Jesus Annointed By a Sinful Woman

Luke 7:36-50

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 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. 38 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.

39 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.”

40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii,[a] and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

44 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. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Again, we see a snooty Pharisee being blind to a person’s real change of heart.   But, of course, that’s not saying sometimes people can’t fake it, but we really don’t know someone’s intentions.

And this is not good news for the Pharisee because the problem with sin is in him, not the woman, and the penalty for sin (mortal sin) according to Jesus was severe.

Well, another deep thought about this was about the measure of gratitude.  The religious teacher was shocked at the display (maybe thinking it was fake), but Jesus pointed out that people who are forgiven more, are more thankful.

Who is Without Sin, Cast the First Stone

John 8:1-11

1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts.a All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them. 3The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them 4and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?”

6They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.

7When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” 8And again He bent down and wrote on the ground.

9When they heard this,b they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. 10Then Jesus straightened upc and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers?d Has no one condemned you?”

11“No one, Lord,” she answered.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”

The only people who could enforce rules in Jesus’ day justifiably were the holy, and the fact all these people walked away showed they weren’t holy, and it wasn’t a matter that they were sinless, as nobody is perfect, but they simply were not living the life of God.

Religious Legalism

Luke 14:1-6

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son[a] or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

The problem with religious legalism is not difficult to understand.  One modern example would be breaking a car window to save a pet on hot summer’s day.  Another example is trespassing on someone’s property to save someone from a fire.   Anyway, it’s easy to see why there are reasons to break just laws.   That was what Jesus was saying in the above paragraph.

Jesus Saying “Before Abraham was I”

John 8:48-59

Before Abraham Was Born, I Am

48The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?”

49“I do not have a demon,” Jesus replied, “but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50I do not seek My own glory. There is One who seeks it, and He is the Judge. 51Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”

52“Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death. 53Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”

54Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say, ‘He is ourg God.’ 55You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. 56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”

57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”

58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!h

59At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.i

The world is full of plenty of charlatans and snake-oil salesmen, but Jesus was not that!  He was the real deal.  The fact that the religious teachers of his time (generally speaking) could not see this was a testimony to the fact they had no salvation, and it showed in other ways besides simply not recognizing Jesus, a person who good with God – because he lived a holy life (in fact, one even with no sin at all, an exception among the holy).

And, ultimately, it can be said that those who reject something that is obviously holy, do not like what is holy.   These teachers were simply practicing a type of Judaism that was devoid of real holiness, something that is an imposter Judaism.

The Good Samaritan

Luke 10:25-37

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Sometimes we are not sure what real charity is, and the answer is clarified in Jesus’ answer to this expert’s question.   However, though, the hero being Samaritan would be quite shocking to someone of Jesus’ time, as Samaritans were thought of as an enemy of the Israelites, a lesser people than the Israelites (due to mixed ancestry Israeli/Pagan), and even Jesus was accused of being a Samaritan, as an insult.

John 8:48

The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

And the point of this parable was showing that real application of charity pleased God, not stuff that diluted by hatred and other things, and the religious teachers of his day had a problem with that.

Luke 14:1-6

One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son[a] or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

And in the verse above, Jesus is again stating that a real application of charity is needed, not stuff that is diluted and it is diluted in this case by religious legalism (taking the verses too literally without regard to loving your neighbor).

 

 

Loving One’s Enemies

Matthew 5:40 “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.”

It’s not worth it to harbor an attitude over small property, just like it’s not worth it to get upset over small insults.

Matthew 5:38-39

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

These things are petty and are tiny in comparison to advancing God’s kingdom.

 

Seek First the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:33

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

This verse ties in with the one in Jesus’ temptation in the desert.

Matthew 4:3-4

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. ‘ ”

This idea which is repeated over and over in the whole Bible is followers are to be dependent on God first, not accepting other options to provide one’s needs.   The idea being that God will provide the best solution, and that other solutions are inferior to varying degrees.

John 10:10

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Living by Faith

 Matthew 4:11 – Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Not knowing the future is just a basic feature of walking in the spirit.  It’s a situation where things can’t be planned.   They just happen and there’s a side of you that didn’t believe they would happen.

Good and Bad Fruit and Disfellowship

Matthew 7:17-20

17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

The bible says here and in other parts of the gospels, that bad fruit, which is people who are disfellowshipped, will not gain salvation dying in that state.  Of course, though, myself, I disagree with traditional ideas of hell, seeing it as a type of purgatory (when examining Bible translations, motives of certain church officials).  Otherwise, the whole situation is simply inhuman and not consistent with God’s nature.

Anyway, this verse seems to be mostly addressing false prophets but really is addressing anyone sinning against God (to the degree of disfellowship).   That’s what’s seen if you compare it to the rest of Jesus’ sayings.

Good Fruit and Bad Fruit

Matthew 7:17-20

17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

Of course, though, you can’t always judge a book by its cover.  In fact, in other verses, Jesus condemns the Pharisees for not seeing the change of heart in groups traditionally thought of as sinful, like tax collectors.

Matthew 21:31

Which of the two did the will of his father?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you; the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

But how do we reconcile these opposing sections?  Well, the tax collectors like Zaccheus really did have a change of heart expressing good fruit.   In that case, he was producing good fruit, and the same idea applies elsewhere.

Luke 19:1-10

(verse 1) Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”