together.