Text: This week we’re
covering Luke 7:36-50 dealing with
Jesus’ encounter in the home of Simon the Pharisee. This narrative and dialogue
is high drama indeed! It deals with the interrelated issues of hospitality,
forgiveness, and love. It is very instructive to watch Jesus carefully as he
lives graciously and lovingly in a very difficult situation.
Other passages to read: This story
is unique to the Gospel of Luke, so there is no parallel passage to read from
the other gospels. It might help to see how Abraham received guests hospitably
in Genesis 18, ironically where the guest turns out to be the Lord. The
Pharisee missed his clue!
Other Resources: This passage is covered at length with tremendous culturally insight in
Kenneth E. Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle
Eastern Eyes (pages 239-260). In addition, N.T. Wright in Luke for Everyone (p. 89-92) briefly,
but powerfully, captures the emotional setting.
Pastor Randy's Sermon Notes: "The Pharisee and the
Prostitute"
Read the entire text of Luke 7:36-50
What we learn from the Pharisee and
the Prostitute…
1.
Forgiveness – it’s what everyone needs· They both owed
"Two men owed money to a certain
moneylender.” (7:41a)
“As it is written: "There is no one
righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who
does good, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God," (Romans 3:10-12, 23)
“For whoever keeps the whole law and
yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who
said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder."
If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a
lawbreaker.” (James 2:10)
·
They both couldn’t pay
“Neither of them had the money to pay
him back” (7:41b)
“All of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up
like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us
away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
·
They both were forgiven
“…so he canceled the debts of both.” (7:42)
Jesus forgives more freely than what
we’d like to admit…
Jesus forgives more freely than you and I do.
“ 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." Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to
tell you." (7:39-40)
Satan’s two-fold lie:
— You are better than
others
— You are worse than
others
The truth is that Jesus paid the same amount for everyone’s sin.
2.
Understanding forgiveness leads to
deep repentance and extravagant worship.
3.
Where there is much forgiveness, there is much love.
4.
Unforgiveness binds you to your past. Forgiveness binds you to
your future and to God's hope and grace that things can be different.
Points to ponder: In your
study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:
- The Pharisee apparently thought that if one was a
prophet that he would not allow sinners to approach…much less show such
extravagant love. How does this Pharisaical idea effect the way that we
live and love others today?
- What do I do when I see others being insulted and
treated badly?
- What did Jesus do when he was treated
disrespectfully by the Pharisees and lawyers?
- How is it possible for us to enter into, and
identify with, Jesus’ suffering today?
- If in the Middle East the greatest “law” is the Law of Hospitality, what is the
greatest cultural “law” here in the west? [It would be interesting to get
feedback on this.]
- The Pharisees seemed to set a trap to provoke Jesus by their lack of hospitality, but Jesus seemed to catch them in their own trap...has he caught us?
Questions to ask ourselves: The
following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of what we learn about
Jesus…
- How do we show hospitality to guests in our culture?
Do we welcome Jesus in a similar way into our lives? How does this change
our view of hospitality?
- How much have I been forgiven? It is important to
our spiritual growth that we don’t minimize our own sin. If we truly
understand how badly we needed forgiveness it can’t help but produce a
response of gratitude.
- Name the people in your life that could testify that
you are a thankful loving person this week.
- How much do I love Jesus? Am I willing to love Jesus, with abandon, this week? How will I do this? List three specific ways.
Commentary & Quotes: Some
Cultural Issues to Consider...
·
The
“Law of Hospitality” was one of the most deeply held cultural values. The basic
hospitality that was required when invited into someone’s home would have
included: a kiss of greeting, water to wash their feet and hands, olive oil for
their head. Then the host would do their best to provide hospitable table fare
as they would share a meal and conversation together. It was also the host’s
responsibility to protect their guest from harm or insult as long as they
remained in his home.
·
At
a Middle Eastern at the time of Christ, the table was generally a “U-shaped”
low table. Guests would recline on their left elbow, with the head towards the table,
so as to eat with their right hand. This arrangement would have given the woman
easy access to Jesus’ feet.
“Meals
like this were not private: people could come and watch. But it took courage
for this woman to go to a house where she knew she was not welcome. Jewish
women often wore small flasks of perfume, like a necklace. The long neck of the
flask was broken to release the contents. It was easy for the woman to reach
Jesus’ feet, as guests reclined on couches: heads towards the table, feet away
for it.” (Zondervan Handbook to the Bible—3rd Edition, 607)
o
Jesus had been insulted by the hosts actions, but
suffers this indignity in silence. But the woman, who had already been forgiven
by Jesus, witnessed this shocking display of intentional rudeness. How could
she stand by and watch it happen? What could she do, a woman of the city, a
sinner even! She couldn’t just do nothing…so she took the risk and readily
entered into the suffering of her new-found Messiah! Her gratitude for the forgiveness
she had already received now overflowed in extravagant love, to more than make
up what the Pharisees had wrongly withheld.
o
What a wonderful example of giving what you have
when it is needed… she doesn’t appear to have planned this in advance.
§ She had no water so she used the tears that flowed because her Lord
suffered mistreatment.
§ She had no towel so she used her hair…a shockingly bold act of humility
on her part.
§ She had no oil so she used the small ampule of perfume she would have
worn around her neck.
“This
episode illustrates perfectly Luke’s theme of the hospitality of God. Jesus,
the divine visitor to the world, comes as a guest to this house but receives
little or no hospitality from the one who as host ought to have provided it. A
person publicly known as a sinner—one, therefore, on the margins—is drawn to
the occasion. Though certainly not welcomed by the Pharisee, she has
sensed—correctly, as it turns out—that a wider, deeper welcome (“acceptance”)
awaits her. Boldly, she breaks through the barrier of hostility to herself and
her kind. She, not the Pharisee, gives hospitality to Jesus…In return, she
receives from him a new outflow of the “hospitality of God” as, publicly and
authoritatively, he declares her forgiven and at home in the community (v.48).
Well may “those at the table with him” ask: “Who is this who even forgives
sin?” (v.49). Their fellow guest is the “visitor from high” (1:78), one who
personally embodies and communicates the forgiveness of God.
Jesus’ final assurance, “your faith
has saved you; go in peace” (v.50), sheds light on the meaning of “salvation”
in Luke. Taken as a dramatic whole, the episode shows that salvation consists
not only in forgiveness but also in the human transformation the experience of
salvation has brought about. Simon, who has neither experienced this
forgiveness nor felt the need for it, comes across as cold, distant and
unloving. By contrast, the previously marginalized woman is free to supply
gestures of love and service on a most extravagant scale: the jar alabaster
rather than common oil; sufficient tears to “bathe” the feet of Jesus; using
her hair to dry them; “not ceasing” to kiss them. So, when finally (v.50) Jesus
bids her “go in peace,” she carries with her the messianic peace of one
transformed by Jesus’ power to save.” (Brendan Byrne, The Hospitality of God: A
Reading of Luke’s Gospel [Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000, 75-76.)
Previously
on Ponderables: last week I asked
you to consider the following questions…
- Am I a
part of an authentic community that will walk with me through
anything…even through loss, sorrow, and the process of grief with me? Am I
an active part of community of faith that is living and learning and
growing together? I hope your answer is “Yes!” but too many
believers today think that they can go through life on their own. This is
just not biblical. We were made for community, and as the church we are
less than complete when we distance ourselves from each other. Secondly,
if we desire the church to be there for us we need to start by being there
for them. Take the initiative to be the church!
- How does
the ministry of Jesus relate to that of the prophets Elijah and Elisha?
Both Elijah and Elisha did miracles of resurrection in that general
vicinity. There are other similarities that will emerge later in our
series.
- How does
this passage, and the others listed above, shape my understanding of how
Jesus lived and loved? He was moved by compassion. He
felt the widow’s pain and despair deeply and moved to change her
situation. I love the part where he gives the newly arisen son back to his
mother. It looks forward to the coming day when Jesus would give his
disciple John to his mother and would commit the care of his mother to John
form the cross.
- What
other ways do we see Jesus showing power over sickness and death in Luke?
This was an easy question as we could list all the healing miracles so
far. Specifically, in this chapter, we have seen Jesus heal the Centurion’s
servant from the “3-point line” with a word of authority. In answer to the
question posed by the disciples of John the Baptist, it says, “In that hour he healed many people of
diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he
bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen
and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good
news preached to them.” (v.21-22) Next week in Chapter 8 we will see
even more!
No comments:
Post a Comment