TEXT: Luke 7:36-50

SUBJECT: Luke #25: Forgiveness and Love

Today’s story may be the most touching one Luke ever told. It’s touching in two very different ways. It caresses the humble and punches the proud. It tells the worst sinner that he’s got a friend in Jesus Christ—whatever you are, whatever you’ve done—"This Man welcomes sinners!" It tells the smug man—whether he calls himself a Pharisee or a Christian—that publicans and harlots are closer to heaven that he is.

I don’t know if this sermon is better suited for the man lying in the gutter or the man sitting on the front pew. Maybe it’s got something for both. Maybe it’s a message for all—for those who feel the need for forgiveness and for those who don’t.

The story takes place—well, we don’t know when or where. This is one of the few times Luke leaves out the details of time and place. Why he left them out, we can’t say, but maybe the story meant so much to him that he couldn’t wait to tell it! In any event, there’s an eagerness here. Luke is chomping at the bit to tell us what a wonderful Savior we have!

One day, the Lord got an invitation to dinner. It was to the home of Simon the Pharisee, who was no doubt, a respected man in the synagogue and community. But, judging by the story, he did not deserve the reputation he had. He was, in fact, a shallow and conceited man.

What did he think of the Lord? He wasn’t sure at first. Others had called Him a Prophet, but Simon wanted to see for himself. So, he invites Him over for dinner—well, sort of.

What he really invited Him to wasn’t dinner, but an interview—or maybe it’s better to say--an interrogation. The expected courtesies were all lacking. Simon didn’t greet the Lord with a kiss, wash His feet, or anoint His head. It would be like having someone over to dinner today and not shaking his hand at the door or taking his coat or offering him a seat. Simon was a bad host!

It wasn’t long till someone crashed the party. We don’t know what her name was, but we do know the kind of person she was: she was a sinner. It’s not just that she had sinned—even the proudest Pharisee knew that he had not always kept the Law of God perfectly.

As used here, sinner stands for someone who’s notoriously wicked; someone for whom the sacrifices of Israel would do no good. They washed away some sins, but not all. And not hers. The word was most often applied to publicans (if they were men) or prostitutes (if they were women).

That’s what Simon thinks of her—and neither the Lord nor Luke contradict his opinion. They don’t say she was misunderstood or that she had a heart of gold, and so on. She was called a sinner because she was one!

What does she want from the Lord? Only to serve Him. She came into Simon’s house (and that took courage, for she was not wanted and might have been thrown out—maybe by the Lord, even!) Then she washes the Lord’s feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair, anoints them with oil, and spends the rest of her time kissing His feet.

When Simon sees the Lord allowing this disgraceful woman to serve Him, he says to himself, I told you so. To Simon’s way of thinking, the Lord couldn’t possibly be a prophet, for if He were, He wouldn’t put up with the woman! If He were a good man, Simon supposed, He would be morally repelled by this Human Garbage. Misapplying Isaiah the prophet, he would Him say,

From the time He arrived, Simon had been sizing up the Lord—judging His character, seeing if He lived up to His billing. But now, the tables are turned. It is the Lord who takes the bench and puts Simon in the dock.

He’s got a little story for him. And little does Simon know, it’s booby-trapped. Two men are in debt to the money-lenders. One owes 50 denarii, the other owes 500 denarii. When the due date comes, neither can pay their debt, but the Creditor is so kind that he lets them off the hook. Both debts are forgiven; both debtors are free!

Now, which of the two men do you suppose will be more grateful? Who will love his friend more?

Simon is not a stupid man,

Right! says the Lord—give the man a cigar—an exploding cigar! He applies the story to his host and the party-crashing sinner.

What has the good Pharisee done for the Lord? Nothing! No kiss, no footwashing, no anointing, no anything! He was barely civil to the Lord of Glory!

But the dirty tramp?

That means she has been forgiven! Her love did not save her, of course, but it proves that she is saved. Having been forgiven much,

Note also: the pardon she got that day was not merely declared by the Jesus Christ, but it was granted by the Lord Himself!

That’s why the other guests were so surprised and offended. They knew God forgave sin, but this Man is taking that right for Himself! That’s what they thought, anyway. But we know better. He was taking anything that didn’t belong to Him. As He said before,

Just now, He forgave the wicked lady and she proved Him by loving Him for it.

But what about Simon? Is he forgiven too? No he isn’t. Is he too bad to find mercy with the Lord? No, he’s not too bad; he’s too good. Because he felt no need for pardon, he got no pardon.

What an opportunity he missed! What a gift he threw away! Jesus Christ was offering pardon for the asking. But he was too proud to take it. And if he never changed, he died unforgiven!

That’s the story.

What does it mean?

In the first place, it means Jesus Christ forgives sin. In reading the story, we’re too apt to focus on the woman’s humility or the Pharisee’s pride. And miss the main character and what He did. The Lord Jesus Christ knew the kind of woman who served Him that day—He knew all about her shameful past and her polluted character. And, look what He did: He didn’t put her on a program for self-improvement! He didn’t say "Prove your sincerity and I’ll get back to you if you pass the test".

He simply pardoned her—right then and there—He canceled her every debt to the Law of God and its righteous penalties.

How happy this story ought to make sinners! Unsaved sinners, of course, but also saved sinners. Look at all you’ve done against the Lord, how you’ve neglected Him and made light of His Holy Name, how you’ve used His Word to justify your evil ways, how you’ve ignored the cries of His people and bad mouthed the ones for whom He died! In summary, how you’ve put yourself first and Him somewhere lower on the list!

Yet the Lord whom you’ve personally and repeatedly insulted offers forgiveness. Free, full pardon for anyone who feels the need of it.

That’s the first lesson our story teaches—and the most important. But the second is also worth learning: You’ll never love Christ until you’ve felt how wicked you are and how good He is to forgive you.

Why was Simon such a rotten host? You’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt: maybe he had a headache or hadn’t been taught good manners. You’d like to say that about him, but you cannot. The Lord said he didn’t love a Savior because he didn’t think he needed one.

Who loves a lifesaver? The man standing on the deck of a ship or the man overboard? Both Simon and the woman were sinking fast. But she knew it and he didn’t. That’s why she hugged the Lifesaver so firmly. And why Simon didn’t even notice it.

If you knew how great your guilt is—and where it must put you in the end—you’d love a Savior who rescues you from a death worse than drowning. If you knew He had forgiven you, there would be nothing too good for Him! You’d praise Him and obey Him and care for His people.

These things can’t be pounded into you by the hammering of the Law. They have to come from within, stirred by the knowledge that you’re forgiven. In short,

And, applying this to our life together, we forgive others because we, too, have been forgiven.

Has the story touched you? Has it caressed you, to make you know—maybe for the first time—that Christ has received you? If it has, thank the Lord and prove you’re forgiven by loving much.

Or, has it touched you in the other way? Has it hit you in the mouth? Busted your conscience and bloodied your heart? If it has, then remember that—in God’s way of salvation—bruising comes first and healing follows. The Lord who has made you feel your pride and pettiness is there to forgive you, too. So confess your sins and find pardon. And do it now.