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LUKE AND THE DEBTORS

Published March 9, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: alabaster jar, Luke, parable of the two debtors, simon the pharisee, sinful woman

No, it’s not my mail.

Luke 7:41-43

This short parable was told by Jesus in the house of a Pharisee named Simon (not to be confused with Simon Peter). Simon had asked Jesus to come into his home to eat with him, and Jesus never refused an invitation to eat. He dined with sinners and He dined Pharisees always for a purpose: to convert them.

Just before telling him the story of the two debtors, Simon had some thoughts about Jesus swirling around in his head:

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is–that she is a sinner.” (Luke 7:39 NIV84)

What prompted Simon the Pharisee to think this? It was this curious incident:

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. (Luke 7:37-38 NIV84)

Typical of a Pharisee, Simon was greatly offended by what this “sinful” woman had done. To make matters even worse, his sense of propriety was hurt further by Jesus’ response: one of tolerance. As far as Simon was concerned there was no way Jesus could have been a prophet or any other kind of “messenger from God.” Had Jesus known this woman’s past, Simon reasoned, there was no way He would have let her anywhere near Him.

What Simon the Pharisee couldn’t wrap his mind around was how Jesus worked: our Lord associated with sinners – including men like Simon – for one purpose: to save them. But when Simon witnessed this incident, he put himself in judgment of Jesus. His hard, cold heart was a stranger not only to Jesus’ ways, but to Jesus Himself.

Like some Christians today, Simon’s religion was all outside with nothing inside. Jesus had come to dine with a Pharisee but the woman’s love and devotion to The Lord was more important than any dinner. It was a heart Jesus was after this day, not a meal. There are a lot “Simons” in church today who have a wonderful outward show of faith, but have no heart for people or understanding of Jesus’ mission to seek and save those who are lost.

To help explain what happened between this woman and Himself, and to help Simon understand himself, Jesus told the Pharisee this parable.

1. A certain creditor

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender.” (Luke 7:41a NIV84)

The creditor in this parable represented God, the great Creditor. That’s hard for some people these to understand. How could Jesus compare God to a money lender? When we stop and consider what a creditor does, this is really an apt illustration of God.

(A) A creditor is well-known in his community. Many people know who he is and what he does: he lends his money to others.

(B) A creditor has enough resources to help others in need. Nobody likes a creditor, but when you need something and don’t have your own resources, he’s the first person you call. Any need we have as human beings can be met in the infinite resources of Jesus Christ. The needs of the sinner are deep and many, but God has what they need!

(C) A creditor is one who doesn’t just give his resources away; he expects a return, which is why he charges interest. He gives a loan, he doesn’t give it away. God gave His best for us – in exchange for us – and He expects something from us in return. God invested in us and He wants something in return for that investment. Sadly, far too many Christians in whom God has poured His good resources, return little or nothing , or ever worse, they return evil for His good. Hatred is an awful thing return for love, but that’s what a lot of Christians have done. It’s human nature to resent those who help us most.

2. Two different debtors

“One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.” (Luke 7:41b NIV84)

Jesus knew something most of us don’t: we see ourselves better when we are looking at someone else. Obviously, one of the debtors in the parable is meant to represent Simon, and in a few moments, he would find out which one and he would learn a lot about himself.

The “500 and the 50” also represent two kinds of sinners, the great and the not-so-great, the murderer and liar, the rapist and the cheater, and all sinners in between. The 50 denarii debtor is the religious church member, the member of the PTA, the moralist who thinks himself in good shape, yet he lacks “the one thing.” The 500 denarii debtor is the profligate sinner who knows he’s in sorry shape and lacks everything.

But what about all the other debtors in between those two not mentioned in the parable? What about the 100 denarii debtor who isn’t as bad as those who owe more, but is a little indifferent to the goodness of God? How about the 200 denarii debtor who thinks he’s safe and is indifferent to the grace of God? Or the 300 denarii debtor who denies God and is always fighting against His mercy? The fact is, whether a debtor owes a little or a lot, he is in debt to the Creditor.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (Romans 3:23 (NIV84)

Whether you are vilest of sinners or a “good person” according to the world’s standards, if you have not settled your account with the great Creditor in Heaven, you will enter the hereafter with the sin debt and no way to pay it off. But God has made a way for you to clear the books in the here-and-now!

He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.

3. The helpless bankrupts

Neither of them had the money to pay him back… (Luke 7:42a NIV84)

The little and the great debtors, even though they owed staggeringly different amounts, were really in the exact same state before the creditor: insolvent. When you’re broke, it doesn’t matter whether you owe $100 or $1,000 dollars! There was no difference between these two debtors as they stood in front of the creditor. And so it is with every sinner in God’s sight. Of course God is not ignorant of the sins we commit, but just how many of them will keep you out of heaven? The answer is just ONE. Sinners may owe God different sin-debts, but they are all bankrupt – hopeless – in His sight. They are all the same.

The 50 denarii debtor and the 500 denarii debtor were both bankrupt; they were broke; they had nothing to give the creditor. Only God can create something out of nothing. Man can make nothing out of nothing. This is the perilous state ever sinner finds himself in.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to the Cross I cling,

Naked, come to Thee for dress,

Helpless, look to Thee for grace,

Foul, I to the Mountain fly,

Wash me Savior, or I die.

None of us is able to pay Heaven’s Creditor. There is no other creditor we may borrow from. When a sinner stands before the great Creditor on that great day, one of two things must happen: a pardon or a prison sentence.

4. The happy deliverance

…he canceled the debts of both. (Luke 7:42b NIV84)

This creditor was no Simon Legree! He actually canceled both debts. What a marvelous sentence. It reveals the heart of God more than a shelf-full of theology books ever could.

(A) What he did. He “canceled” or “forgave.” There was no repayment plan concocted. There was no bargaining and no compromise. There was no lecture. What a relief it must have been for both of these debtors! God’s ways are always a relief to man. Forgiveness is God’s way of dealing with the sins of all who respond in faith to God’s gracious call. It was Martin Luther who famously wrote: I believe in the forgiveness, not the payment, of sins.

(B) Whom he forgave. “Both” debtors were forgiven. Both needed forgiveness. Both the great, profligate debtor and the not-so-great debtor both needed forgiveness.

(C) How he forgave. There were no strings attached! The creditor simply forgave them. That’s how God deals with all those who come to Him. No deals, no hoops to jump through, no conditions save one: FAITH.

(D) When he forgave. The creditor forgave the debtors when they had nothing to give him; when they had no resources. How many of us found God when we reached the end of our rope? How many of us found grace when we lost everything else?

5. The evidence

Now which of them will love him more. (Luke 7:42c NIV84)

In Jesus’ day, when somebody couldn’t afford to repay a debt, one of two things happened: the debtor was forgiven his debt or forced into a life of slavery in order to clear the debt. Forgiveness, as we might imagine, was rare and we imagine how grateful the debtor would have been.

The implication is that each debtor “loved” the creditor for his act of kindness. Simon reckoned the one with the greater debt loved him the most because he owed the most.

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”“You have judged correctly, ” Jesus said. (Luke 7:43 NIV84)

It is correct, reasoned Jesus, to expect the ones forgiven to manifest in some way their love for Him who forgives. The poor, sinful woman of a few verses back had been forgiven much, and she therefore loved much, and she showed it.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.” (Luke 7:44 NIV84)

Love weeps.

Now Jesus wants Simon to see what he missed, both in the woman and in himself. She wept. Why did she cry so much? Maybe she wept for her present, sinful state; perhaps they were tears of regret for a life wasted, and maybe they were tears of deepest gratitude toward God. Paul cried tears for the lost:

For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. (Philippians 3:18 NIV84)

Love washes.

The sinful woman washed Jesus’ feet. What an act of simple humility! The Pharisee neglected to observe this social custom. What the Pharisee didn’t do, this woman did do. This woman made up for Simon’s thoughtlessness by washing Jesus’ dusty feet with her tears. She used all she had. She had no water, so she used her tears, the “water of the heart,” observed Augustine.

Love stoops.

She had to bend low to wipe Jesus’ feet. This is the position of humility. This is the position no self-respecting Pharisee would dare take. This woman, though, put her glory (her hair) at the feet of the Master. Like John the Baptist observed, if Jesus was to increase, then she must decrease. If Jesus would be glorified in our lives, we have to stoop, so as to get out of His way.

Love kisses

This most remarkable woman did what Simon should have done but did not. He should have shown common courtesy offered Him the common “kiss of peace.”

Love follows

This is implied. Where did this woman come from? She obviously was not in the house when Jesus arrived. She, therefore, must have watched Jesus enter the house, and she followed Him in. What courage it must have taken for this sinful woman to walk into a Pharisee’s home, uninvited!

Love Gives

When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume… (Luke 7:37 NIV84)

She gave all she had to Jesus. She gave her treasured possession – valuable perfume – and she gave herself.

What was implied in the parable, Jesus now pronounces for all to hear:

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Luke 7:48 NIV84)

And he that believes these words has what they say and express, even forgiveness of sins.

So wrote Martin Luther. That very moment, Jesus spoke the words of forgiveness, she believed them, and they were effectual. She entered the house a sinner seeking salvation, she left a redeemed saint. The forgiveness of sin takes place in Heaven, at God’s behest. It is, therefore timeless. The forgiveness from Heaven reaches back in our lives and forward and every sin we ever committed or will commit is simultaneously forgiven and forgotten by God. Such is the power of God’s amazing grace!

What of Simon the Pharisee?

…he who has been forgiven little loves little. (Luke 7:47b NIV84)

Ouch! That must have galled the proud, religious Simon.

The three characters in our little drama couldn’t have been more different. The proud-hearted Pharisee, the broken-hearted sinner, and loving-hearted Savior.

As the woman left the house, the guests were amazed and stunned and wondered about Jesus, the Man who could forgive sins. But then Jesus says something that seems redundant:

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:50 NIV84)

Why did Jesus say that? He already told her that she was forgiven. He said it to her, but it was important for the assembled guests to understand that forgiveness of sins and salvation involves a unique work of God and a manifestation of faith. Several times in the Gospels Jesus credits a redeemed, forgiven, or healed person with faith. But it is never merely faith that accomplishes anything of eternal value in the heart of a man. It must always be faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said the woman’s faith saved her, but He is the Savior. Faith is able to save because faith finds its object: Jesus Christ, the One who does the saving. Faith is like a cup, filled with Christ and thus with his salvation. Modern preaching does great damage to faith by giving it some kind of mystical power it does not have. Faith saves because it is the confident acceptance of Jesus, our Savior, and the salvation He alone provides.

LESSONS FROM A BROKEN HEART

Published April 24, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: alabaster jar, anoint, Anointing, Luke, perfume

Luke 7:36—50

The real power of this passage is derived from a verse taken from the previous paragraph:

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ (verse 34)

This criticism of Jesus does not stop Him from continuing to show concern for sinners. In verse 30, Luke had drawn our attention to the self-righteous Pharisees, and so now beginning with verse 36, the skillful chronicler of Jesus’ life and ministry weaves the perfect example of both: Pharisee and sinner.

Long before the times of Jesus, there existed a group of honorable men known as “separatists.” They were radical in their time for they sought to preserve the holiness and essential tenets of Judaism at a time when the Jewish faith was becoming more and more secular. The “separatists” were an honorable group, without whose efforts and dedication the Jewish faith would have disappeared from Israel all together.

However, by the era of the New Testament, the “separatists,” or the Pharisees as they had come be known, were dominated by legalism, ritualism and blind formality. The Pharisees had come to make holiness a matter of rules and regulations than of the spirit. The very men who should have been championing the cause of Jesus were His greatest enemies.

As our story begins, a Pharisee named Simon had invited Jesus over this his house for supper. There is a bit of irony here that may be intentional. They, the Pharisees, had just accused Jesus of “slumming” with disreputable characters, yet the very next moment, He is eating with a Pharisee!

1. Tearful anointing, verses 36—38

This story is seen only here in the Gospels. It is not dissimilar to the account of Jesus’ eating with Simon the leper (see Matthew 26:6—13; Mark 14:3—9; John 12:1—9), but while there may be similarities, this episode stands alone.

We don’t have a timeframe for the events of this account, but it seems to have taken place early in Jesus’ ministry.

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

We are filled with questions regarding this dinner invitation. Though at this early stage of our Lord’s work the Pharisees were increasingly wary of Him, they had not yet severed all ties with Him. So why did Simon invite this radical rabbi to dine with him in the first place? He may have been filled with questions like Nicodemus was before him. Simon had heard all these stories about Jesus being a “prophet,” so maybe he wanted to see firsthand if the stories were true. Or maybe Simon’s motives were little darker; perhaps he wanted to have an opportunity to find a basis for charging Jesus with some sort of bogus charge.

We might also be curious as to why Jesus would accept such an invitation. Everything Jesus did, every person He spoke to, and every place He went during His ministry years were not happenstance or coincidental. His words, His journeys, and His encounters with people were all carefully calculated to show who He was and why He was there. Accepting this dinner invitation would have put the kibosh on any accusation that Jesus avoided Pharisees socially or that He was as wary of them as they were of Him.

Beyond his name and station in life, we know nothing about this Pharisee.

A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.

In New Testament parlance, this woman could have been a prostitute. The phrase “sinful life” carried with it far more shameful connotations that it does today. Of course, she may not have been a prostitute; this is merely an assumption Bible scholars make. Her designation as “a sinner” (literal) would have been how the Pharisees saw her, not Luke. However, we notice a remarkable thing. Whatever she had once been she was no longer. She came to Jesus already a changed woman. It is reasonable to assume that Jesus ministered to and converted many more people than we have accounts for in the Gospels! She must have heard the words of Jesus on previous occasions and she must have experienced pardon for her “sinful life.” How else can we explain why she came to Jesus while He was dining and came carrying a jar of perfume?

Was coming to a dinner uninvited an unusual occurrence? Was this woman a “party crasher?” In fact, this woman took advantage of the accepted social custom of the day to come and be with Jesus. At that time, those who were truly needy were permitted to visit such a banquet so they could be given the leftovers. However, while that may explain why she was allowed to be there, Luke makes it clear that she did not come to receive anything from the Pharisee, but rather to give something to Jesus.

She carried with her an “alabaster jar of perfume.” Alabaster is a type of gypsum, very fine and usually white in color. This particular jar was probably quite beautiful, though not nearly as hard as, say, marble. Alabaster jars or boxes of this type were generally used to hold expensive perfume.

[A]nd as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

It was customary to recline at a table across a couch in the Palestine of Jesus’ day. His feet would have been extended in the opposite direction from the table, making it easy for this woman to come and stand them. She came to anoint His feet with her perfume. It may have been more common to anoint them with water or maybe olive oil, but she apparently wanted to give her best to Jesus, probably out of gratitude for what He had done for her. Overcome with emotion, though, she had begun to cry and it was her tears that covered His feet. Only heart completely freed from sin could have reacted so. The anointing with perfume would have been a profound act in and of itself, but anointing Jesus with a part of herself was in indication that her whole being was dedicated to Him.

With His feet soaked in what Martin Luther referred to as “heart water,” this woman impulsively did what no woman ought to have done in public: she loosened her hair and let fall free. Having nothing else to wipe off her tears with, she used all that she had: her hair. And at the same time, her tears mingled with perfume, already dripping from the broken alabaster jar.

2. Put in his place, verses 39—43

This whole display was unbelievably shameful to Simon the Pharisee. What this woman did had greatly offended his sense of what was proper and acceptable behavior. But what offended him more was the fact that Jesus did nothing to stop her!

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

This verse is amusing. While Simon was musing to himself about the limitations of Jesus’ prophetic insight (he assumed Jesus was unaware that this woman was a sinner), Jesus was reading Simon’s mind and forming the correct conclusion about his character!

In fact, in the exchange that follows, Jesus zeroes in on and exposes Simon’s faulty thinking.

Jesus demonstrates that He does know this woman extremely well. He knows her past history and her present condition.
Jesus, in what must have been an eye-opening fashion, showed that He knew exactly what was in Simon’s mind.
This showed that Jesus was precisely what Simon was told He was: a prophet. In fact, Jesus proved that He was much more than that; He was One who could look inside a person’s mind and heart and discern their inne- most thoughts and intents.
This whole episode showed that Jesus Christ was nothing less than divine; One sent from God who had the authority to forgive sins and the power to change lives.

When our Lord told Simon, “Simon, I have something to tell you,” Simon could not have imagined what was coming! He probably expected some interesting words of wisdom from Jesus, who Himself had proven to be an interesting, if not somewhat radical teacher.

Jesus told Simon a parable about two people that were in debt—something most of us can relate to. The parable is simplicity itself:

“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

When Simon says, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled,” he is not only sure of his answer, but he also knows where Jesus is heading with the story. He is condemned by his own words.

But Jesus is kind; He knew that the Pharisee “got it,” and so as if to take Simon off the hot seat, Jesus calls his attention back to the woman at His feet. However, in doing so, Simon would be made to shamed.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

In essence, the Lord is telling Simon that he did not exercise even the most common of courtesies when Jesus came in to his home. In other words, Simon may have been a respected religious teacher, but he had no manners!

Had Simon acted as he ought to have, HE, not the woman, would have washed Jesus’ feet as the owner of the home and host of the dinner should have. HE, not the woman, should have greeted Jesus with a kiss. And Simon, not the woman, should have anointed Christ’s head, at the very least with the cheapest olive oil he could find; yet he did not. Every one of those actions was the custom of the day when one had callers, and Simon, to his shame, ignored custom when it came to Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, apparently was not worth the trouble. Simon proved to everybody, as Jesus so adroitly pointed out in front of everybody, that he was thoughtless and virtually loveless. Simon showed himself for what he was: cold and patronizing.

In all three instances, Simon treated Jesus exactly opposite to the way he should have treated our Lord. And in all three instances, this poor, lowly woman with no social standing treated Jesus above and beyond the call of custom:

Instead of washing Jesus’ feet with water, the woman used her tears, which indicated repentance and sorrow.
Instead of greeting Jesus with a kiss on His cheek, she kissed Him fervently all over His feet, which indicated humble gratitude.
Instead of anointing Jesus’ head with cheap and plentiful olive oil, she poured precious and personal perfume on His feet.

She went way, way beyond what was expected. But then, why wouldn’t she? After all, she loved Jesus with all of her heart. He deserved no less than all she had to give.

3. Application

The story ends with what the woman already knew: she stood forgiven in God’s presence. Nobody could have done what she did if she had not already experienced the forgiveness of her sins.

What Jesus did and said is remarkable on so many levels. Simon was the man who regarded himself as a righteous lover of Jehovah and less sinful than others, and he considered this woman as an unforgiven sinner with no standing in society or before Jehovah. Jesus, though, taught that it was Simon who stood unforgiven before God because of his obvious lack of love in how he treated the Son of God.

The woman’s treatment of Jesus showed two things: (1) the great love she had for Him, and (2) a sense that she had been forgiven and her life radically changed by Jesus. What she did, she did out of gratitude and appreciation.

Simon’s treatment of Jesus showed two things: (1) he had no love for God for he had no knowledge of who Jesus really was, and (2) because Jesus was not part of his “circle,” he treated the Lord with contempt and dishonor.

Of Simon’s behavior, we might remark that it was to be expected. Why would an unrepentant sinner go out of his way to make the Son of God welcome in his home? But at the same time, we who claim to love Jesus and who have experienced His grace and mercy, must constantly be aware of how WE treat our Lord. Sometimes, I fear, we who ought to treat Jesus as the forgiven woman did, treat Jesus worse than Simon did. Many of us have the bad habit of giving Jesus our leftovers: our leftover time, our leftover attention, and our leftover love. Surely the Man who gave all for us deserves a little more than just our leftovers.